Find yourself a comfortable place where you are not interrupted.
You might be sitting on the floor in your chair.
Gently adjust your posture so you can be seated upright and relaxed at the same time.
Now release the muscle in your face.
Let your shoulder drop,
Your arm loose,
Your hands relax.
The palms can be faced up or faced out.
And whenever you are ready,
I invite you to gently close your eyes or gaze down.
Let's take three exhales through the mouth.
As you exhale,
Release on the thoughts that are on your mind.
And in the next exhale,
Release on the worries in your heart.
And the last exhale,
Release any tensions you are still holding in your body.
Let them all go.
Now let's get back to your natural breathing.
Let's use our natural breathing to help us anchor in this present moment.
So in the next inhale,
Let's follow your breath.
Place your attention on your breath and follow it as your body breathe in from the nose.
Follow the breath and feel your chest expands and your belly rise.
And as you exhale,
Feel your chest collapse,
Your belly falls and the air coming out from your nose.
Simply,
Enjoyingly follow your breath.
There might be some gentle movement in the body,
Just allow it.
There might be some thoughts or emotions that come and go,
Also allow them.
There might be noises in the background that distracts you from attention on the breath.
Just acknowledge them.
Acknowledge them all and let them go.
And return.
Return to your own breathing.
Oftentimes when we are very busy doing all the urgent and important things in our life,
We feel more and more uprooted in our body.
It is as if we only live our life in our head.
Because whatever comes in our senses,
The thing that we look at,
The thing that we taste,
The thing that we hear,
The people that we see,
The object that we touch,
The smell in the air,
Everything in our senses,
They are always there.
But we may not be aware of them because we are still stuck in the head with our thinking,
Our feelings,
Our planning,
Our anticipations and everything else but our own sensual experiences.
If you really pause and think,
They are what make us human.
Whatever you really experience through your senses,
They are the experiences that are real for you.
They carry very precious,
Valuable information about you and the life you are interacting with.
Whereas your thoughts,
Your thinking is a mental phenomenon that also comes and goes.
Comes and goes.
But we find ourselves being so attached with the thinking and so detached or disconnected with our own body sensations.
So in this exercise,
This is a simple way you can remind yourself to become alive in your body.
Without this precious body,
You cannot experience the feeling and the thinking because you are alive,
Can think and feel so much but you need this body to express,
To turn them into actions so that you really experience the human life in full.
So for now,
Simply become aware of your breathing.
Where is it that you feel your breathing in your body the most?
Next,
Become aware of the sensation in your body.
Sensation in your arms,
Your hands.
Sensation in your feet.
Sensation in your chest,
On your shoulder.
And sensation in your own face from behind.
What sensation are most present for you right now?
Is there any message behind the sensation?
Is there any pain or any suffering?
Is there any preoccupation of thoughts or emotion in these sensations that you are feeling on your body?
Next,
Become aware of any emotions that may arise in this present moment.
How can you feel your own emotions?
You feel it in your body.
You feel it in your heartbeats.
You feel it in the way you are breathing.
To feel if it is anything that is tight or constrained,
The feeling is confined.
The feeling is like something that's limiting you.
Wherever is this feeling that expands,
That's opening up,
That's vibrating,
That's blowing life into your body,
That is making your heart beat a little bit faster and stronger.
Tune into these emotions that your body is having and see if it can lead to any understanding about yourself.
And last,
Become aware of the thoughts that come and go.
Then also become aware of the thoughts that always are there,
The thoughts that are behind these emotions,
These sensations.
See what they are trying to tell you.
Is that just a random thought?
Is it a thought of an intention,
Of something that you really value and care for,
That you keep telling yourself,
Either in a form of gentle and compassionate reminder or in a form of self-criticism or judgement?
You are doing great.
Now the last thing when we become aware of our inner states is to respect,
Respect that we are going through these states and they are real.
So acknowledge them,
Accept them and if you can,
Just let them go.
Release and let them go.
Because you have become aware of them.
They are part of your understanding about yourself.
With understanding there will be clarity that will give you,
That will brighten the way that you see your own problems and issues.
You don't have to have always an answer.
All you need right now is to keep building on this awareness,
Trusting and letting go.
You can exhale right now and let go of all the concentration.
Thank yourself for taking the time to do this practice.
I hope it will become a habit of checking in for you.
I hope you enjoyed gaining more knowledge about yourself simply by doing this practice.
May you be well.
May you be healthy and strong.
May you be loved and may you always take care of yourself.
