Hello my beautiful friends.
I'm Shannon from Blissful Being and I'm so grateful to be here with you today.
I'm coming to you from Campbell River,
British Columbia on the unceded traditional territory of the Lugulda people,
The Wee-Way-Kai,
The Wee-Way-Cum and the Kaweka First Nations.
It is with so much gratitude that we thank you for allowing us to live,
Thrive and survive here together.
Now let's begin.
I invite you to find a position where your body feels supported,
Setting tall or lying down,
Whichever feels most comfortable for you right now.
Close your eyes gently or soften your gaze.
Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and a long releasing breath out through your mouth.
And with each exhale I'd like to invite you to imagine you're settling down,
Settling down the weight of the day,
The weight of your body.
This is your invitation to soften.
As we move through this practice I invite you to soften the edges,
The edges of your body,
The edges of your thoughts,
The edges of whatever you may be carrying at the moment.
You don't need to fix anything,
You don't need to change anything,
It's just an invitation to soften.
So I invite you now to bring your awareness to your forehead.
Notice if there's tension and let it melt away as if it's smoothing ripples from the water.
Relax around your eyes,
Letting them soften and rest in the darkness.
Soften your jaw,
Unclenching,
Allowing space and just feel your shoulders and let them drop a little like heavy coats sliding from a hook.
And now I invite you to bring awareness to your chest.
With each inhale notice expansion and with each exhale allow release.
We move from here to rest your attention in your heart space.
I'd like for you to imagine a gentle tide washing through,
Smoothing out those sharp corners into soft curves.
Let your belly soften,
Let it relax,
Loosen that grip that we hold so tightly there.
Feel into your hips and your pelvis.
Maybe taking a deep breath and on the exhale release whatever is being held here.
We hold so much tension in this area and we're just going to soften down through our thighs,
Your knees,
Into our feet.
Let them rest,
Let them be heavy,
Sinking gently into the ground.
Now if you can imagine a warm tide flowing through your whole body.
With each inhale the tide washes in,
Bringing ease.
And with each exhale the tide recedes,
Carrying away any of the tightness.
Feel this tide wash through your whole body,
Smoothing the edges inside you.
Anywhere you may have been holding on just too tightly.
And if your mind has began to wander that's completely okay.
Just bring your attention back to your breath,
Back to your body,
Or the image of the tide washing through.
Perhaps your body feels lighter,
Perhaps your mind feels quieter,
Or maybe nothing feels different at all.
And that is completely welcome here too.
There's no goal here,
Only gentleness,
Only spaciousness,
Only you.
And this is where I invite you to rest in this truth.
I meet myself with softness,
I meet myself with gentleness,
And I meet myself with grace.
And if we could take three deep cleansing breaths together,
In through our nose and out through the mouth.
One more time,
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
And the last time together,
In through your nose and exhale with a sigh.
You can go ahead and bring your awareness back to the space around you,
The sounds,
The air,
The support beneath you.
And you can wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Inviting movement back into your body.
And when you're ready,
I invite you to show a gesture of gratitude,
That may be hands to your heart,
Hands together in prayer,
Or touching the earth on which you practice.
Thank you for taking this time for yourself today,
And for practicing with me.
Namaste.
