Close your week with clarity.
As the working week comes to a close,
Take a moment to pause.
Before stepping either into the weekend or into leisure activities,
Depending on when you close your week,
Let's take an opportunity to reflect and acknowledge what went well,
Noticing what might need a little bit more attention and setting a clear path for the week ahead.
This is a simple practice which will help you close this chapter with intention so you can fully step away and recharge.
Before we start the practice,
I would encourage you to have a paper and a pen or a device that you can make notes on if that's easier for you and just to lay these things aside as you take your seat and find some comfort.
And I'm going to encourage you now just to see if you can make any little adjustments to the way that you're sitting so that you're alert,
Encouraging the spine to be long and tall and the feet flat on the floor.
Let's see if we can unclench the jaw and relaxing the space between the eyes and if it feels comfortable to close your eyes you may do this but if it feels more comfortable to let the eyes rest somewhere maybe on your desk and finding an anchor point that's okay as well.
And we'll start our practice by pausing and just taking a few deep nourishing breaths,
Breathing in and out through the nose and if it feels good to breathe in through the nose and take a sigh out through the mouth maybe you do that too.
I'm really focusing on where the breath is traveling to in the body and if it's helpful to bring a hand onto the lower belly to tune in with a little bit more consciousness to the breath you might do that.
And we're using these breaths really to come back home to the physicality of the body but also to transition from work mode into the present moment and we'll just take one more round of breath as we are.
Now we move to acknowledging the week that has passed.
So regardless of what days you've been working either in the job that pays the bills or volunteering or activism,
Whatever you've been doing,
Just taking a moment to pause and briefly reflect on what has happened.
It's really easy to lose track of the days and it's easy to get caught up in the moments as they're unfolding.
What we're doing now is just looking back,
Taking an overview and now you're invited to acknowledge the parts of the week that went well.
Any achievements that can be taken from the week perhaps conversations that went particularly well or deadlines that were met or overcoming stress or adversity.
Maybe it was a really good cup of coffee or a nourishing lunch.
Just taking a moment to pause and think what went well.
It can be big or small.
We'll take another couple of breaths now and now we're going to reflect on what might need a bit more attention.
So identifying any lingering challenges or unfinished work,
Relationships that became strained,
What might need a little bit more attention.
And we'll take another long,
Slow,
Nourishing round of breath.
I'm reflecting now on what you might need to carry forward.
So are there any tasks that you're halfway through completing?
Are there any deadlines that are pending that you need to prioritise?
Any people that you need to get back to?
Just casting your mind back.
What do you need to carry forward?
We'll take another round of breath here.
Invitation to bring the hands together now and if it feels comfortable to rub the palms together,
Please feel free to do so.
So bringing a little bit of heat and movement into the body and into our practice.
Bringing the hands onto the heart if that feels comfortable to do so.
Take a long,
Slow breath in and a clearing breath out.
And you're invited to open your eyes and look to your paper and pen or your device.
And we're just going to make a note.
So I'm going to repeat the reflections back to you and you're invited just to make a note.
So what went well?
Writing down a success,
Big or small?
What needs attention?
Identifying challenges or unfinished work?
What do you need to carry forward?
Listing your tasks or priorities for next week?
Just taking your time.
You don't need to write an essay.
Bullet points are absolutely fine.
Key points.
And now that you've reflected and you have that information,
That reflection in front of you,
You are welcome to place it down,
Put it somewhere sensible and you can return to this when you return to work.
Wishing you a beautiful,
Pleasurable leisure time.
