Start to arrive through the physical body.
There's this feeling of landing,
Of arriving without having to be anywhere else.
There's no lift or push of the body to move.
The body is choosing to settle and rest into this position.
You might allow the hips to deepen towards the ground.
You might intentionally relax the jaw.
We hold a lot of tension in our jaws.
A nice thing that you could offer your jaw is to gently place your tongue behind the upper teeth and then intentionally release the jaw.
Your mouth might even slightly open in that process.
Just like the sides of the face just soften down.
And then once you've done that,
Release the tongue and gently seal the lips and feel that softness still on the sides of the face.
Invite that smoothness and softness now through the forehead and the shoulders.
Settling into practice through the body.
And then taking the deepest breath you've taken all day,
Inhale fully and exhale fully,
Letting it go.
It could be through the mouth or the nose to release.
And then take two more of those breaths.
Inhale to bring in everything that's been exhaled to release and relax into the present moment.
One more just for you.
And then sealing the lips,
Letting the breath now simply travel through the nostrils.
If you have a blocked nose for any reason,
You can gently breathe in and out of the mouth if you have to.
Nicely done.
And with the breath I simply invite you now to witness how it's moving your body.
Where can you sense the breath in your torso?
Can you stay there for the next few rounds and simply observe it?
That lovely movement of in and out,
That expansion and contraction.
Just witness,
Observe.
Nicely done.
From here we're going to start to move simply into an equal breath to begin with.
So starting to breathe to the count of four and out to the count of four.
Making the rhythm work for the breath that is present and allowing the breath to feel spacious and open.
This is the practice for the next 30-40 seconds.
So notice how present you can be with the breath before the mind takes you away.
And if the mind does take you away,
Which it will want to,
Are you able to come back to the breath time and time again?
Nicely done.
Feel free to stay within that pattern of breath if that is simple and supportive for you today.
Otherwise if you want to explore the calm style of breathing,
You'll start to breathe in for a count of four and exhale for a count of six.
So we're progressively extending the exhale now,
Just a couple of pulses longer than the inhale.
And it helps if you work the exhale in a way where you control and slow the exhale without giving all of your breath away instantly.
It's a real slow release.
You might even see that you go longer,
You could go to seven or eight if you choose.
So this is a technique,
This is the rhythm for the next few rounds.
Again just noticing how present you can be within the breath.
And it's okay if the mind wants to give you thoughts or ideas.
Can you become aware of them and gently say,
Thank you,
But I'm choosing the breath right now.
Explore.
And as you're working this breath,
Know that you're supporting your nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which is our rest and digest.
So we're supporting ourselves in a great unwind,
Simply through this breathing technique.
Two more rounds,
Wherever you are.
Nicely done.
And when you've had your two rounds,
Gently return into an easy breath,
A natural method of breathing.
Notice how nice it feels to not have to modify your shape,
Simply let the breath flow freely.
So placing your full awareness now,
Down into the hips.
And then find the centre between the left hip and the right hip.
And imagine a little flicker of light.
It could be a candlelight,
It could be any other version of light that you can visualise.
So imagine this light is starting here,
Between your hips.
Maybe it's the base of the spine,
Very centre.
And moving up now to your ribcage.
Noticing your ribcage and then finding the centre between the left and the right.
And again,
Allowing a light now to be flickered or switched on,
Here between the ribs.
And imagine that the lower light and that light were connected like a stream of light now.
And then noticing your ears,
Left ear and right ear.
Find the centre of these two points and allow that illuminating visualisation of a light to flicker here now.
And again,
Not on its own but connected to the lower light and the middle light,
Up into the centre of the head.
And imagine this light wasn't just contained here in the very centre of you,
It started to move through your entire body,
To the boundaries of your skin and beyond.
So imagine the atmosphere around you became a little bit more illuminated because of this simple visualisation.
And with this visualisation in mind,
We'll go on a journey of what finding your centre might feel like.
For one of the greatest skills that you can acquire is learning how to access your internal compass and to find your centre in times of turbulence.
Because we all encounter turbulence,
Turbulent people,
Turbulent situations or even seasons of our lives.
And what makes us all really different or unique is that we make different choices in response to these turbulent times or moments.
And we can lose our balance.
But when you know how to find your centre,
You can come into internal alignment.
This can completely transform how you perceive and respond to life and all that it brings forward.
And there are three pillars for centring.
The first pillar is awareness.
The second pillar is attention.
And the third pillar is intention.
So let's begin with pillar one today.
Awareness is the seed of all change and especially positive change.
When you sense that you've come out of alignment or away from that central part of you,
You have an opportunity to shift,
To make a conscious choice,
Supported by your internal state.
So this activity you can do again,
But let's explore it together today.
I want you to explore internally a situation or a person that is creating a little bit of turbulence for you,
Currently present in your life.
Maybe it's a relationship with a colleague or a project that you're working on that just isn't going smoothly.
Maybe it's a relationship with someone in your personal life.
Or maybe it's a situation that you don't know how to handle but you know needs to change.
Imagine this situation or person or relationship.
Imagine it from a place of centred balance,
A place of harmony.
And now visualise yourself moving effortlessly through this experience or situation with clarity,
Awareness and compassion.
Notice how it feels and notice what could happen when you come from this place.
When you move from your centre,
You move in a way that is aligned but also kind to those around us.
So just noticing if any resolve or even a gentle feeling comes when you start to imagine this situation or relationship from the perspective of a centred and balanced state of being.
And if there is someone in your life that has this essence or quality,
Seems to live from their centre,
That's just how they are in the world,
Imagine what they would do in this circumstance or with this turbulence.
And embracing and accepting whatever comes up and if nothing came up at all,
Take a moment of gratitude that you're currently living without turbulence.
It's not always the case.
Starting to deepen the breath now,
Allow the breath to fill the body once again.
Noticing where you are,
Where you've been,
How you're feeling.
Notice the environment by simply sensing the atmosphere around you,
Any textures against your body,
Any sounds in the room.
And when you're ready you could find some subtle movement to come through the body,
Some subtle movement to come through your practice,
Maybe through the fingers,
The toes.
And if you're lying down or even seated it might feel nice to rock the head left to right.
If you're seated you could lower your chin towards your chest and give the back of the neck a little stretch out.
And you might want to take your hands up and overhead and take a little body stretch.
In your own time you'll find a way to open your eyes and come back into your space.
