As we begin today,
See if you can find a calming place to settle in,
Maybe a place that feels comfortable and safe.
Once you find that place,
Invite your eyes to gently close if that feels good,
Long exhale.
Notice what it feels like to pause here,
To feel this nourishing air flowing within you.
As you breathe,
Gently guide your attention to the sensation of your back against the chair or the floor.
As you notice this sensation,
See if you can focus in on your back,
Feel your spine lengthen just a bit.
Notice what this experience is like for you,
How it feels as your spine lengthens and stretches in this way.
In this next moment,
Maybe you play with softening and relaxing your spine a bit,
Releasing some of that energy.
Notice what this is like,
And now when you feel ready,
Softly guide your awareness to your breath.
Where do you notice the flow of air in your body?
See if you can stay present with it.
Notice the natural,
Personal rhythm of your breath as it ebbs and flows.
What does it feel like as the air flows from one area of your body to the next?
Through this rhythm that you feel,
The pace,
The quality of your breath,
Your body is communicating with you.
If you notice that your breath is tight,
Shallow,
Or feel stuck in your chest,
Perhaps your body is telling you that you are feeling stressed.
Maybe you notice that you're breathing deeply and freely,
And your body is expressing a sense of calm and peace.
You can also let your body know how you feel.
What happens when you deepen your breath just a little,
Bringing even more air down through your nose,
On to the very bottom of your lungs?
How does your body respond?
Now,
What if you shift your focus to an area of your body that helps you sense the world around you?
This might be your ears,
Your eyes.
Tune in fully to this area as if you are experiencing it for the very first time.
Take a moment to explore the space around you with this area of your body,
Really inviting it to explore and play,
And to do what it loves to do most,
To sense the world around it in its own way,
And to share this experience with you.
What do you notice?
Maybe you get to experience the colors or shapes around you.
Maybe you're able to hear even the softest and quietest of sounds.
Maybe you can feel the touch of fabric on the tips of your fingers.
Your body senses the world around it,
And then you respond to all it has to share.
Sometimes,
Through the years,
Through messages that we receive all around us,
It seems like we can start to lose sight of this precious and harmonious relationship,
This partnership between ourself and the body that we inhabit.
You might start to internalize messages about the way our body should act,
Should look,
Should be,
And soon these voices from the outside start to become our own voice.
We can find it harder then to hear the voice of our body.
Gently begin to guide your attention to your hands.
Wiggle your fingers a bit,
And let all the muscles in your hand begin to flex and relax and release.
Now,
What if you begin to rub your hands together?
As you rub them together,
Can you feel the heat,
The energy,
Emanating from your hands?
See if you can stay present with the heat that your hands have created and are sharing with you.
And now,
If it feels alright,
You might place one of your hands full of that beautiful heat energy,
So gentle and loving,
Over your heart.
Maybe as you rest your hands softly over your heart,
You can feel the beating of your heart,
The rhythm that has existed since before you were born.
Maybe you can sense it as you tune in.
Stay present with this rhythm for a moment,
Curious,
Connecting.
As you sense the beating of your heart,
Perhaps you can sense the ebb and flow of your breath.
As it moves and flows through your body.
If you were to ask your heart what it needs most right now,
In this moment,
What might it say?
If you were to share with your heart what you need most right now,
In this moment,
What might you say?
Maybe you can share this with your heart.
Maybe your heart is listening to you and you're listening to it.
Maybe now you guide your attention down to your toes or to your fingers.
Choose one toe or one finger and begin to move it,
Just slightly at first.
Notice what it's like to feel your body come alive and move.
To sense the muscles in your toe or your finger expand and contract and move you through space.
If you were to ask your toe or finger what it needs most,
And maybe you can ask it now in this moment,
What does it say?
How can you respond to it?
And maybe now you softly guide your attention to a different part of your body.
Maybe one that sometimes feels uncomfortable or a little vulnerable.
We all have places like that.
Maybe it doesn't feel good enough.
Maybe it feels like there's something wrong with it.
Just rest your attention on this part for a moment and notice what it feels like to be present here.
Be curious about this part of you.
See if you can tune into it.
See if you can listen to it,
Even if this feels hard.
That's okay.
Maybe you can ask this part of you why it's here.
What role does it play?
See if you can remember a time when this part of you did something helpful for you.
Maybe it was a time when it did that thing that it loves to do most.
That it's so good at.
I wonder if you can let this part of you know that you are here with it and you're listening.
Maybe you can ask this part what it needs most right now.
How does it respond?
How might you respond back to this part of you?
Now together,
Let's take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
As we move toward the closing of our time together today.
That your dialogue with your body,
Your relationship,
Can continue to grow and evolve.
Also,
Know that if you don't feel all of this yet,
If some or all of this was hard for you,
If it was a struggle,
That's so understandable and completely okay.
This takes time and practice.
You're cultivating a relationship.
Thank you so much for allowing me to spend this time with you and your beautiful self today.
I'm sending you warm,
Compassionate and loving wishes as you take your next step into the rest of your day today.
