Creating some space for self-care.
Taking the first few moments here to settle.
Find your comfortable meditation seat.
This could be sitting on the floor,
Cross-legged or kneeling.
You could be sitting on a chair.
Find what feels comfortable for you.
This is an important first step.
Relax around the shoulders,
The jaw and the belly.
Allow the spine to be upright and relaxed.
Effort is important here but don't try too hard.
Let's start with a few moments of noticing our inhalation.
Maybe you notice the air passing through the nostrils or the throat.
Maybe you notice the movement of breath in the belly.
The inhale gently enlivening the system.
Start to notice the exhalation.
Movement of air in the nostrils or the throat.
See if you can hold your attention and awareness on the inhalation and the exhalation.
Simply grounding and settling your attention to your breath.
Meditation practice is simply taking some peaceful moments to pause,
To watch,
To observe and to relax.
Usually when we start to slow down,
As we settle into stillness,
We notice the mind's natural habit to wander.
This is very natural and very normal.
When that moment emerges and you realize that the mind is wandering off to a thought or a distraction,
In that very moment we have a choice.
We have a choice to follow that thought,
Adding more thoughts onto it.
Or we have a choice to come back to our breath,
Creating space for self-care.
A few moments here to notice the inhalation and the exhalation.
We talk a lot about self-care and we know it's important,
But it's not always easy.
And it's not an overnight thing.
And it doesn't have to be something that takes a lot of time.
It can be the little things that we do day after day.
Making time for ten minutes of meditation.
Keeping those promises we make to ourselves.
Respecting our needs,
Our health.
Appreciating ourselves for all that we are,
The light and the shade.
Our wonderfully imperfect selves.
And we don't always need to choose between being gentle or fierce.
We can nourish and nurture and use both energies when needed.
Just settling into your idea of what self-care means to you.
Lightly keeping your attention with the breath.
Last few moments here together.
Good.
Whether your perception of that practice is you were very peaceful or very distracted,
Just allow that to pass now.
Showing up to do your best in your present set of circumstances may be the pillar of self-care.
Well done.
