Come into your space,
Standing,
Seated or lying down,
Eyes open or preferably closed.
Acknowledging your breathing,
Pulse and general metabolism as you find them right now.
And beginning without force to see if you can regulate that experience.
Drawing your inhale in deeper,
Extending your exhale slower.
Continuing that process over several breaths.
Perhaps you can begin to notice your pulse,
You may find it in your chest or neck,
Wrists or fingers,
Ankles.
The gentle thrum and vibration inherent in your whole body.
Imagine that you can slow your pulse down even 5 or 10%.
Making it a little softer and more fluid.
Acknowledge your metabolism,
The rate at which your body processes food,
Air,
Nutrients,
Healing itself,
Building,
Digesting.
And continue to breathe and settle in.
Breathing in.
Drawing your body with gentle,
Generous awareness.
Where does your body feel particularly good?
And more significantly now,
Where does it feel uncomfortable?
Where might you feel tight,
Sore or constricted?
Take note of that space or spaces.
Try not to judge it or feel resentment.
Just noticing where you feel tight with that generous awareness.
Show compassion to your body.
To the spaces and places it holds tension for you.
Continue to breathe.
Is there a perspective or a belief or an opinion that you hold in that space of tension?
Is it perhaps connected to a difficult statement about yourself?
Gently and curiously investigate.
What's behind that space of tension and constriction?
Take time to see what comes up.
Now we're going to move forward and out of that constriction.
And the opinion it represents bit by bit.
Begin by breathing into the space of constriction,
Directing oxygen and vital nutrition to it.
And perhaps as you exhale,
Feel yourself being drawn forward and expansively outward.
Breathe into that narrow place where you might hold this difficult self-conception.
And as you continue to breathe,
Feel yourself being drawn forward and out.
Breathing in and out.
Breathing your compassionate breath into that place of constriction.
And feeling your greater self being drawn forward and outward.
Feel its openness and release from these difficult opinions and self-conceptions.
Trying to leave behind whatever negative statement is contained in that place of narrowness,
Tension and constriction.
Breathing into that constricted space.
And moving out and away from those difficult and self-sabotaging ideas.
Opening up the constriction with your breath and feeling yourself move forward.
Opening and moving forward.
Maybe you start to experience a gentle release or even the beginnings of a playful smile on your face.
Let yourself go in that direction.
Breathing.
Opening up constriction,
Tightness and narrowness.
And drifting forward and out.
Beginning to breathe and feel and perhaps even become more expansive.
Breathing in and out.
Continuing to breathe from constriction into freedom.
As a path opens ahead of you.
Breathing forward and out until the closing bell.
