Welcome to your practice.
Taking a moment to find a comfortable position,
Whatever that is for your body today,
That may be seated with something beneath and behind you supporting your back,
Or it may be lying down,
Perhaps with something beneath the knees and beneath the head to support the spine.
Taking a moment to honor the body and make any adjustments to your posture that are needed to support the greatest degree of comfort that you can invite in at this moment.
Once you've established a degree of comfort,
You might gently invite the eyes to close.
And if it doesn't feel great to close the eyes right now,
That's okay too.
You might simply allow the eyes to blur the vision slightly.
And from this place of support in the body,
Gently inviting a full breath in through the nose,
And then releasing the jaw and slowly sighing out loud as you exhale and soften through the forehead,
The eyes,
The jaw,
And even softening the tongue.
I'm drawing in another breath in through the nose,
Feeling the rib cage expand as the lungs fill with the breath.
And again,
Releasing the jaw and slowly sighing out loud,
Softening through the shoulders,
The length of the arms,
And the chest and the belly.
And one more breath in the same way,
In through the nose,
Feeling the diaphragm drop as the belly expands,
Taking in the gift of breath and releasing the jaw,
Sighing out loud,
Softly and slowly as the whole body sinks into the support beneath and behind you,
The whole body held.
And the breath now finds a natural rhythm,
Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other,
Finding an easeful,
Natural breath,
Your rhythm.
Gently scanning the body now from head to toe and toe to head,
Simply noticing if there are any parts of the body that are calling for your attention,
An area of discomfort or pain,
Something that perhaps needs an adjustment in position,
Allowing the breath to move into these places as you welcome them.
All sensations are welcome.
And now scanning your experience and noticing what emotions are present with you today.
And again,
Welcoming all.
You might notice,
Ah,
Hello,
Restlessness or worry.
I see you,
It's okay that you're here.
Or,
Oh,
Hello,
Sadness or excitement.
Thank you for letting me know that you're here.
I see you,
All is welcome,
All is okay.
And now gently bringing your awareness to the flow of the breath,
Noticing the length of the inhale and the length of the exhale.
You might even invite a gentle,
Rhythmic counting.
As you inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Release,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Finding an equal rhythm so that the inhale and the exhale are at the same length.
Each breath flowing fluidly,
One after the other.
Soft,
Rhythmic cycle.
And seeing if you can iron out the breath,
Allowing it to be as smooth as possible.
And from this smoothness in the body,
The flow of the breath,
Gently drawing the index finger and thumbtips of each hand together.
Index and thumbtips touching as the hands rest gently on the knees if you're seated or softly at the sides if you are lying down.
The rest of the fingers remain naturally curled.
The hands are soft,
The gentle point of contact between the index fingers and the thumb.
You might suddenly become aware of the point of contact in the fingertips,
Perhaps noticing the gentle pulse of your heartbeat in the tips of your fingers.
Or perhaps noticing nothing at all.
Noticing that you cannot do this wrong.
Simply holding awareness of your experience in this moment.
As you gently now move your awareness upward to the crown of the head.
Awareness resting at the crown of the head.
Moving to the point between the eyebrows,
Throat center,
Heart center.
Awareness resting at the navel,
Base of the spine.
Both thighs,
Both knees,
Both calves,
Ankles,
All 10 toes.
Now moving your awareness upward in the ankles,
Both calves,
Both knees,
Thighs,
Base of the spine,
Navel,
Heart center,
Throat center,
The point between the eyebrows,
The crown of the head.
Awareness resting at the crown of the head.
You might imagine now that the breath is drawing in through the crown of the head and traveling down into the center of the heart.
And then on the exhale,
The breath flows downward from the heart out through the base of the spine.
Continuing to breathe in this way,
In through the crown,
Down into the heart,
And then exhaling from the heart,
Releasing down through the base of the spine,
Drawing this energy downward through the space of the heart.
Drawing this energy downward through the space of the heart.
Breath is soft and long,
Fluid,
Steady.
As you draw the awareness now into that space of the heart,
Simply breathing in and out through the heart.
You might visualize here in the space of the heart,
A seed.
Sensing,
Seeing,
Connecting with this quality and image of a seed resting in the center of the heart space.
You might visualize the seed cracking open.
And as the seed cracks open,
A root comes down and breaks through,
Moving down through the soil.
Roots breaking through the soil.
Moving downward,
Reaching out in all directions.
Sensing,
Imagining,
Feeling the energy of the roots moving downward from the seed.
As you begin to notice that a stalk is also forming,
Gathering momentum and breaking through the earth and moving upward.
The stalk rising toward the sun.
From the stalk,
Leaves begin to form,
Catching the rain.
Roots pushing downward,
Stalk drawing upward.
Leaves spreading,
Blossoms forming,
Bursting open.
Blossoms burst and release new seeds.
Seeds that ride the waves of the wind,
Returning to the earth.
The cycle begins again.
Sensing into the energy of this cycle of creation,
Of growth and change.
Each stage,
A complete experience.
Seed cracking,
Roots moving,
Stalks growing,
Leaves bursting,
Blossoms forming,
Seeds releasing.
Each stage,
A complete experience,
Whole and complete and evolving.
Growing and changing,
Releasing,
Evolving,
Growing,
Changing,
Releasing,
Evolving.
Now sensing and seeing yourself here in the center of your heart.
Seeing this image of yourself clearly as you softly call your name to yourself.
Calling your name to yourself and directing these words to this image of you and your heart.
You are whole and complete and you are growing and evolving.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow all that needs to come to come.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow all that needs to come to come.
I see you.
I'm here for you.
You're not alone.
Calling your name to yourself.
You are whole and complete and you are growing and evolving.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow all that needs to come to come.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow all that needs to come to come.
I see you.
I'm here for you.
You are not alone.
Calling your name to yourself.
You are whole and complete and you are growing and evolving.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow all that needs to come to come.
Let go of everything that needs to go and allow everything that needs to come to come.
I see you.
I'm here for you.
You are not alone.
You are not alone.
Deepening the breath,
Just feeling the energy of these words and now gently repeating the following.
May I let go of all doubt and uncertainty.
May I remember my value and vision.
May I be kind to myself on this journey of growth and change.
May I trust my inner vision.
May I trust my inner wisdom.
May I trust.
May I trust.
May I let go of all doubt and uncertainty.
May I remember my value and my vision.
May I be kind to myself on this journey of growth and change.
May I trust my inner wisdom.
May I trust.
May I trust.
May I let go of all doubt and uncertainty.
May I remember my value and vision.
May I be kind to myself on this journey of growth and change.
May I trust my inner wisdom.
May I trust.
May I trust.
May I trust.
All is well.
All is well.
Deepening the breath,
As you gently begin to become aware of the points of contact between the body and the support beneath and behind you.
The breath deepens as you carry the quality of these words through the whole body.
On the next inhale,
You might gently bring all the fingers closed into a fist.
And on the exhale,
Gently opening them out wide.
And continuing to open and close the fingers with the rhythm of the breath.
And the feet might gently join,
Also toes curling and extending.
Soft,
Subtle movements.
As you begin to invite the body to transition from practice.
And deepening the breath,
You might draw the arms overhead into a really nice stretch.
And then releasing the arms to the side.
Then gently bringing the palms together.
Rubbing the hands together,
Generating some heat.
And once the hands feel nice and warm,
Placing one hand on top of the heart and the other hand on top of that.
And feeling the warmth of your hands holding the heart.
The soft,
Gentle pressure of your own embrace.
Noticing that you're in good hands.
As you take a full breath in through the nose.
Softly sighing out with a good exhale.
One more full breath in.
Rich exhale,
Tucking chin to chest and pausing here.
Inviting a soft grin to form on the lips.
One that says,
Yes,
I am growing and evolving and all is well.
Gently opening your eyes.
As you bring your grin and your gaze back to the center of the space around you.
You might take a moment to write in a journal,
Have a sip of water.
And then take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
As you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as you take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
