Taking a lovely long deep breath to arrive.
And settle,
Settle into time.
No longer planning to get here,
No longer getting here.
Here you are.
And I will hold time for you for the next little while.
And you can step outside of time.
Settle into your space.
Let your eyes wander around the room.
See every corner,
Every object.
And then close your eyes softly or soft focus.
And cast your sense awareness around the room.
Be aware of every corner,
Every object.
Letting your awareness of the room settle.
And then settle into your body.
Make sure you're comfortable.
You're sitting well with your back straight,
Your feet flat on the floor or perhaps you're lying prone.
Be aware of your feet.
Notice them.
Allow them to be soft,
Relaxed.
Settled.
Be aware of your legs,
Your knees,
Your thighs.
Bring your attention fully into your legs.
And then allow them to become soft,
Relaxed,
Settled.
Your hips,
Your bottom and your belly.
Notice the physical sensations there.
And then allow them to become soft,
Released,
Settled.
You might need to rearrange your spine.
Make sure it is straight.
Every vertebrae aligned in perfect harmony,
Taking nearly no effort to sit in perfect balance.
And then allow your back,
Your chest to release,
Soften and settle.
You might like to roll your shoulders,
Pull them back and down and then release them into a natural pose.
You often hold a lot of tension there,
Deliberately allow a sense of release,
Softening,
Settling in your shoulders.
Your arms right down into your hands,
Right to your fingertips.
Bring all your awareness there.
Release,
Soften,
Settle.
Place your hands where they call you.
Maybe on your thighs or your belly.
Maybe palms up in an attitude of receiving.
Or palms down in an attitude of healing.
Release,
Soften,
Settle your hands.
Your neck,
Your jaw,
Often tense without our awareness.
Bring attention and intention to release,
Soften,
Settle in your neck and jaw.
And your eyes and your brow,
Make sure it's not furrowed.
Perhaps crunch up,
Stretch and release your brow.
Your tongue settled on the back of your top teeth.
And a sense of awareness of your nose as you breathe.
And then with a long outward breath,
Have that wonderful sense of sweeping your awareness from the top of your head to your fingertips and down to your toes.
With an awareness of a settling in that sweep.
And as you are settled fully in your body.
And as you settled in your body,
Perhaps you noticed your breath.
Perhaps you settled in your breath.
Did it become deeper and slower?
And then deliberately take a full breath,
Filling the top of your lungs,
Expanding your ribs and then pushing right down into the bottom of your lungs.
Filling your lungs fully and then releasing.
Again,
Fill the top of your lungs.
Expand your ribs as you fill the middle and then push your belly out as your diaphragm falls and your lungs fill to the very bottom with fresh,
Clean,
New air and release all the old stale air.
One more time,
Breathing into your lungs right to the point of fullness and then a little bit beyond,
Just push ever so slightly into discomfort.
And then release,
Release,
Release and allow your lungs to empty from the bottom,
The middle and the top.
Ever so slightly into uncomfortable emptiness.
And then fall into your natural rhythm of your breath.
Notice that as the breath enters your body,
It brings in the new,
The fresh,
The clean.
And that spreads to every cell in your body.
Every cell becomes refreshed and clean with the new air,
The fresh oxygen.
And every cell of your body can release the waste,
The toxins,
What no longer serves.
Allow your breath to fall into that deep natural rhythm.
Noticing too that when your breath is long and deep,
It signals your body to relax.
It tells your nervous system that all is well.
You can release and settle.
Tune into those still moments at the top of the breath.
When you've finished breathing in,
You're not yet breathing out,
There is a tiny moment,
A tiny pause,
A tiny moment and then release,
Breathe out.
And notice again at the bottom of the breath,
You have finished breathing out and haven't started breathing in,
There is that tiny moment.
Just watch your breath for a few more breaths.
Breathing in,
Stillness,
Pause,
Breathing out,
Stillness,
Pause.
In and out.
As you watch your breath and feel your breath,
Notice the expansion and release in your lungs.
Notice that that expansion and release is in your belly as well.
And for the next few breaths,
Feel or imagine that expansion in your whole body,
Every cell in your body expanding just a little.
Feel your body expand just a little,
Like a balloon taking on a little bit of air.
And then releasing.
This sense of expansion on the inward breath,
The whole body expanding just a little and then releasing.
The next few breaths,
Feel that expansion and release in every part of your body.
Your legs and toes.
Your belly,
Your back,
Your shoulders and arms.
Feel or imagine or vision.
That expansion on the inward breath and release on the outward breath.
Noticing too that moment of stillness,
That tiny pause.
That tiny moment of full rest and peace.
Within the cycle of your breath.
And then release.
Being aware of your thoughts.
Have they too settled?
Perhaps there's been a bit of commentary in the background because that's just what thoughts do.
Allow them to settle.
Release.
Keeping your mind gently resting on your breath.
Gently resting on the expansion and release of your body with the breath.
Release.
Thoughts arise because that's just what they do.
Practice being the observer standing outside your thoughts.
Noticing that you can stand outside your thoughts and you don't need to even think them.
Let them arise.
And let them fall away.
Notice the tenor of your thoughts.
Are you leaning back into the past?
In your thoughts.
Are you pushing forward into the future in your thoughts?
Gently,
Gently bring them back to right now and back into your breath.
Release.
Release.
Is your breath still deep and long?
Can you feel the expansion and release in your body as you breathe?
And appreciate the rejuvenation that this fresh breath brings you.
And appreciate the deep sense of softness,
Relief,
Relaxation that spreads through your body.
As your breath deepens and lengthens.
And your body becomes softer and softer.
Gently,
Gently,
Almost floating.
You may choose to stay a while,
Settled in your body and your breath.
Or you may choose to stretch and move out of this space.
But whatever you choose,
May you be safe,
May you be happy,
May you live with ease.
