Welcome to this practice to support us with moments of imperfection.
This is a practice aimed to support you to soften your stress response around the perceived imperfection or mistakes and to access a little more ease.
So you can do this practice with your eyes open,
Eyes closed,
Soft gaze,
Whatever feels good to you.
Just finding a comfortable position and knowing that you can change this any time should you need to.
Just allowing your attention to turn inwards.
Just noticing what's showing up for you right now.
What's your level of stress?
This might be low,
Medium,
High.
You might have a colour,
A shape,
Maybe a type of weather.
Just noticing where your stress is at.
And then coming with me into this practice,
You might take a moment to notice the points of contact with the surface beneath you.
If it feels comfortable,
You might allow your attention to come into the breath moving in the body.
Just being curious about where you notice the breath moving in your body.
It might be the belly or the chest.
Perhaps noticing if you are aware of the breath moving in the back of the body.
This can be quite subtle,
But knowing that our lungs are just as much in the back of the body as they are in the front.
And you might start to use the out-breath as an invitation to just soften a little bit each time.
So breathing in and then on the out-breath,
Just allowing yourself to soften down a little bit into those points of contact.
Inviting a little more softness into the shoulders,
Into the jaw,
Forehead,
The eyes.
Allowing yourself to let go a little each time of any effort or holding.
You might start to offer yourself some kind of supportive self-touch.
This could be a hand on the chest,
A hand on the belly.
It might be holding yourself.
You might visualise this.
Just offering yourself some tenderness.
Just breathing into this contact.
And then you might imagine that you're starting to breathe in kindness.
And breathe this in and allow it to come into your heart.
And on the out-breath,
Just sending this down through the whole of your body.
Breathing in the kindness and on the out-breath,
Just sending it down through to the tips of your fingers,
The tips of your toes.
Allowing the kindness to saturate into your whole body.
And as you rest in this bathing of kindness,
I'll offer some phrases for you to receive.
I am human.
I make mistakes.
Perfection is a myth.
I am here.
I am safe.
I am loved.
And allowing your attention to come back into the breath,
Moving in the body.
You might take a moment to just zoom back out and take in your whole experience.
Checking in with your body,
With your mind.
Just noticing any shifts that might have happened in the practice.
Perhaps noticing if there's anything else that needs some support.
Gently bringing this practice to a close.
Just taking a moment to land back into the space that you're in.
You might notice the sounds in the space around you.
The temperature of the air meeting your skin.
Perhaps noticing any light or shadow.
And trying to take this sense of kindness,
Sense of acceptance with you as you go on with your day.
