Begin by coming into a comfortable position.
You can either stand,
Sit or lie down.
Whatever feels comfortable to your body in this moment.
Feel free to adjust your body in any manner that will help you feel more relaxed.
As you are settling in,
Allow your eyes to either close or you can lower your gaze just to limit visual distraction.
As you close your eyes and turn your attention inward,
Becoming aware of the air around you.
So connecting with the environment around you through the sense of touch.
Feeling the air in this space through the parts of your body that are exposed to it like maybe your hands or maybe your face.
Noticing the temperature of air surrounding your body.
Maybe if it is windy in the place you are settled right now,
Then you might also notice your hair move with the wind or maybe your clothes fluttering.
And if it is still,
Then noticing how does the stillness in your environment feels like.
Noticing if the air around you is humid or maybe it is dry.
And now that we are connected with the space around our body,
We are going to turn our awareness on our bodies and the way we are going to become aware of our bodies is through our hands.
Move one or both of your hands to the top of your head and noticing and feeling the hair on your head.
And if you don't have one,
Then you can notice and feel your scalp.
Maybe moving your hands or fingers a little bit just to feel the whole shape of your skull.
And as you move the fingers of your hands over your head,
Also noticing the sounds that the hair and the hands together make.
If at any moment your hands start to get tired,
You can always lay down your hands for a bit to let them rest and then pick up again.
And once you have traced the whole head from front to the back,
Resting your hands on your neck,
Thanking your neck for how it supports your head for the whole duration that you are awake.
If you feel some tension in your neck,
You're welcome to massage it a little bit.
Letting the stress in your neck melt away.
And now let one of your hands rest in your lap and place the other hand on your forehead.
Feeling how does your hand feels like on your forehead.
Maybe it is warm or maybe it is giving away some coolness on the skin of your forehead.
If you feel like you can even massage your forehead,
Just letting go of any tension in this area of your body.
Pressing around your eyebrows,
Feel free to use both of your hands if you need to.
And now resting both of your hands in your lap and noticing what does it feels like to pay attention to your head,
Neck and forehead in this way.
Feeling the sensations in this area of your body and now bringing your attention to your shoulders.
Noticing if you are slouched over or maybe your shoulders are a little bit stiff.
If that's the case,
You can bring your shoulders closer to your ears,
Lifting them up,
Squeezing them tight and then letting go.
And one more time paying attention to your shoulders and now moving your shoulders from the front to the back.
So rotating them towards the back so that you become straight,
Your spine becomes straight and noticing how does it feels like to sit with a straight spine.
And a head that is in alignment with the spine.
Noticing how does this posture makes you feel.
Does it make you feel alert or does it makes you feel lazy?
And now I invite you to join the palms of your hands like in a prayer position and now that both the palms of your hands are connected,
Start to rub them to generate heat.
Generating heat within the palms of your hands.
Becoming aware of the sound they generate.
And once they become heated enough,
Allow the palms of your hands to rest on your eyes,
Allowing your eyes to absorb the heat.
Feeling and seeing the darkness that it creates in your eyes and whenever you are ready,
You can lower both of your hands and let them rest in your lap.
And noticing now that when the hands are no more on the eyes,
Has the view changed in any manner with your eyes closed?
Can you see light even with your eyes closed?
And whenever you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes,
Looking around you and connecting back with the environment around you.
And noticing now that when you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes,
Looking around you and connecting back with the environment around you.
And noticing now that when you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes,
Looking around you and connecting back with the environment around you.
And with the out-breath,
Letting go of this practice.
