Welcome here or welcome back.
I'm Carly.
And for these next few minutes,
You're invited to step away from your thinking mind.
Let my voice wash over you and rest within yourself.
Maybe you've arrived with a busy mind.
Replaying something you said.
Questioning something you did.
Wondering what someone else might think of you.
Maybe comparing yourself with others.
Or noticing the familiar criticism that can arise around your own body or appearance.
That internal voice that compares.
Correct.
Finds thought and so easily notices what it believes should be different.
Today we're not trying to silence that voice.
We're not going to fight with it.
And we're certainly not going to judge ourselves for having it.
Instead,
This practice is an invitation to begin noticing that the voice you hear inside your mind is not the whole of you.
So,
If you haven't already,
Finding a position where your body can feel well supported,
Allowing your eyes to gently close if that feels comfortable,
Or simply softening your gaze.
Making any final adjustments your body might be asking for.
Maybe moving your shoulders,
Repositioning your head.
Allowing your hands to fall somewhere naturally.
Nothing needs to look a particular way.
This is your practice.
Taking a slow,
Comfortable breath in through your nose,
Allowing it to fill your chest,
Your ribs,
Maybe your belly.
And sighing it away through your mouth,
As though just for this moment you could release the need to evaluate what you're doing.
Another breath in.
And letting it go.
No good breath.
No bad breath.
Nothing to get right.
Just breathing and being here.
One more breath in through your nose.
Out through your mouth.
And as the body begins to settle you may like to introduce a quiet intention not something you have to convince yourself of.
Simply something you're willing to make a little space for.
Silently repeating I am learning to become a safe place for myself.
Once more.
I am learning to become a safe place for myself.
And then letting those words go.
No need to hold them.
No need to make them true.
Simply allowing them to rest somewhere within you.
Bringing awareness now to the crown of your head.
The forehead.
And the space between the eyebrows.
Maybe noticing if there is effort there.
A crease.
Beholding.
A concentration you hadn't realized was happening.
Without asking any of it to disappear.
Allowing the space between the eyebrows to soften.
Awareness to the white temple.
The left temple.
Both temples together.
The tiny muscles surrounding the eyes.
The right eye.
The left eye.
Both eyes together.
Maybe allowing the eyes to become heavy within their sockets.
Nothing to look for.
Nothing to watch.
Nothing to get by.
The bridge of the Niles.
The tip of the nose.
Both cheeks.
The upper layer.
Lovely.
Both lips together.
The tongue resting within the mouth.
And the jaw.
You might notice whether the teeth are touching.
Maybe allowing a little space between them.
The jaw loosening.
The muscles around the mouth softening.
The third.
The base of the throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Both collarbones together.
Right shoulder.
At the arm.
Everybody.
Lower arm.
Ways.
Palm of the right hand.
Um.
.
.
Second finger.
R.
I.
P So.
.
.
Little finger.
All five fingertips together.
The hold right hand.
The whole right arm.
Resting.
Back to the base of the throat.
To the left shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Ways.
Palm of the left hand.
Thumb.
Second finger.
With that finger.
Fool.
Thistle finger all five fingertips together.
The whole left hand.
The whole left arm.
Resting.
Awareness returning to the center of the chest.
The heart space.
No need for the heart to feel peaceful,
Grateful or open Simply recognizing whatever is here.
The waves.
The diaphragm.
Of the belly.
Navel lower belly.
And the God.
Maybe noticing in this quieter place beneath the thaw.
Not asking it for answers.
Simply listening.
The pelvis.
Right here.
Right.
Bye.
Me.
SIN anchor.
Here.
The soul of the fat.
The top of the third.
Big time.
Second.
Hey!
Cool.
Little toe,
The whole right foot.
A whole white leg.
Heavy.
Supporting.
To the pelvis.
And the left hip.
Left thigh.
Me.
Sing.
Ankle.
Heal The soul of the first.
The top of the third.
The big toe.
Second.
Hmm.
Four.
Little time.
The whole left foot.
Hold left leg.
Heavy and supportive.
Awareness traveling to the tailbone.
Lower back.
Metal part.
The space between the shoulder blades.
Both shoulder blades.
On the back of the neck.
Back of the head.
The crown of the head.
The whole back body.
The whole front body.
Both lives.
Both arms,
Head,
Neck and shoulders.
The entire body resting together,
Nothing separate.
Nothing being assessed.
Simply the experience of being here.
And resting with your breath now.
The natural rhythm of your breath.
Who might become aware of thoughts as they appear.
No need to follow them.
No need to empty the mind.
A thought arising,
Stays for a while,
And eventually changes.
Another arrive.
The mind doing what minds do.
And sometimes a thought may arrive carrying judgement.
You should have.
Why didn't you?
You were always.
You are not.
You should learn.
They probably think.
Maybe recognizing that even this is a thought,
Not a verdict.
Not an instruction.
And not even necessarily the truth.
Ancient yogic traditions spoke of samskaras.
Impressions deepened through repetition,
Like grooves formed by travelling the same path again and again.
Modern neuroscience offers us another language through neuroplasticity.
What we repeatedly think and practice can become increasingly familiar to the brain.
But familiar does not mean fixed.
And familiar does not mean true.
There is no need to erase an old pathway today.
Maybe simply noticing when you find yourself traveling along it.
And recognizing.
And maybe it's another way.
A little more curiosity.
A little less judgment.
A voice that speaks to you with the same humanity you might so naturally offer someone you care for.
And returning,
If you'd like,
To the intention you planted earlier.
I am learning to become a safe place for myself.
Again.
I am learning to become a safe place for myself.
Maybe noticing the words.
Learning.
There is no expectation that you already know how.
No requirement to get there today.
Only the possibility that each time you notice that old familiar voice,
You create a little space around it.
And within that space.
Something different becomes possible.
Beginning to become aware of the room around you again.
Sounds nearby.
Maybe sounds further away.
The temperature of the air against your skin.
And the surface beneath you.
Steady.
Supporting your way.
And if it feels good taking a fuller breath in through the nose,
Into the chest,
The ribs and the belly.
And releasing it in whatever way feels natural.
Maybe,
All to blame.
Or maybe with a sigh.
Small movements can begin to return to the fingers,
To the toes,
The wrists and the ankles,
Maybe the shoulders or the neck.
And allowing your body to stretch in whatever way feels needed.
And when it feels right for you,
Gently opening the eyes.
Welcoming the room back into view.
And maybe taking this quiet reminder with you.
Not everything your mind says about you deserves to be believed.
Some thoughts have simply travelled to the same path for a very long time.
And every time you meet yourself with awareness rather than judgment.
You may begin to create another.
Thank you for sharing this practice with me.
Each time you return,
You're offering yourself another opportunity to practice a different relationship.
With your own inner voice.
Not one built on perfection,
But maybe little by little,
One built upon trust.
With the greatest warmth.
Kali.
