Welcome to today's practice.
I invite you to find a comfortable position.
Settle into your chair.
Plant your feet firmly against the ground.
Feel your body melt into your chair.
Start to notice any places in your body where there might be tension and just breathe into those spaces.
Maybe your shoulders are feeling a little tense.
Try to pull them down and away from your ears.
Maybe you're holding tension in your jaw or between your brows.
Wherever you start to notice tension in your body,
Just breathe into those spaces and feel your body relax.
Feel your body relax.
Just breathe into those spaces and feel your body relax further into the chair.
Now I'll invite you to start attending to your breath.
Feel the way your chest rises as you breathe in.
Feel how your chest sinks as you breathe out.
You might have thoughts that are running through your mind,
Maybe stress from the day or thinking about all the things you have left to do.
And that's okay.
Just notice your thoughts and bring your attention back to your breath.
Feel the coolness of the air as you breathe in on the tip of your nose.
Feel the warmth of the breath as you breathe out.
Notice how your body feels as you sink further and further into the chair.
Your legs may become heavy.
Your shoulders may become heavy.
Feel your breath replenishing all the tense parts of your body.
Feel your body relax.
Feel your breath replenishing all the tense parts of your body.
If your mind starts to wander again,
That's okay.
Just let the thoughts pass and bring your attention back to your breath.
Feel your chest rise as you take a deep breath in.
As you breathe out,
Let it come out in an audible exhale,
Releasing all the tension from the day.
Now I'll invite you to imagine a stream of thoughts.
Now I'll invite you to imagine a stream,
A peaceful stream trickling over rocks or maybe trickling across the sand on a beach.
Whatever the stream looks like for you,
Just build it up in your mind.
Hear birds chirping in the background as the water washes over the rocks.
And start to notice leaves that are falling onto the stream without trying to change the pace of the water.
Just watching the leaves float by.
Maybe the water is rushing quickly or maybe it's slow.
Maybe the water is rushing quickly or maybe it's slowly moving by.
Any of those lingering thoughts that you have,
Place those thoughts,
The words of the thoughts onto the leaves and watch those thoughts just trickle by on the stream without trying to change them.
Maybe the thoughts are worries about something that happened today.
Maybe the thoughts are worries about the future.
Whatever the thoughts are,
Just place them onto the leaves and watch them go by without judgment,
Without trying to change them.
Take a deep breath in as you watch the leaves and the water pass you by.
And let a deep breath out.
Feel the coolness of the air as you breathe in.
And feel the warmth of the air as you breathe out.
Notice how your body is feeling as you imagine the water is flowing.
And the water is flowing.
Notice how your body is feeling as you imagine that stream and the noises of that stream as the water rushes by.
Take one final breath in,
Sending it to any spaces that are still tense in your body.
Feeling yourself melt further into the chair.
And feel the warmth of the air as you breathe in.
And on your next exhale,
I invite you to gently flutter your eyes open and come back to the present moment.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
And feel the warmth of the air as you breathe in.
And feel the warmth of the air as you breathe out.
And feel the warmth of the air as you breathe in.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Feel your breath replenish your body and your mind.
I hope you have a beautiful day.
