Welcome to our practice.
This is a moment to set everything down.
The to-do list,
The noise.
The pressure to have it all together and just be here in your body as it is right now.
So let's find a position where your body can be supported.
This can be sitting,
Lying down,
Whatever your body is asking for today.
There is no wrong way to do this practice.
Now let your eyes close or soften your gaze downward.
Take a moment to notice.
How does your body feel right now,
In this exact moment?
Not how you think it should feel,
Just how it actually feels.
If today is a hard day,
If you're tired or warm or foggy or irritable or all of it at once,
That's allowed here.
This practice isn't asking you to fix anything.
It's asking you to be with what's here.
Just for a little while.
With some support.
Perimenopause can feel like your body is speaking a language you don't recognize anymore.
Heat that rises without warning.
Sleep that won't come or won't stay.
Moods that shift faster than the weather.
A mind that reaches for a word and finds fog instead.
None of that means something is wrong with you.
It means your body is in a season of change.
A real physiological hormonal transition.
Not a personal failing.
And it can be disorienting,
But it is not permanent.
And believe me,
My friend,
I am right there with you.
So let's begin with the breath.
Not to control it,
But to use it as an anchor.
Let's breathe for the body.
Rather than.
.
.
Just having it breathe for us.
We're going to do a short breath practice.
Breathing in through our nose for the count of four.
Holding at the top.
For the count of two.
And exhaling through your mouth for the count of six.
So let's do that together.
Inhale through your nose for four.
One,
Hold it at the top for one.
And breathe out through your mouth for the count of six.
5.
Four.
Three.
Too.
1.
One more round,
Inhale.
Too.
3 Hold.
Exhale.
Three.
2.
1.
Go ahead and do one more round at your own pace.
Cold.
And out long and slow.
Keep breathing here.
The longer exhale is doing something real.
It is signaling to your nervous system that it is safe to settle.
Even when your hormones are sending you mixed messages,
You're not overriding your body.
You're giving it a little extra help.
As you continue breathing at your own pace.
For a moment,
Let's name what's true for you today without trying to change it.
If there's heat in your body right now,
Or the memory of it.
Just notice that.
If there's tiredness sitting in your bones.
Notice that too.
If your mind feels cloudy.
Or your mood feels tender or short-fused.
You can notice that without judging it.
Try saying quietly in your mind.
This is hard right now.
And I am still here.
And as you keep breathing here,
Remember that your body is not betraying you.
It's recalibrating.
Adjusting to a new landscape.
The way it once adjusted through puberty or through other changes across your life.
This is just another one of those thresholds,
And it can be uncomfortable and still be normal.
If you've been hard on yourself lately for forgetting things,
For snapping at someone you love.
For needing to cancel plans because your body just couldn't.
Let some of that go.
Even briefly.
You are doing the best you can with a body that is working hard to find its new balance.
That deserves patience,
Not criticism,
Especially your own.
This next breath.
Can help when heat or.
.
.
Agitation is present physically or emotionally.
We're going to purse our lips like you're sipping through a straw,
Keeping your lips slightly open.
Breathe in slowly through your mouth as if drawing in something cool.
Then close your mouth and exhale slowly through your nose.
Let's try that in through pursed lips.
Close your lips out through your nose.
Go ahead and take three more breaths like this on your own.
Now let your breath return to normal.
Notice if anything in your chest or your face or your shoulders have softened.
There's no requirement that it has.
This is just a noticing.
Now let's move some attention through your body,
Offering it a little acknowledgement as we go.
Bringing your attention to your feet.
Whatever they're feeling,
Heavy,
Restless,
Fine.
They've carried you through today,
Or they will.
Thank them.
Silently.
And let them rest.
Move up to your legs.
And let them be heavy.
Supported by whatever is beneath you.
And now notice your belly.
If it's tight.
See if it can soften just a little.
With your next exhale.
Notice your chest and heart space.
This is a place that can hold a lot right now.
Grief for how things used to feel.
Uncertainty about what's ahead.
You don't need to resolve any of that.
Just let it be held gently.
And now notice your shoulders.
See if you can let them drop even half an inch.
Notice your jaw.
And your face.
And let them unclench.
Your whole body.
Is doing something enormous right now.
It's recalibrating,
It's adjusting,
It's transitioning.
And underneath all of it.
You are still here showing up for yourself.
Before we close,
Let these words settle in your body one at a time.
You don't need to believe them fully just yet.
Let's just let them land.
Repeat after me,
Either out loud or in your mind.
I am not broken.
I am changing.
This is a transition.
Not a decline.
What I'm feeling.
Has a reason.
Even when it doesn't have an easy explanation.
I don't have to push through this alone.
And I don't have to do it perfectly.
My body has carried me this far.
I can trust it to carry me through this too.
Now let's return to the breath one more time.
Inhaling for the count of four.
Holding at the top for two.
And exhaling through your mouth for six.
Go ahead and breathe like this for the next few moments.
And as you get ready to open your eyes and shift positions,
You might hold on to this.
I am allowed to rest.
I am allowed to be gentle with myself.
I'm allowed to take up space with what I am going through.
And whenever you're ready,
Go ahead and deepen your breath.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Let your eyes open.
Or your gaze lift up forward.
And take whatever came up for you here and bring it with you into the rest of your day.
Not to fix it.
Just to let it be known.
Namaste.
