Welcome everyone.
This is a meditation focusing on connecting to self and coming home to self.
I welcome you to settle in.
Taking a moment to arrive.
Not in a rushed way,
Not in a striving way.
Just gently arriving into this moment,
Into this breath,
Into yourself.
Let the body settle in whatever way feels natural.
You might soften your shoulders.
Unclench your jaw.
And let the hands rest easily and comfortably.
And without needing to change anything right away,
Simply noticing.
Noticing you're here.
Letting the breath be just as it is.
No need to make it deeper,
No need to control it.
Just feeling the breath moving in and out.
You might notice the places in the body where breath is most vivid for you.
Maybe the rise and fall of the chest.
Maybe the belly gently receiving the breath.
Maybe the coolness of the nostrils.
Let awareness rest there.
Breathing in,
Aware.
Breathing out,
Aware of breathing out.
And as you begin to rest here,
See if you can begin to sense that this moment asks for nothing from you.
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to force,
Nothing to become.
Just this gentle invitation to come home to your own living presence.
Now widening the field a little bit,
Noticing the body as a whole sitting here.
The weight of the body,
The contact with its share,
The cushion,
The floor beneath you.
Let the body be held.
Let yourself be supported.
And perhaps silently offer yourself to the breath.
Simple inward message.
I'm here.
I'm listening.
And I am with myself now.
If thoughts are moving,
That's okay.
If emotion is present,
That's okay too.
Nothing has gone wrong.
And this too can be included in your awareness.
This too belongs.
You may notice something inside that's been asking for your attention.
A feeling,
A tenderness,
A quiet ache,
A tiredness perhaps.
Maybe simply a wish to feel more whole.
And without needing to analyze it,
Just let yourself turn toward it with kindness.
As if you were sitting beside a dear friend.
You might gently ask within,
What's here right now?
Listening not with the thinking mind alone,
But with the body,
With the heart.
And whenever you know this,
Let it be met with a softer presence.
Making space for it.
And allowing.
If it feels supportive,
Silently whispering inward,
Yes,
This too.
You don't need to push this away.
Notice what happens when you stop moving yourself.
When even for one breath,
You stay.
Right here with your own experience,
Presence,
With tenderness.
This is the practice of integration.
Not pulling yourself apart.
Not abandoning what is.
Not letting go of what is here,
But gently gathering yourself back.
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment.
Coming home to the wholeness that has been here all along.
And feel again the body breathing.
The simplicity of this moment.
Breathing in,
Receiving yourself.
Breathing out,
Softening into yourself.
The next few breaths,
The quiet gesture of belonging.
As though every inhale says welcome.
And every exhale says rest.
And now begin to sense the space around you again.
The room,
The sounds,
The support beneath you.
And before we close,
Offer yourself one more inward reflection.
May I trust my own presence.
May I come home to myself.
May I meet myself with compassion.
Take one fuller breath here.
A slow,
Easy exhale.
When you're ready,
Gently wiggle the fingers,
The toes.
And slowly allow the eyes to open if they have been closed.
Or lift the gaze.
Take your time.
And notice you're still here.
And perhaps a little more with yourself than you were before.
Thank you for joining me.
Sending me light and love and so much gratitude for our time together.
Hope to see you again.
