Hello and welcome.
So this guided practice that I'm offering you today is simply a way to connect to your body,
To open up trapped energy,
And to move some of the stuckness so that you can come back to a little bit more of you.
So you are your best teacher.
I am not offering a prescription or something that will work for everybody.
So as I invite you,
As I guide you,
Listen to you,
Let your body lead,
And feel into right relationship to this practice,
To me.
Really feel how this is your time to do what you need to do for your body,
Heart,
Soul.
So the general outline will be to begin standing or seated.
And I'll invite you to start to work with effort that's in the body.
And I'll invite you to bring movement and breath.
So you might want some space that allows you to do that.
And then we'll close with a little rest.
So having a place to lay down.
So,
Finding your feet,
Or sitting with your feet on the ground,
And just starting to find your breath.
To feel the breath.
To feel what it's like to breathe.
To feel how the body might want to breathe.
It might feel good to let out a sigh.
And as you breathe,
Doing whatever you want to,
That might allow you to be a little bit more here as a body.
So maybe bringing some movement to the face,
Or letting out a sound,
Or dropping any extra effort.
Just feeling how can I land right here,
Right now,
Meeting myself as a body.
And then I'll invite you to start to put your attention on physical sensations in the body.
So,
Temperature,
Density,
Pressure,
Movement.
When we contact physical sensations,
We're directly contacting life.
It's one of the ways we experience ourselves.
It's the language of the body.
So,
Feel what is here.
Effort,
Tension,
Pain,
Spaciousness,
Warmth,
Tingles,
Without fixing or changing anything.
Just notice.
And you're going to start to scan the body for effort,
For sensations and areas of the body.
That feel tight,
Or held,
Or contracted,
Or stuck,
Or for some reason just really pull your attention.
And you're going to choose one or two areas that stand out.
And you're going to get really curious about what is happening.
Without changing it,
What is happening in that area,
Or areas?
What are the sensations,
The qualities of energy?
How is it happening?
Is it happening?
And then for just a few breaths,
I'm going to invite you to increase,
To emphasize,
Whatever you are noticing,
As if you could turn up the volume.
So,
If there's a tightening,
Can you tighten a little bit more?
Just 20%.
Just increasing,
Emphasizing,
Leaning into what it is that you're noticing in this area,
Or areas.
Continuing to breathe.
We won't stay here long.
Just a few more breaths,
Feeling what this is like.
And then you're going to start to deepen the breath.
And as you do,
You're going to slowly start to drop that extra effort.
Starting to soften and let go.
Bringing in lots of breath.
And I'll invite you to bring in some movement.
So we're starting to open up stuck energy.
From a body standpoint,
Anxiety is just trapped energy.
So how right now,
With your breath,
With your movement,
With sound,
Can you start to let the body lead and open up?
Following impulses.
Being a body as best as you can.
Keep breathing,
Keep moving,
Keep opening and undoing and letting go of effort.
And see if you can notice there might be little movements of energy or tingles or temperature shifts.
Can you follow it?
Can you say yes to whatever is unfolding as a body?
So in a physical way,
With movement,
With breath,
With sound,
With impulses.
Letting the body lead.
Letting yourself be as free as possible.
Increasing the breath if you're really stuck in the head.
Letting out some sound.
Continuing to breathe and move and open up.
Just a few more moments here.
Giving yourself full permission.
Movement,
Breath,
Sound,
Stillness.
But being a body in relationship to the is-ness that's here.
The emotions that's here.
The sensations that are here.
Memories,
Images,
Impulses.
Being a body for a few more breaths.
Following,
Trusting this unfolding.
And if this is feeling really good and the body wants to keep moving,
Pause the recording.
Keep going.
If you're starting to notice a completion happening,
Then I'll invite you to take the next few breaths to find how the body might want to start to complete this part of the practice.
Finding a place either to stand or to sit.
And once again,
Dropping the attention down into the body and noticing what is here at the level of physical sensations.
Warmth.
Softness.
Tingles.
Vibrations.
Heaviness.
Noticing the quality of energy.
And you might return to those areas or area that stood out at the beginning and just notice what is there now.
How it feels now.
And then I'll invite you to feel for an area or a sensation that for whatever reason feels good,
Or easy,
Or nourishing,
Or if things are feeling hard,
Maybe something that feels a little less hard or a little less bad.
Just taking your time to scan the body.
What stands out that feels neutral or good?
And then I'll invite you to feel for a sensation that feels good or easy.
And then if you find something,
Drop all your attention into that space.
Really get to know it.
What sensations are here that let me know this feels good or neutral or better?
What is the quality of energy?
What is this space like?
How do I know that this feels good or better?
And then just like we did before,
You're going to see if you can emphasize it,
If you can increase it,
If you can turn up the volume on it,
If this can take up a little bit more space.
So that might look like just attention,
Permission,
Or maybe there's breathing,
Or movement,
Or sound.
Letting this goodness take up more space,
Turning up the volume,
Saying yes.
Saying yes.
And taking a few more breaths to really lean into what feels good.
To increase it,
To let it take up more room,
To really let it in as best as you can.
Breathing into it.
And I'll invite you to start to move into some rest.
So finding a place to lay down,
Letting your body integrate and digest energy that moved.
Really letting yourself be held by the earth.
And letting yourself receive this practice.
So the music will fade out and that will complete this practice for today.
