Just be practice.
We're going to carry out a short practice of being rather than doing.
We all have a long list of things we should be doing,
An endless to-do list filled with responsibilities.
And while I am a real fan of doing when it involves taking action that's in line with our core values of being the person we want to be,
Creating a life that's meaningful,
Perhaps building connections with people we care about.
But constant doing can also be exhausting.
It can involve a sense of endless pressure to achieve,
To be something,
A feeling of not ever being quite enough.
We might make one achievement only to immediately feel the need and pressure to move on to the next one.
So rather than allowing ourselves to be bullied by this sense of needing to do something,
We can spend some time to balance this out by simply being.
Being ourselves,
Being present,
Being kinder and compassionate towards ourselves and others.
Being willing to accept the moment,
Whatever it contains,
And to accept ourselves just as we are.
So we'll start by setting an intention for the next few minutes to simply be in your own company,
To take some time out of your busy day and find some space.
So just start by coming to rest in a comfortable posture.
Close your eyes or lower your gaze downwards,
Settling in,
Supporting your body.
What could you do that might make your posture just a little more comfortable or at ease?
Inviting yourself to be here at this moment.
Reminding yourself that there's nothing that you need to do or achieve for the next few minutes.
Perhaps enjoying the sense of having nothing to accomplish just for now.
A sense of restfulness and ease.
There is no need for this moment to be any different.
Just sitting,
Just breathing,
Just being.
Letting go of striving,
Letting go of trying,
Of wanting yourself or the world to be a certain way.
Just being still,
Allowing things to be just as they are.
Just be with whatever arises,
The breath,
The body,
Whatever presents itself.
Sitting,
Breathing,
Being.
This moment and this one.
Coming back each time your mind wanders with a sense of kindly awareness and patience.
Allowing your senses to open to sounds in the environment around you.
Sounds from your own body.
Sounds from inside the room or outside.
There's no need to go out and look for any particular sounds.
Just allowing these perceptions to come to you.
Becoming aware of your body.
Perhaps some sensations,
Maybe tingling or fizzing in your hands.
A sense of pressure,
Contact or weight in your feet on the ground.
Or awareness of your seat on the chair.
You might have a sense of your clothes being in contact with your skin.
Feeling your whole body sitting here.
Just sitting,
Just breathing,
Just being present.
There's nothing we need to try to achieve just for this short time.
Just letting it be.
And if you become aware of any sense of difficulty,
Of tension,
Just softening.
Softening to welcome yourself just as you are.
Let go of any tension that you're holding in your body.
Release your jaw.
Let the shoulders hang downwards.
Release any tension around your eyes or face.
Let the muscles be soft without trying to force them or make them become soft.
Like simply applying warmth to sore muscles.
Letting go of any sense of judgement.
Letting go of the pressure to achieve.
Letting go of any shoulds,
I should or the world should.
Softening and being kind to ourselves.
Accepting that we may have desires and wishes.
But just freeing ourselves a little from the pressure of needing things to be a certain way.
If you wish,
Directing kindness to an uncomfortable part of your body by placing your hand over that place and gently saying soothing,
Soothing,
Soothing.
Remember you're not trying to make the sensation go away.
Just allow the discomfort to be there.
Letting go of the wish for the feeling to disappear and allowing the discomfort to come and go like a guest in your home.
And maybe also having a sense of the breath,
The rise and fall of the breath in the abdomen,
The expansion as we breathe in and the contraction and fall on the out-breath.
Feeling your body breathe.
There is no need to try to control or change the breath.
Just allow your body to breathe naturally without any force or tension.
And when you're ready,
Allowing your focus of attention to begin to widen.
Coming back to a sense of the weight of the body sitting here.
The hands,
The sensations in the feet,
Your seat on the chair.
And when you're ready,
Allowing your eyes to open and continuing with your day.
