Let's begin by taking a moment to settle your body in a comfortable position and be sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Whatever feels comfortable for you right now.
Just inviting a sense of ease and relaxation in the body,
Feeling comfortable with the intention to bring awareness and alertness to the physical sensations of your body.
You can close your eyes or simply lower your gaze to limit visual distraction.
Can you feel the weight of your body on the ground or your chair?
The points of contact with the earth or whatever is underneath you?
Can you feel into it,
Noticing the sounds around you,
Sounds near you,
The sounds in the very far distance,
Noticing any smells,
And then bringing awareness to the sensations of breathing through your nose or your mouth.
And as you breathe,
See if you can relax your belly and your chest,
Seeing if you can loosen any tension and softening any tightness.
Allowing yourself to breathe full,
Deep breath.
Inviting a sense of ease in your belly and your chest as you let go of any tension,
Dropping your shoulders,
Softening your hands and the muscles of your face,
Softening the space between your eyebrows.
They usually hold a lot of tension.
Just feeling a sense of ease as you breathe,
Noticing the physical sensations around your body.
What does it feel like to be breathing in this moment?
Noticing the sensations of each inhale and exhale and seeing how the air is coming in through your nose.
Sensing how the air is leaving your body with each exhale.
Recognizing that there is no need to do anything in particular,
No need to control the breath.
We are just allowing.
And if at any moment the breath feels too much or becomes overwhelming,
Please remember that you can always rest your awareness elsewhere on a simple sensations of touch or the feeling of your hands or feet or the steadiness of your spine or root or even the sounds around you.
Just let these anchors support you.
Now as you breathe in,
Imagine that your whole body is breathing in.
As you breathe out,
Imagine the whole body is breathing out.
The whole body filling with breath as you breathe in.
The whole body releasing as you breathe out.
Continue breathing like this for a few breaths.
If you find yourself feeling scattered or distracted,
If your mind has wandered off into a trance of thinking,
Acknowledge that and come back to the feeling of full body breathing.
As you breathe in,
This is a moment of mindfulness.
Anchor yourself with the breath.
Your breath is your home base.
Focusing on the whole body,
Filling with breath and releasing as you breathe out.
Noticing perhaps how the breath naturally causes expansion outward with each inhale and settles in with each exhale.
Coming back to the breath again and again.
Sensing your whole body breathing in and breathing out.
There's nothing to achieve here,
Nothing to aim for.
Simply stay with your breath.
And then with your next exhale,
Allow your body to be still for just a moment,
Noticing the sensations that are alive in your body.
And as you begin to inhale one more time,
Slowly return to the space in the room you're in.
Taking a moment to gently move your body.
Perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes.
Rolling the shoulders and the neck.
Relaxing your feet.
Feeling really into how your body feels in this moment.
How your body feels after this time.
After allowing yourself to be present.
And see if you can carry some of this awareness with you as you move throughout the rest of your day.
Thank you.
