Welcome to this practice of Enestía.
Find a place to lie down or recline.
Somewhere you can be still without needing to hold yourself up.
Although you can come to this practice anytime you need it,
Any moment you want to return to yourself,
This practice has been created for the morning.
As a way to meet the day before it rushes in.
For you to take a little time for you before the world starts asking anything of you.
This time.
Is yours.
Let the surface underneath you take your full weight.
You don't have to carry anything right now.
Not your body.
Not the day ahead.
Just for now.
Let it all be hell.
Let go.
Allow your eyes to close or soften if you'd rather keep them open.
Before we begin to settle,
Let's plant one small intention,
A single thought to carry quietly underneath the whole practice.
In a moment I'll offer some words and the invitation is to simply repeat them silently to yourself,
Gently as if placing a seed in still water.
Don't strain over them,
Just let them land.
Silently to yourself now.
Repeat,
I meet this day calm,
Open and in flow.
Repeat it two more times.
And now begin to become aware of your breath.
Be aware of your body.
In this space.
Be aware of your body in this space,
In this moment.
Be present,
Fully in this moment.
And then allow your awareness to drop onto your breath.
Just watch your breath.
Moving in.
And out of your body.
We're going to gently start to extend the exhale.
This is a signal.
A long exhale tells the nervous system,
Here you are safe,
Here you can settle,
That nothing is required of you here.
So let's use the breath deliberately now to drop down a layer.
We'll begin with something the body already knows how to do.
The physiological side.
Take a breath in through the nose,
And then on top of that.
A small second sip of air.
Filling the lungs completely.
And then let it all go with a long audible sigh out through the mouth.
All the way to empty.
Again in through the nose,
A second sip on top.
And then sigh it all away.
Let the shoulders fall as the breath leaves the body.
One more.
The longest yet.
Fill your body with fresh air.
And then top it up.
Before releasing everything.
The sound of it,
The weight of it,
Yesterday still lingering in the body.
All side out.
And gone.
Now let's settle into a gentle counted rhythm.
Nothing forced,
Just an easy in-breath.
And a longer out-breath.
Breathe with MyCount.
Breathe in two.
.
.
3,
4 and out 2,
3,
4,
5,
6 again in 2,
3,
4,
2… 3… 4… 5… 6… continue in your own time.
Extending the exhale.
And now let the counting go.
Let the breath return to its own natural rhythm.
And out of the nose,
However it wants to be.
You've done the work.
The breath will carry it from here.
Feel heavier on each exhale.
As you allow that surface beneath you.
To take the loan.
Just for this while.
You really can.
Let go.
Inside the cells in your body live tiny structures called mitochondria.
You may have heard them called the powerhouse of the cell,
But new research is suggesting they are probably more like the CEO of the cell.
Not just an engine,
But something closer to a decision maker,
Alive in its own right.
We often say mitochondria make energy,
But that isn't quite true.
Mitochondria don't create energy out of nothing.
They transform it.
The energy is already there from the food you've eaten,
The air you're breathing right now,
The light of the world around you.
Your mitochondria receive that energy and transform it into a form your body can actually use.
Every heartbeat,
Every pulse,
Every thought.
Which raises the question,
What might help that energy to flow more freely?
Conscious rest like this is one answer because when the body isn't braced or tense or in defense,
Energy meets less resistance.
Tension is resistance.
Softness is flow.
So let's move through the body now,
Slowly,
Not to do anything,
But simply to notice where that quiet energy already lives.
Begin.
Right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger and little finger.
The palm.
The back of the hand.
The wrist.
The forum.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The shoulder.
The right armpit.
The right side of waste.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The knee.
Car.
The sole of the foot.
The top of the foot.
The big toe.
Second toe.
Photo Fourth toe and little toe.
Now the left side.
Left hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger and little finger.
The palm.
The back of the hand.
The risk.
The forearm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The shoulder.
The left armpit.
The left side of waist.
The left hip.
The left thigh.
The knee.
Ankle.
The soul of the first.
The top of the foot.
The big toe.
Second time.
Fairytale.
Fourth toe and little toe.
Now the back of the body.
The back of the head.
The back of the neck.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The Whole Spy.
To bottom.
The right glute.
The left glute.
The backs of both legs.
Both heels resting on the surface beneath.
Now the front.
The Forest.
Both eyes.
The nose.
Both cheeks.
The lips.
The chin.
The throat.
The checks.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The navel.
The belly.
The whole front of the body glowing softly.
And now the whole body together.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Lying here.
Heavy.
Warm.
Complete.
And now we go down.
I'm going to count from 10 down to 1.
With each number,
Let yourself drop twice as deep,
Twice as heavy,
Twice as far from the surface.
Just let each number take you lower.
10,
Beginning to sink now.
The body growing distant and heavy.
9.
Down.
Every muscle.
Letting go a little more.
8.
Deeper.
The surface beneath you falling away.
Seven.
Heavier still.
Nothing to hold.
Nothing to do.
Six,
Sinking gently,
Like being lowered into warm,
Still water.
Five,
Halfway down now,
The mind growing quiet and slow.
Four,
Deeper with every word,
Thoughts drifting far away.
Three.
So heavy now.
So far down.
So safe.
Two.
Almost there.
One.
All the way down.
Completely here.
Completely at rest.
Do nothing at all.
Let go of the breath.
And allow a sense of energy in the body to come into your awareness.
Notice it move on its own.
You don't have to direct it.
You don't need to push it.
Let it flow.
Perhaps you notice a subtle current,
A warmth.
A faint hum of aliveness somewhere in the body.
Or perhaps it's just a feeling of ease.
However it shows up for you is right.
You might like to imagine this energy moving through you like a river,
Finding its own path,
Meeting no resistance,
Reaching everywhere it's needed.
You aren't forcing the river.
You're letting it run clear.
And now even that image can dissolve.
Nothing to picture.
Nothing to imagine.
Just this.
The quiet hum of being alive.
Here.
This flow is happening in you at this very moment.
You are,
Quite literally,
Energy in motion.
This is what ease feels like at the level of your cells.
In flow.
In this stillness.
There is nothing to do.
And nowhere to be.
Just rest.
And simply be.
Recall the intention you planted at the beginning.
Let it come back to you now,
Ready to carry it into your day.
Repeat silently to yourself.
I meet this day.
Calm.
Open and in flow.
Repeat it two more times.
Take a moment just for a breath or two in simple gratitude for this body that has carried you this far and breathes you even now without being asked.
For this life,
This single improbable life,
And the joy of getting to live another day.
And for the people we share our lives with.
Those close by,
Those far away,
Bring one or two of them to mind and let a quiet thank you go out to them.
And for whatever it is that gives your day meaning.
Your work,
Your purpose,
The things you care about.
Give thanks.
Now gently we begin to come back up.
And with each number you'll rise a little.
Growing lighter,
Clearer,
More awake until you're fully back and bright for the day.
Beginning to return now.
Awareness coming back to the body.
A sense of the room around you again.
4.
Energy starting to move through you,
The breath deepening on its own,
Lightness returning to the limbs.
3.
Coming up now,
Becoming aware of sounds around you,
The space you're in,
The morning waiting for you.
Two,
Almost all the way back.
Begin to move very gently,
Perhaps wiggling the fingers,
The toes.
A gentle stretch wherever it feels good.
The body waking,
Warm and alive.
To one.
All the way up now.
Mind clear,
Body awake.
Fully back in the room.
Welcome back.
And when you're ready in your own time,
No rush,
Allow the eyes to open.
Carry the flow with you.
The energy that moves through you today is yours to spend.
Spend it on what you love.
Make it count.
We each have only so much energy and only so many mornings.
What a gift then to be here for this one.
Thank you for taking your time to practice with me today.
I wish you a very good rest of your day ahead.
Good morning.
