Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat.
So maybe that's sitting up on a chair or sitting down in a cushion.
And if you're on a chair,
See if you can ground your feet on the ground.
And rest your hands on your thighs.
And feel a lift through the upper chest to lengthen the spine up.
And relax your shoulder blades down.
Relax the lower jaw from the upper jaw.
Remove the ears back in space to lengthen through the neck.
And begin to become aware of the feeling of your feet resting,
Rooting down to the ground.
Feeling the feeling of the hands resting gently on your thighs.
And start to notice any thoughts that may be lingering as we begin our practice.
Notice any thoughts of planning or worrying,
Analyzing.
Not trying to judge any thoughts,
But just becoming aware of what's going on.
Feeling that it's okay that these thoughts are still hanging around.
And then begin to notice any tension in the body.
Something in your shoulders or in your neck.
Be aware of the body just a little bit.
Listen,
A little tight.
Again,
Try not to judge any of these findings,
Any of these thoughts or tightness in the body.
And begin to shift that focus now to your breath.
Beginning to feel the sensations of the inhale moving through the nose and the exhale moving out.
Noticing where your breath is at.
If it's more shallow and up in the chest or if you feel a little more relaxed and it's a little deeper.
Again,
Just noticing,
Not trying to judge whether one's right or one's wrong.
Just continuing to focus on that feeling of the cool air moving in and up through our nose and the warm air moving out,
Down through our bodies.
We have a million things that we normally have to do on a day-to-day basis.
We have a lot of plans,
We have a lot of goals and all that is great and all that will be there.
But for right now,
This is your time to just put that aside,
To take a pause and see if you can just work on coming back and focusing on the feelings of the inhale and the exhale.
Okay?
If you begin to see that your mind is wandering,
See that a thought has popped in,
Know that that's okay,
That that is completely normal.
And see if you can just allow the thought to move away,
Just go back to wherever it came from.
And move the awareness just back to the breath.
It's not about not thinking.
It's about noticing when we've moved away from our point of focus and simply coming back to the rhythm of inhalation and the exhalation in and out through the nose.
We're going to begin now to kind of expand our awareness of the breath.
I'd like you to,
Instead of just imagining the inhale and the exhale coming in through the nose,
I'd like you to imagine that the inhale is coming in through the entire body,
In through the feet,
In through the knees,
Thighs,
Arms,
The chest,
The head.
And feel as if though the exhale is also releasing,
Leaving out into the entire body.
Just notice if there's any different sensations that come up.
Notice if there's any different feelings of what it's like to feel like your entire body is breathing.
And just following that feeling,
Continuing that expanded awareness as you follow the inhale and the exhale in and out through the body.
Take a few more breaths and start to bring the awareness back into the physical body.
So maybe again,
Bring the feeling or the awareness back to your feet,
On your ground,
Bringing your feeling,
Your notice back to the hands,
On your thighs.
Continue to maybe stretch out,
Rolling your wrists out,
Rolling your shoulders up and down the back.
And when you feel complete,
Gently open your eyes and come back to the room.
