Coming into a seated position where we can be upright and alert but still relaxed.
Taking a moment to come into the space,
Closing your eyes if it's comfortable,
If not just casting the gaze downward to minimize distraction.
And turning our attention to the breath.
Not making any effort to control it.
Just noticing,
Allowing our awareness of the breath to bring us into the present moment.
Our minds can race all over time and space,
Particularly as writers,
I think we're prone to this.
But our bodies are always here and now,
So touching in with the body,
Noticing the breath is a great way to ground ourselves.
See if you can notice the subtle sensations of the ribcage expanding and then contracting.
Notice the air moving over the lips or through the nose.
Notice how the air is a little cooler on the way in at the back of the throat,
A little warmer on the way out.
See if you can notice that quiet moment where the inhale turns and becomes an exhale,
Or vice versa.
And checking in with the body as a whole,
Noticing what signals are coming to your mind in terms of how you're doing today.
Asking that question,
How are you and how do you know?
And trying to be as accepting as we can to whatever answer we find.
It's always lovely if we check in and find that our bodies are happy and healthy and comfortable.
You know,
That's a great place to be but sadly,
It's not always what we find when we check in.
Sometimes we're anxious or worried or sleepy and that's okay,
These are just other states of being.
So we try to just meet them,
Bring some acceptance and notice if it shifts as you acknowledge the sensations sometimes,
Particularly if it's a worry or anxiety.
Just acknowledging it can shift it or change it just a little bit,
Make a little more room in our consciousness for other things like our writing.
And then having acknowledged whatever is true for us today and in these bodies,
We can also bring in a bit of gratitude.
Even if things aren't exactly as we wish they were,
They're well enough for us to sit here and take a few deep breaths to make some time for our writing.
And that is a gift,
Definitely worthy of some gratitude.
Letting our appreciation fill our awareness for a moment or two,
Noticing if that shifts how we feel in our bodies,
Maybe not,
But just noticing.
And then letting go of the gratitude practice,
We will rest our attention on an anchor.
And in this way,
We hone our attention and our focus in preparation for writing.
So you can always turn back to the breath,
The breath is comfortable for you,
Focus your attention there.
But if focusing on the breath makes it feel tight or uncomfortable in any way,
It's really not unusual.
So just turn your attention to a different physical sensation in the body.
Getting curious about the sensations of the feet on the floor or the hands in the lap.
Or even turn your attention entirely outside the body to the sounds in the room.
Letting for each sound to rise and pass away,
Letting that attentiveness and patience be your anchor.
Wherever you choose to rest your attention,
Let it be a real place of rest for you.
A place to let all other thoughts just drift on by.
Knowing that sooner or later you will get caught up in a thought,
It's perfectly normal.
The goal here is to notice.
Then let that thought go,
Come back to the anchor,
Begin again.
We'll sit here for four more minutes.
Check in with your mind,
Just notice if it's wandering.
Come back to the anchor if you need to.
And in these last few moments,
If you'd like to go ahead and bring to mind whatever it is you're writing today,
Letting it fill your mind,
Come rise up into consciousness.
And in a moment I'll ring the bell three times and invite you to,
If you'd like,
Take one more deep breath before you open your eyes and get to work.
