Welcome,
You have made it here.
Whatever the day held,
Whatever still circles in your mind,
You can set it down now.
This practice asks nothing of you but your presence.
Allow your body to settle into the surface beneath you,
Feeling how it holds you completely.
You don't need to hold yourself up anymore.
Here,
Let your weight release,
Your shoulders dropping away from your ears,
Your jaw softening,
Your hands uncurling.
Now,
We'll travel through your body.
Simply notice each part as I name it.
No need to move or change anything,
Just a soft spotlight of attention.
First,
Bring awareness as if there were a warm,
Soft light to your right and thumb,
Your index finger,
Your middle finger,
Ring finger,
The palm of your right hand.
Feel the light touching the back of your right hand,
Your wrist,
Your forearm,
Your elbow,
The upper arm,
Your shoulder,
The right side of your chest,
The right side of your waist,
Your hip,
Your thigh,
The calves of your leg,
Your ankle,
Your heel,
The sole of your foot.
Feel the warmth.
And now begin to feel the soft,
Warm light on your left hand thumb,
Your index finger,
Your middle finger,
Your ring finger,
The tiny little pinky,
The palm of your thumb,
The back of your hand,
Your wrist,
Your forearm,
Your shoulder,
The left side of your chest,
The right side of your waist,
Your left thigh,
Your calf,
The sole of your foot,
The top of your foot.
Taking a nice slow breath in,
Exhaling slowly,
Bringing your attention to the warmth of the light on the top of your head,
Your right ear feeling warm,
Your left ear feeling warm and heavy,
Your forehead and space between your brow,
Your right cheek,
Left cheek,
Your chest,
Your navel and your lower body,
Your whole body now resting,
Getting heavier and fattier,
Feeling the warmth.
And without changing anything,
Simply notice your breath,
Watch it like you would watch waves arriving at shore,
Each one slightly different and each one completing its journey.
Begin to count the breath backwards from 27,
Each exhale being one now,
27,
27,
27,
27,
26,
25,
24,
23,
Letting each number carry you deeper,
26,
27,
28,
29,
30,
31,
32,
33,
34,
35,
36,
37,
38,
39,
40,
41,
42,
43,
44,
45,
46,
47,
48,
50,
51,
52,
52,
53,
54,
55,
56,
57,
58,
59,
60,
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
26,
27,
28,
30,
31,
32,
31,
32,
33,
34,
35,
36,
37,
38,
39,
40,
41,
42,
43,
44,
45,
46,
47,
48,
49,
50,
51,
52,
53,
54,
55,
56,
57,
58,
59,
60,
61,
62,
63,
64,
65,
66,
67,
68,
69,
70,
71,
72,
73,
74,
75,
76,
77,
78,
79,
80,
Imagine now that you are lying in a quiet meadow that dusts,
The grass beneath you is soft and calm,
Above you the sky is that deep blue that comes just before storms appear,
Every worried thought,
Every anxious loop,
Every what if,
Every thought,
Picture each one as a small stone that you've been carrying,
Feel the weight of them,
Bend one by one,
Imagine placing these stones on the ground beside you,
You are not abandoning your concerns,
You are simply setting them down for now,
They'll still be here if you need them,
But for this moment your hands can be empty,
Feel the relief of that lightness spreading through your body,
Your chest able to expand fully now,
Your shoulders have nothing to hold,
The first stars begin to appear overhead,
Each one a small light in the vast darkness,
You are this small and this precious,
One point of consciousness is an enormous,
Benevolent universe,
Let that perspective settle into you,
Not as insignificance but as release,
You do not have to hold it together,
You never did,
Experience now the sensation of heaviness,
Your body pressing into the earth,
Tense and weighted,
Every cell anchored,
Heavy,
Heavy,
Heavy,
So completely heavy,
And now complete lightness,
As if you could float upward,
Buoyant,
Effortless,
A body made as air and light,
Light,
Light,
So completely light,
Feel your body simultaneously empty and light,
The paradox of being a body and more than a body,
Rest here,
Simply allowing yourself to be,
There is nothing more to do,
The practice is complete,
And if you wish to sleep,
Let your body drift,
The body knows how,
The mind can slow down,
Rest deeply,
Drifting,
And drifting,
And drifting,
And drifting,
And drifting,
