Welcome,
You are here and that is enough.
This is a space to exhale,
To soften,
To reconnect with something deeper than the storm.
Today is not about fixing anything,
It's about remembering what was never broken.
Let's begin with the breath.
Let your eyes gently close if that feels safe and supportive.
Notice your body in this moment.
Let yourself land fully into wherever you are.
Sitting,
Lying down,
Resting.
Allow the surface beneath you to support your weight.
Let yourself be held without effort.
And now,
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
And slowly release through your mouth.
Again,
Inhale deeply,
Letting the breath expand your belly and chest.
And exhale,
Letting the tension drop from your shoulders.
One more time.
Full breath in.
And full breath out.
Begin to notice what is present in your body right now.
There's no need to label or change it.
Is there tightness?
Softness?
Heaviness?
Numbness?
Just notice.
Be with it gently,
Like you would sit beside a friend who's feeling tender.
There's no need to make anything go away.
This is a space for awareness,
Not for fixing.
If you're here,
Perhaps you've been caught in the swirl of stress,
Anxiety or overwhelm.
That full body feeling,
Like everything is too much,
Too fast,
Too loud.
I know that feeling well.
It's like a storm inside the chest,
The belly,
The back of the throat.
And yet,
Even storms pass.
Even the sky holds them without effort.
Overwhelm can feel all-consuming.
But it is not the truth of you.
It is the movement of thought.
It is the weather,
Not who you are.
So pause with me here.
Let the breath begin to lengthen naturally.
Let the inhale rise like a tide.
Let the exhale soften like sand under your feet.
Place a hand gently on your heart or your belly if that feels good.
Feel the warmth of your own touch.
Let this be a reminder.
You are safe in your own presence.
Let's speak for a moment about thought.
From a three principles perspective,
All feelings arise from thought in the moment.
Not from circumstances.
Not from what's on your calendar.
Not even from what's unfinished.
Overwhelm does not come from your to-do list.
It comes from the thought that all of it must be done right now.
It comes from the mind racing ahead,
Building stories,
Making predictions,
Measuring your worth.
Notice how convincing the mind can be.
It says you're behind.
It says you're not enough.
It says you need to do more,
Be more,
Push harder.
But you're here now.
Listening.
Breathing.
Being.
And that is enough.
Breathe in deeply.
And release.
Now let's come back to the body.
Scan gently from the crown of your head down to your eyes.
Can they soften a little?
Your jaw,
Can it release just a touch?
Down the neck and shoulders,
Can you drop the weight you're holding there even a little?
Move your awareness slowly through the arms,
The hands,
The fingers.
Down the chest,
Into the belly.
Maybe you notice the rise and fall as you breathe.
Let the belly be soft.
Let it lead the breath.
Travel down into the hips,
The bottom,
The thighs.
Feel the support beneath you.
You don't have to hold everything yourself.
Keep scanning.
Knees.
Calves.
Ankles.
Feet.
Feel the ground.
You are grounded.
You are here.
Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed our energy is pulled up and out into the head.
Into future possibilities,
Into imagined failures.
This is your reminder to come back in.
Into the body.
Into the breath.
Into now.
Let's stay here a little longer.
Stillness is not laziness.
It is not avoidance.
It is the gateway to clarity.
And if the mind wants to pull you back into thinking,
Let it.
Let it chatter in the background like a TV you're no longer watching.
You don't need to turn it off.
You simply no longer need to believe everything it says.
What if you didn't need to respond to every thought?
What if you didn't need to solve everything this minute?
Overwhelm says go faster.
Wisdom says pause.
Let that land in your body.
Breathe.
Pause.
Feel.
Overwhelm tries to convince us that the pressure is real,
That the threat is urgent.
But pressure is a sensation created by the mind.
It is not truth.
It is not reality.
You are not behind.
You are right here.
Let your awareness settle into the space behind your thoughts.
Beneath the urgency.
There is something deeper here.
A quiet presence that is not touched by the storm.
A calm that has never left you,
Even if it was covered over.
This is not about creating peace.
It's about remembering that you are peace.
You were never broken.
You have always been whole.
You have simply forgotten.
And that is okay.
Let's breathe here together.
A few deep,
Steady breaths.
Let the inhale stretch gently through your body.
Let every exhale be an offering of release.
Now,
A few moments of stillness.
A few moments to rest in the quiet you carry within you.
Let this be your anchoring truth.
You do not need to earn your calm.
You do not need to finish the list to feel okay.
You can feel the storm and still find shelter within.
A little while longer now to rest in this awareness.
No effort.
No fixing.
Just remembering.
And as we come to the end of this practice,
Begin to gently return.
Feel your breath.
Feel your body.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Know this.
Calm is not a reward for getting things right.
It is a remembering of what's already within you.
The next time overwhelm rises,
Pause.
Come back to your body.
To your breath.
To this moment.
This is your anchor.
This is your peace.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Take one last breath in.
And one soft breath out.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for remembering.
You are not the storm.
You are the sky that holds it.
Thank you for being here.
