And taking this moment now to check in with yourself.
Taking one or two fuller deep breaths to settle into your body.
So breathing into the lungs and slowly exhaling out your mouth.
And let's try that one more time.
Breathing in,
Letting the lungs expand on the inhale and slowly exhaling out.
Letting go of whatever tension or tightness or holding is able to soften and dissolve right now.
And breathing in and breathing out.
Just relaxing around your eyes,
Letting the jaw be soft.
Breathing into the neck and the shoulders.
And as you exhale just letting go of energy that's been held.
Whatever's willing to let go,
Just letting it go.
Breathing into the chest and the torso and the pelvis and relaxing even further as you exhale now.
Feeling the earth beneath your legs,
Your buttocks,
Your feet.
Breathing in and feeling held as you let go,
Dropping into your body in this moment.
Open and aware of any thoughts,
Sensations or emotions that are alive for you right now.
Any tingling or vibrations in your body.
Sensing the aliveness that's there as you sit.
Carving out this time to pause and just be.
Aware of the breath and the wise and natural rhythm of the body to breathe itself.
And already you might have noticed certain thoughts that arise in the mind and pull your attention.
Perhaps thoughts of the past,
Remembering judgments of what's good or bad,
Pleasant or boring.
Maybe even aware of worries or concerns,
Thoughts about the future,
Thinking and planning what will come,
What to do.
Noticing what's important in these thoughts,
The content of the mind that pulls.
Oftentimes this can be thoughts that are charged with emotion for us,
Some worry or concern,
Some area that feels vulnerable or challenging right now.
The mind thinking it must think in order to prepare or to solve a problem,
To protect.
And in this short practice,
Inviting you now to bring to mind one thing that can occupy your thoughts and dominate your mind.
Perhaps from today or recently some worry or concern in which you feel burdened.
Perhaps something that feels out of your control,
But nonetheless your mind tries to resolve it.
I'm noticing the charge to this thought,
How it feels in your body in this moment when you bring it alive for yourself.
I'm just breathing with it as you hold it in your awareness.
And now inviting you in gesture or words to surrender this issue,
This concern or question to the God of your understanding.
So whatever word you feel comfortable using to represent God,
Higher power,
Source,
Buddha,
Jesus,
Allah,
Divine,
Whatever word feels comfortable,
Whatever fits.
Sing with your whisper in your mind or out loud,
I surrender you now.
I surrender you to source,
I surrender you to this universe.
I let go of all need to know to control or decide.
I entrust this issue to you and I release any stress or strain to know and to fix.
Breathing out any energy that's being held around this issue,
Letting go.
You might imagine yourself giving a token or perhaps a symbol or a light,
A hue and a glow that represents this issue for you and giving it over to your image of the divine.
Seeing yourself in your mind's eye,
Feeling your body,
Release this from your mind and your heart,
Letting go,
Having faith that this is not yours to fix,
To know or decide in this moment.
Breathing in,
I entrust this to you and I release any stress or strain to know and to fix as you breathe out.
And just aware of how this feels in your body.
No judgment,
No need for evaluation,
Just present with what's there.
And if you wish before we close,
Perhaps enlisting a meaningful mantra that you use for yourself in these last moments for practice,
I offer one to you that I appreciate and I invite you to find one that fits with your needs right now.
And the one that I turn to often,
I am light,
I am love,
I am home,
I belong.
I am light,
I am love,
I am home,
I belong.
Taking one or two last breaths before the sound of the bell.
I'm wishing you wellness on your journey,
Hoping that in some small way,
This surrender practice will serve you on your path to awakening.
