Welcome.
My name is Colin,
And this is a 10-minute centering practice.
Begin by finding an upright and comfortable position.
We will center the body,
And then the breath,
And then the brain,
Or the mind.
Start by taking any movements that might feel good.
If you haven't stretched today,
This is your invitation to do so.
Perhaps reaching up overhead,
Sending one arm a little further than the other,
As if you're picking apples left,
Right,
Left,
Right.
Maybe some gentle twists,
Reaching up and over to the side,
Or some cat and cow movements,
Bending the spine forward and backward a few times.
Once you feel settled,
Find your seat.
Imagine an anchor coming down out of the middle of your pelvis and rooting you into the floor.
Feel your shoulders above your hips.
It might be helpful to lean forward and backward until you find that sweet spot.
And balance your ears over your shoulders.
For most of us,
This means moving the head back.
Roll the shoulders up to the ears back and down,
And keep them back and down so the chest is nice and broad.
Create space for the lungs to do their work,
And then let the back of the skull float up.
Let the chin drop slightly so the bottom is parallel with the floor,
So the head is nicely perched on the end of your spine.
Take a moment to feel into your body.
Notice any places of obvious tension,
And see if you can let them go even just a little bit,
Two or three more percent.
Continue to play with finding center and staying there.
And you'll know you've found a center when you feel a sense of ease,
When the bones,
Your natural scaffolding,
Are doing the work of holding up your body so that the muscles,
Which often take over and compensate for imbalance,
They get to relax.
Center the breath now,
Letting it go,
Breathing in fully in through the nose,
And out through the nose,
Letting the breath move naturally in and out through the nose.
Start to smooth it out so that the inhalations and exhalations blend together,
And then start to slow it down.
When we balance the breath by making the inhalations and exhalations about the same length,
We balance the nervous system.
The breath acts as a bridge between the mind and the body.
It's something that is both an unconscious behavior,
If we're not thinking about it,
We will still breathe,
And it's also something we can consciously work with.
Let the breath be smooth and steady and slow,
Quiet,
Easy.
We can then bring our mind,
Our brain into the present by taking it out of the past,
Out of the future,
And onto the sensations of the present moment,
The sounds,
The feelings,
The temperature.
You can notice the quality of your thinking,
And then bring your attention to the top of your head,
The crown,
The scalp,
And just start to move your attention through the body,
Simply noticing what's present without judging it,
Without trying to change it.
There's no agenda,
No need to adjust anything,
Just notice,
Notice how your body,
How your breath,
How your brain,
Notice how they are showing up right now in the truth of the present moment,
Scanning your awareness down,
Your scalp,
Your face,
Forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Lips,
Tongue.
If you feel any tension,
Feel free to relax it,
But no need to change anything.
Observe the tops of your shoulders,
Down the upper arms to the elbows,
From the elbows to the wrists,
Down to each finger individually.
Return the awareness to the top of the torso,
Scan down the upper torso,
The front and the back,
The middle torso,
Front and back,
And the lower torso,
Your abdomen,
Front and back.
You can scan from the top of your head quickly,
Down the head,
The neck,
The arms,
And the torso.
As we complete the picture,
Noticing the pelvis,
The hips,
And the genitals,
The upper legs,
Simply observing any sensation,
And even observing a lack of sensation,
Just noticing whatever it is we find.
Scan down from the knees to the ankles,
Notice your feet,
Your individual toes,
Let your attention soften as you feel into your body,
As if you have an image of your body sitting in the exact posture that you're in right now,
See it in your mind's eye,
Notice the sensations of touch happening on the body,
Feeling of close,
Of the air against the skin,
Notice tension,
Notice ease,
Notice also any emotional states,
Which often come in the form of tension,
Or a feeling of expansion,
Notice if there's an absence of these,
If there feels like there are no emotions present,
And finally notice your thinking once more,
Cloudy or clear,
All over the place or focused,
Or somewhere in between,
Slowly open your eyes if they're closed,
Notice the sensations in your body,
Notice the breath moving in and out through the nose,
Notice the mind focusing on whatever is in front of you,
Or around you,
And bring some of this quality of centeredness into the rest of your day,
Remembering that at any point,
You can center the body,
Center the breath,
And center the brain.
Take care.
