Take a moment before anything else to simply arrive.
You don't have to do anything with this time yet.
There is nowhere to get to.
No version of yourself,
You need to perform.
Just notice that you are here.
That you woke up.
That the body is breathing right now without you having to ask it to.
Feel the weight of your body where it rests.
The contact with the surface beneath you.
And the temperature of the air.
This right here.
This meditation is the beginning of something that our brains actually need.
Not a luxury,
Not a nice to have.
Research into how the brain functions tells us that when we deliberately orient ourselves to what is good,
To what is working,
To what we value.
What we are glad of,
We begin to shift the chemical environment of the mind.
Dopamine,
Serotonin.
A nervous system that starts to feel at least a little like it's on your side.
And so this morning we are not performing positivity,
We're not pretending everything is fine.
But just gently,
Carefully turning the light into a different direction.
So just letting your eyes close or just softening the gaze downwards if that feels more comfortable.
And just begin to let the breath slow.
Just a little.
Nothing forced,
Just allowed to find its own depth.
Just breathing in through the nose gently.
And just breathing out a little slower than the in-breath.
That longer exhale is a signal to your nervous system that you are safe.
And that nothing needs to be solved right now.
Just doing that again here in gently.
And out slowly all the way.
And just staying with that rhythm.
Just for a moment as we allow the body to settle.
And now without reaching or straining.
Can you just let your mind move gently towards something small?
Something from yesterday.
This morning.
Or just from the quiet,
Ordinary fabric of your life.
Something that you are in some way glad of.
It doesn't need to be significant.
In fact,
The smaller the better.
Could be a cup of something warm.
Light coming through a window.
Conversation that felt easy.
The fact that your body carried you through another day.
Just letting something come and when it does,
Stay with it.
Don't just think it,
See if you can really feel it.
Can you feel into that place in the body?
That feels that gratitude,
That feels that acknowledgement.
And where does that sense of gladness land?
The chest and the shoulders softening,
A slight warmth somewhere.
Tingling and expansion.
That felt sense,
That small shift in the body.
It's the brain beginning to do something different.
Just staying with it here.
Let it be real.
Now maybe letting your attention move towards a person.
Someone whose presence in your life in some way,
Large or small,
Past or present,
That you are glad of.
There might be someone close.
There might be someone that you don't see often.
It might even be someone from a long time ago who left something good in you.
Let their face or simply their presence arise in your mind.
Notice what happens in the body when you bring them to mind.
No message to send.
No words to find.
Just hold them here for a moment.
Just with that quiet sense of,
I am glad you exist.
And now without any kind of pressure,
Can we turn some of that same attention towards ourselves?
This is often the harder direction.
We are rarely taught to look at ourselves with the same warmth that we offer others.
But see if you can find just one thing about yourself that you are quietly glad of.
Maybe it's something you did this week.
Maybe it's a quality you carry.
Maybe it's the fact that you keep showing up,
Even when it isn't easy.
You do not have to earn this.
You do not have to have done it perfectly.
Just,
I did something.
I tried.
I'm still here.
Let that be a nod.
Just taking a moment now to let all of that the small thing.
A person.
Quiet acknowledgement of yourself.
Let all of that just rest together.
We don't need to hold it tightly.
We don't need to remember it.
And the brain has already begun its work.
Even just a few minutes of this kind of attention changes what is prime to notice.
You might even find as the day goes on that you catch more moments of gladness.
Small ones,
Ordinary ones.
That is not coincidence.
And that's your nervous system.
Doing what it does best when we give it the right conditions.
So just taking that with you today.
Not a task,
Not as a discipline,
Just as a quiet permission.
To notice what is good as well as what is hard.
Both are true.
Both will always be true.
But this morning you chose to start with what is good.
Take a breath in.
And a breath out.
When you're ready,
Just beginning to bring your awareness back into the room.
A little movement in the hands or the feet if that helps.
When you open your eyes,
Carry whatever you found here with you.
Going gently into your day.
