Go ahead and find a posture that helps you to be still.
You might find an upright seat or you might lie down.
You can also stand.
So take a moment to find a posture that helps you to settle into your practice.
Get any wiggles out that you need to.
And allow yourself to be comfortable where there's a sense of effortlessness,
But at the same time alertness,
Where your chest and your chin are lifted enough to signal to your body that you're awake and engaged.
Let's start our practice with three rounds of deep breath.
When you're ready,
Soften your belly and inhale big.
Take an open mouth exhale,
Let it go.
Two more rounds of breath,
Inhale big.
And exhale.
Take one more round of breath at your own pace.
Now settle into your natural breath without changing it or forcing it.
Use your exhales to settle any tension that's existing in your body.
As you breathe out,
Sense a downward sensation of the shoulders,
The elbows.
And now use your inhale to balance that with a lift of your chest.
Now see if you can stay in the middle place where there's heaviness,
Anchoring,
And there's a lift of alertness.
There's a balance of effort and ease that can be helpful to look for when we practice,
But also in our life.
It helps to keep our energy sustainable.
And it keeps the pendulum from swinging to extremes.
So sense in your body what doesn't need to hold on,
What can let go.
You might soften your hands.
See if you can let your body be supported by what it's touching without feeling the need to perch up.
And then where in your body does need to engage to keep you upright.
Notice the length of your spine and the strength that comes from the inside.
Can you soften around the edges of your back,
The skin,
The soft tissue under your skin.
Soften the muscles of your face and your jaw.
And let your expression be natural.
No need to force anything or perform anything.
Allow your practice to be whatever it is.
And sometimes as soon as we give ourselves that permission to just be the way that we're showing up,
Our body softens into that truth.
Like it doesn't need to grip,
It can just be.
For the next couple minutes,
Can you use your breath to modulate this balance of effort and ease in your body.
As you inhale,
Sense where your body is alive and awake.
And as you exhale,
Sense where your body can ground and soften,
Letting go.
Even pausing between your breath,
Inhales and exhales,
To sense that space in the middle of aliveness and engagement and letting go softness.
Our body is an ever-changing being.
Every moment there is movement and shift.
Always evolving,
Always adapting.
Can you sense how that is true as you pay attention to the relationship between your breath and the movement of your body?
Can you notice the field of sensation that is also ever-changing and moving as you pay attention to your body,
Especially in relation to your breath?
The varying degrees of softness and tension and how your awareness can affect this can play a part in the dance.
Offer yourself an inquiry.
How might you honor the ever-changing experience of yourself,
Of your body,
And of you?
They say that the greatest expression of love is attention.
By simply paying attention to our self,
Moment to moment,
Throughout our day,
We're offering our self love and care.
We're checking in.
We're tuning in and seeing our self.
Through that knowledge,
We can then move throughout our day with greater awareness of what we need and what we don't need,
Of what will uplift us,
What will support us.
And what will keep our energy sustainable.
Take a deep breath in.
Fill up your body like you're nourishing it with a gift.
And then take a big open mouth exhale to let all of that breath go.
Take one more breath.
Inhale,
Deeply filling up.
And then exhale,
Letting it all go.
Thank you for joining me for this practice.
Namaste.
