Arriving to the present moment,
Noticing the breath,
Noticing the body,
Allowing yourself to be completely at ease,
Noticing the way your body is positioned.
If you're sitting,
Noticing how your feet are supported by the floor,
Your sit bones supported by the cushion,
Arms and hands resting.
If you're lying down,
Notice your body being encapsulated and supported fully by the ground beneath you.
Noticing the breath,
Feeling it move through your belly and chest,
Noticing how the body responds with every in-breath and relaxes on the out-breath.
Turning inwards,
Noticing something that is troubling you.
Something that's not the way it's supposed to be.
Maybe it's a loss,
A setback,
Defeat,
Disappointment.
Taking your time to bring this problem into your awareness.
Instead of running away from this problem,
Let's turn inwards.
Getting curious,
Paying attention to it with compassion and kindness.
Taking a moment to identify a feeling about this problem.
Is there anger,
Maybe there's sadness,
Impatience,
Confusion?
What would you call it?
When you identify how you feel,
Say,
I notice this within me.
I notice sadness within me,
Pain within me,
Anger within me.
Noticing how it feels to say it in this way.
Now noticing how the body responds to this feeling.
Maybe there's tension,
Tightness in the shoulders,
Clenching in the jaw,
Cool sensations in our chest.
Noticing where you feel this feeling in your body.
Once you feel it,
Can you soften the feeling with your breath?
With the gentleness,
Patience,
Kindness.
Allowing the feeling to be there fully.
Allowing the pain to be there fully.
The confusion to be there fully.
And noticing and softening its presence.
With every in-breath,
Inviting this feeling,
Allowing this feeling.
And on every out-breath,
Releasing its hold on our mind and our body.
Once this feeling and this thought and this problem has been softened,
Can you find the lesson?
Can you find the purpose this feeling was trying to show us?
Can you extend gratitude to the pain?
See the beauty of disappointment.
Identify the goodness in all the sorrow.
And allowing both,
Both good and bad,
To exist.
Feeling that we are neither.
And we are.
Turning inwards we find that all there is,
Is us.
No labels.
No profession.
No identity.
Just our souls.
Bare.
Raw.
Pure.
As we arrive back into the present moment,
Setting an intention for our hearts.
Maybe placing our left hand over our heart,
Right hand over our stomachs.
Holding ourselves with compassion and with love.
Setting an intention of forgiveness.
An intention for understanding.
An intention for vulnerability.
Breathing in,
I am here.
Breathing out,
I am enough.
Breathing in,
I am here.
And breathing out,
I am safe.
As this practice comes to an end,
Becoming present to the room,
Present to the sounds,
Becoming present to the taste in our mouths.
Inviting movement back into our limbs,
Into our hands,
Into our feet.
And whenever it feels right for you,
Opening your eyes and thanking yourself for being in practice.
