Take a moment to settle yourself into the body,
Closing down the eyes or softening the gaze.
When you're ready you're drawing a nice deep breath in and letting go with a big sigh.
Maybe repeating this a couple more times,
Just allowing that sense of settling to wash right through you.
Connect with that feeling of rooting down through the sit bones,
Just sinking in,
Surrendering.
At the same time finding that light lift up through the crown of the head and in all of those spaces in between,
Just finding room for the breath to move freely around the belly,
The ribs,
The chest and the shoulders.
Feel into how the rhythm of the breath has already begun to slow and settle down.
Allow for that sense of settling to continue all around the body,
Softening the outermost edges of the body,
Softening everywhere that comes into contact with furniture beneath you,
All the parts where one area of the body meets another.
Maybe the hands as they settle in the lap or the cross of the legs.
Without any force or hardening of the breath,
Start to watch it as it moves through its cycle,
Following that path of the cooler breath in through the nose,
Down into the belly and then softly letting the mouth fall open,
Feeling the warmth now of the air as it leaves the body.
Notice any natural gentle pauses at the top or bottom of each breath before it changes direction.
As the breath tracks in and out of the body,
Can you feel for any physical movement that comes with that cycle?
A soft rhythmic movement of the outermost part of the body,
Around the shoulders or around the belly,
Perhaps tuning into a subtler inner sensation,
A hum of vibration in the throat,
Down in the belly.
As you watch it flow,
Come to connect to the length of the inhale and the exhale,
Perhaps even counting silently in your head.
Without trying,
You might notice how each part of the cycle,
That inhale and exhale,
Naturally want to fall into an equal rhythm.
If it feels comfortable too,
Without too much effort,
Can you bring a lengthening to that breath?
Maybe taking it from a count of four up to a count of five,
Whatever works for you.
Settling on a length that feels comfortable to sit with for a short while.
Come to let go of that count now,
Taking a fuller,
Deeper breath in that moves right through the body,
Letting it release with a slow,
Steady sigh.
Allow the breath to return to a state that isn't controlled.
Let it just be as you connect back to that feeling of the body as a whole.
Noticing what shifts,
What sensations or changes you feel.
Come back to another deeper,
Fuller breath as you begin to bring awareness back into the body.
Without opening the eyes or looking around,
Just returning to a sense of what's around you.
Perhaps taking some bigger movements into that space.
You may choose to sit with this feeling for a bit longer.
There's no rush to return to your day.
Stay in this pause for as long as you need,
Leaving it whenever you feel ready.
