Welcome.
I invite you to leave your concerns and worries from today that you may have brought with you behind you.
This is an invitation to leave those at the door and to begin to draw awareness towards yourself here and now.
Find a comfortable seat for yourself,
Preferably sitting upright with your legs crossed,
Finding length in the spine and space between the vertebrae,
Including space at the top of the spine.
And I welcome you now to gently close your eyes.
Begin to notice your breath.
On your next exhale,
Release any remaining tension or stress,
Letting it all fall away with the breath.
Begin to allow one palm to gently rest on your lower belly and the other on your chest.
On your next inhale,
Draw the breath in for a count of four,
Allowing it to naturally lift the bottom hand and hold at the top.
And slowly exhale,
Releasing the breath completely.
Repeat again,
Allowing for the air to draw all the way to the hook of the tailbone and filling up the spine as you continue for a count of four and hold.
Now slowly release the breath,
Allowing the breath out.
One last time,
Drawing in the fullest breath yet,
Noticing both hands rise on the inhale and hold for a count of four and slowly release it all out.
We'll allow the breath to rise and fall in its natural rhythm.
Release the hands comfortably in your lap or resting them on either knee,
Whatever feels right for you,
And draw your focus and awareness to the center of your chest.
Begin to imagine your next inhale filling up this space,
Your heart,
With healing,
Goodness,
And love.
We will begin by drawing a focus on love inward first before drawing our awareness to loving others.
Now imagine looking at yourself,
Maybe in a mirror,
And imagine saying to yourself,
May I be truly happy.
May I be truly healthy.
May I be safe from inner and outer harm.
May I care for myself joyfully.
Allow any feelings or sensations that arise to come into focus,
Perhaps noticing how you feel and knowing that it's perfectly fine if you notice no new sensation at all.
Now bring to mind someone you love,
Possibly a dear friend.
Imagine someone you have a close connection with and love dearly.
Visualize this person as if they were right in front of you and imagine saying to them,
May you be truly happy.
May you be truly healthy.
May you be safe from inner and outer harm.
May you care for yourself joyfully.
Simply notice any changes in mood of how you may feel,
Even any subtle changes that may arise.
Now bring to mind an acquaintance,
Someone you hardly know.
Sometimes the first person to come to mind is a good fit for this.
And imagine them standing in front of you and say to this person,
May you be truly happy.
May you be truly healthy.
May you be safe from inner and outer harm.
May you care for yourself joyfully.
Now draw to mind someone you may find difficult or who has disappointed you in their treatment of you.
And like you,
They desire safety and love.
Picture this person in front of you and imagine saying to them,
May you be truly happy.
May you be truly healthy.
May you be safe from inner and outer harm.
May you care for yourself joyfully.
This may be hard.
You are not condoning their actions or their treatments of you or others.
You are purely seeing them as another human being with the same needs as you.
And now draw your focus back inward.
Draw compassion back to yourself and notice how you feel.
Notice any sensations or physical change in the body without holding any judgment.
Take a few deep breaths here.
Draw awareness to the points of contact,
Perhaps the floor or the bottom of your feet.
And when you're ready,
Begin to open your eyes,
Drawing awareness back to the here and now.
Take a moment to reflect on how it feels to take time for yourself.
