This is a great meditation if you feel stuck or stressed.
You might even identify with feeling in a freeze response.
Today's work is gentle but hopefully helpful and I'm so glad that you're here.
Find a comfortable seat.
You can certainly be on the floor somewhere but if it helps to find a place with a solid back that will support you.
Hopefully that is available to you now.
As you sit,
Begin to let your eyes look around the room.
Start to notice the walls around you or if you happen to be outside,
Maybe there's the outer wall of a building or a tall tree,
Something near you that represents a boundary and the edge of your space.
From here,
If it's helpful for you to close your eyes in order to do some visualization,
You can do that now but it's certainly not required.
Just for a moment,
I invite you to bring your mental image back to these walls.
No need to look at them directly unless you want to,
Just calling them into your mind's eye and imagining what would happen if they got a little closer to you.
What if these boundaries came even just a bit closer?
Notice your body.
Notice your muscles,
Your heart,
Your breath.
Maybe you started fidgeting or stopped fidgeting.
You might be able to identify what you're experiencing as a good feeling or an uncomfortable or bad feeling,
But that's not necessary.
When you're ready,
You can begin to imagine these walls shifting away from you again.
Or if you like,
You can leave them right where they are.
That's completely up to you.
You might be observing these walls shift just a little bit further away and again a little bit further away and if you have a ceiling above you,
You might even imagine that growing a bit taller.
You might find a place where your walls feel comforting and secure.
Or as you watch them drift away from you,
You might find a point where you are ready to imagine those walls simply falling away.
Maybe dissolving into thin air and accessing a sense of space all around you.
Wherever you are,
With walls or without,
You're invited to bring your attention back to your body.
Notice now what's happening with your heart,
With your breath,
Your head space.
Maybe you notice a sweat response or some movement or some stillness.
There's no wrong answer here.
And you're encouraged now to shift your attention to your muscles.
You might do a quick scan of the body or feel as though you can take everything in altogether.
Notice here if you can pinpoint one area of tension.
Perhaps the area of tension is simply your body.
Or perhaps the tension that you find seems minimal,
But you can access a place that feels 2% more tense than everywhere else.
Notice this place.
Leave time here to acknowledge that this part of you is seen.
Maybe it's not even a muscle.
Maybe it's an organ or a ligament or somewhere else in your body that you can identify a sense of tension.
Notice what happens as you allow your attention to rest here.
Maybe you notice it further tensing.
Or maybe you notice it beginning to let go.
Perhaps you've sensed no change,
And that's okay too.
Wherever this area of tension is within you,
I invite you to explore some agency around it.
And imagine this part of your being letting go.
If even just 1% releasing tension.
And letting go a little further.
Letting go again.
You might feel encouraged to follow this letting go into other areas of your body.
And notice if anything else has released.
You might notice that your base wants to spread across the surface it's sitting on.
You might even notice your weight sinking a little heavier into that surface.
Where else can you let go?
You might still be with that initial area of tension.
Or you may have moved on to another place within you.
There's no wrong answer.
Just notice if you can encourage yourself to let go.
Can you find 2% more?
The goal here is not to fully free yourself of tension.
But simply to find those small shifts.
That ability to let go.
Half a percent more.
3% more.
Release.
And just notice.
You might begin to notice other ways of being.
What's happening in your heart.
Or your mind.
Or your breath.
And as you notice any shifts making themselves known to you within your body.
You might even identify an area of ease.
Find that area within you that at the very least compared to everything else feels the most easy.
See if you can sit with that.
Can you lean in to ease?
Always with the invitation that if it's helpful to return to the imagery of letting go.
That is available to you.
But as you find even that tiny bit more release.
More stillness.
Be with it.
Allow it to be.
With your presence still here.
In ease.
You might slowly want to begin shifting your body.
Maybe a roll of a shoulder or a tilt of a head.
Still leaning into this idea of ease.
Moving gently.
Maybe even stretching.
To cultivate even more ease.
When you're ready.
Very gently.
Just open your eyes.
Begin to look around your space.
Letting your eyes wander where they want to go.
And just noticing for yourself what may have shifted during our practice today.
This meditation will always be available to you when you need it.
I thank you so much for joining me today.
And I wish you ease as you continue to navigate your journey.
Thank you.
