You can rest down into your seat and grow through your spine as you allow your eyes to close.
And we use the sound of the bell to transition from a mode of going and doing,
Thinking and planning,
Back into a mode of being with,
Opening in curious observation and non-judgmental awareness.
You can place all of your attention on the breath as you allow it to naturally and gently lengthen and deepen,
Not forcing any changes,
Just being with the ones that happen naturally,
Accompanying focused attention.
You can give yourself permission not to have a busy body or a busy mind as you arrive fully and completely in the present moment,
Allowing this moment to be enough.
You can let go of the need to do anything else or be anywhere else as you allow the stillness of just being to be enough.
And in this stillness,
You can allow the breath to become the most important thing.
Breathing in,
I know that I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I am breathing out.
We give ourselves permission to arrive into this stillness,
Remembering the importance of being still,
Remembering that it allows us time to come back home to self,
To reconnect with our internal state.
And we know that this connection develops a deeper understanding of ourselves and of our needs.
And then we use this understanding to nurture ourselves,
Which leads to a healing of self and the world.
We can use the breath to help us bring this stillness into our bodies,
Giving our bodies permission to be calm and still,
That the body no longer needs to be doing,
To be performing,
To be moving forward and producing.
That in this moment,
The most important thing is stillness.
So we can feel this stillness arriving from the crown of our head,
Washing down through our face,
Softening the eyes back into the head,
Relaxing the jaw and the mouth.
It washes through the neck,
Creating space between the vertebrae,
Allowing the neck to grow long and soft.
And then it enters into the shoulders,
Allowing the shoulders to let go of the burdens and worries they've been carrying,
Allowing them to rest down onto the body and release.
And then the relaxation comes into our torso,
Washing down the length of our spine,
Releasing the muscles,
Creating space between each vertebrae and lengthening our spine.
We feel it softening the abdomen and the chest.
We can feel it wash through the arms as they let go of any to-dos they've been carrying around,
Allowing the hands to release as that relaxation reaches all the way to the fingertips.
And then it softens in the hips and the pelvis,
Allowing them to relax and let go.
It arrives down the legs,
In the knees,
In the ankles and leaves through the feet.
There is nothing left in the body besides peace and relaxation.
And we can breathe in a deep gratitude for the body and all that it does to keep us alive and healthy and balanced.
And then we can use the breath to bring this stillness and settling into the mind.
We observe the mind space without engaging in thought,
Without continuing the storylines,
Without needing to fix or solve or plan.
We simply observe in non-judgmental awareness,
Experiencing love and acceptance for all things that go through the mind.
And as we step back from our thoughts,
We find ourselves in the natural state of the mind.
That is that wide open meadow,
Clear blue sky and fresh air.
There is nothing but expansive openness.
All of the worries and all of the burdens can go quiet as a stillness comes into the mind.
No thoughts necessary,
Just quiet,
Healing the mind.
And then we can follow the breath into the heart and the spirit as we bring this stillness into the heart.
We let go of expectation of the need to strive or be perfect.
We are not aiming for a certain goal.
And in the safety of this moment,
We can put down our guard,
Put down the walls and the barriers so that the heart can open and widen and expand.
And as we do so,
The heart becomes still and quiet and we know that it is in this stillness that we can hear the heart's truth.
And here in the heart's truth,
We find our authentic self.
And in this stillness of mind,
Body and spirit,
You can reconnect with how you are doing today.
You can begin by compassionately asking the body,
How are you doing today?
What are you experiencing today?
And is there anything that you need today?
And then we can reconnect with the mind and compassionately listen as we ask the mind,
How are you doing today?
Is there anything that you need today?
And then we can reconnect with the heart and the spirit and we ask them,
How are you doing today?
Have we been aligned with our heart and our authentic self today?
And is there anything that the heart or spirit need from us today?
And we come back to our intentions to honor the needs of the mind,
Body and spirit and to meet them in any way that we can.
And we see that when the mind,
Body and spirit trust us to listen,
To hear their needs and to honor them,
That there is a peace that enters into our being.
That nothing is fighting in order to be heard or helped or supported.
That they can just use this stillness to connect with us authentically and peacefully,
Knowing that we will listen and knowing that our intentions are to honor what we hear.
And our whole being feels connected and peaceful and whole.
And we can bring this feeling with us as I ring the bell three times and we come back to our shared space.
