Welcome to your practice.
Finding a comfortable seated position,
With the spine straight and supported,
The shoulders are soft,
The head is easily resting between the shoulders.
Your hands might be gently resting in your lap,
Fingers interlace,
Resting on top of the legs.
Once you feel as though your seat is established,
Gently closing the eyes if that feels welcome for you.
If it doesn't feel great to close the eyes,
Keeping a soft gaze just a few feet in front of you,
And taking a full breath in through the nose,
And sigh out loud as you exhale.
Soften through the forehead,
Eyes,
And the jaw.
A breath to come in through the nose as you feel the heart and the ribcage expand with that breath,
And sighing out loud,
Softening through the shoulders,
Whole upper body,
All the way down to the hips on the exhale.
One more breath just like this,
In through the nose,
Feeling the diaphragm expand and the belly expand,
And again,
Sighing out loud,
Allowing the whole body to sink into the support beneath you as the breath finds its own natural rhythm.
You might notice that each breath flows fluidly one after the other,
And then easeful,
Effortless rhythm coming in through the nose and softly releasing through the nose,
And then gently scanning the body from head to toe and toe to head,
Noticing if there are any adjustments needed for your posture so that you can be even a little bit more comfortable.
Going ahead and making those adjustments now.
You might notice if there are any parts of the body that are calling for your attention,
Anything that feels uncomfortable,
Maybe is carrying pain,
The breath to move into these spaces,
Breathing into these areas of discomfort,
And softly exhaling from that place.
And you might mentally acknowledge each one of these areas,
Saying,
Oh,
Hello,
Sensation,
I see you.
Thank you for letting me know you need a little attention right now.
Continuing to move through the body in this way,
Noticing and acknowledging all sensations as they come into your awareness.
And now bringing your awareness upward to the very top of the head,
Top of the head to soften as you allow your awareness to travel into the forehead,
And softening through the forehead,
Smoothing out any lines or tension that's gathered here,
Softening through the eyebrows,
Both eyes,
Allowing the eyeballs to sink a little deeper into their sockets,
Softening through the temples,
Cheeks,
Allow the teeth to part just a little bit as the jawline softens,
Allowing the tongue to rest gently in the center of the mouth,
Softening,
Softening through the neck and the throat,
The shoulders,
Both shoulder blades,
And the entire length of the spine,
Just softening the chest,
The belly,
The whole abdominal area,
Softening,
Both arms,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Softening both wrists,
Both hands,
All 10 fingers,
Softening the whole head and the whole upper body,
Soft yet supported,
Both hips,
Buttocks,
And the pelvic floor,
Softening,
Softening through the upper legs,
Knees,
Shins and calves,
Both ankles,
And all 10 toes,
And both legs together,
Just soften the whole body,
Whole body together,
Soft and supported.
Now gently bringing awareness to the flow of the breath,
Imagine the breath entering in through the top of the head on the inhale,
Coming into the heart space,
Exhaling from the crown of the head down through the base of the spine,
Inhale from the base of the spine into the heart,
Exhale,
Heart through the crown of the head,
Inhale,
Crown to heart,
Exhale,
Heart to root,
Inhale,
Root to heart,
Exhale,
Heart to crown.
Continue breathing in this way,
Holding awareness at the transition point of the breath,
At the center of the heart,
Awareness resting at the center of the heart,
And here,
Sensing the space around you,
Begin to visualize an egg-like form,
An egg-like container that is the color that you associate with protection,
Comfort,
Sensing into that space that's around the body two to three feet in all directions,
And the space around you has this clear edge,
Clear edge two to three feet all around you,
Color,
Protection,
Safety,
Noticing that it might feel welcoming inside the space,
And from within this egg-like sphere,
You might notice that you can draw the edges in closer to you or expand them farther away.
You might experiment with this for a moment,
Moving the edges of your egg of light,
Drawing them in,
Extending them out,
Edges coming closer to the body or extending farther away,
And when you find the edge distance that is most comfortable for you,
That feels right for you,
Noticing that you can send out whatever you want through this field,
Compassion,
Kindness,
Anything at all that you want to give,
You can release through this field of light.
You can also send out things that don't belong to you,
Things that were projected onto you,
Perhaps judgments,
Beliefs,
Identities,
You can release these and place them outside of this sphere of light,
Sensing and seeing the color edge as clearly as you can,
Noticing that you can control what comes in,
Which you allow can enter.
You might even affirm this by stating gently,
What's yours is yours,
What's mine is mine,
I receive only that which is for my highest good and I release the rest with love.
Heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
What's yours is yours,
What's mine is mine,
I receive only that which is for my highest good,
I release the rest with love.
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
What's yours is yours,
What's mine is mine,
I receive only that which is for my highest good,
I release the rest with love.
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
I receive only that which is for my highest good and release the rest with love.
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
I receive only that which is for my highest good,
I release the rest with love.
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
My heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear,
May my heart be peaceful,
May my mind be clear.
Sensing into the space within the sphere of light,
The edges of your protective sphere of light,
You might find the color of the egg becoming brighter,
Clearer as you hold this boundary compassionately and clearly,
As you inhale,
Drawing that sphere just a little bit closer inward,
Feeling yourself resting inside its light,
As you begin to become aware of the space around you and around this sphere,
The room and space in which you sit,
The points of contact between your body and the support beneath and behind you,
Allowing the breath to deepen and to begin to invite soft movements into the fingers and the hands,
Perhaps rolling the wrists,
Opening and closing the palms and the fists,
And again,
Finding stillness.
As you take a full breath in,
Feeling fully into this sphere of light as you carry it with you and softly exhale,
Tucking chin to chest and pausing for a moment,
Letting a soft grin to form on the lips that welcomes you back into this moment,
This time and the rest of your day.
As you gently blink open the eyes and lift your gaze and reach the hands overhead into a nice stretch,
Reawakening the body as you reorient and continue your day,
Creating clear,
Compassionate boundaries.
