Let's begin by settling into a comfortable,
Relaxed yet awake posture.
Sense the areas of your body that touch the chair or the floor.
Notice the sensation of the air around you.
Now come to experience the body breathing.
Notice the physical sensations of the breath flowing in and the breath flowing out.
What part of the body do you feel this most vividly?
Perhaps you experience cool air flowing into the nose,
Warmer air flowing out.
Perhaps it's a gentle rise and fall of the chest,
Or the belly expanding and receding.
Settle in now to the area that you choose to focus on.
Make the intention to follow your breath,
Experiencing the breath lightly as a butterfly would touch down on a flower.
Take the next several moments to experiencing this.
Breath flowing in,
Breath flowing out.
Finally experiencing the body breathing.
And of course,
Your mind will wander.
Note what thoughts are arising.
Many people begin with self-judgment.
You may be thinking,
I can't do this.
Look at all the thoughts that interfere with my focus on the breath.
Just not good at this.
So I invite you to reflect on a moment in your life where you felt judged.
Did you feel judged as a friend,
As a parent,
Or at work?
As this judgment arises,
Notice what part of the body reacts to this thought.
Where is the tension in your body right now?
Did you now begin to criticize yourself?
It's almost contagious.
Now invite that critical voice to settle.
Acknowledge its presence and know that it has something to teach you.
Place your hand on your heart and offer kindness to yourself,
Treating yourself as you would your best friend.
Breathing in spaciousness,
Breathing out and offering yourself a blessing of ease.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Wishing yourself loving kindness because we are all deserving of loving kindness.
Namaste.
