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.
All you have to do right now is breathe.
Breathing in,
I know that I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I am breathing out.
Allow the sensations of breath to bring your attention fully and completely into this present moment,
Enjoying what it feels like just to breathe.
You may feel where the air enters the nostrils.
You may feel the slight flare of the nostrils,
The slight movement of the hairs on the upper lip,
The way that the air entering is cooler than the air exiting.
You can feel as the air passes the throat and the throat relaxes and opens.
You may feel as the air enters into the chest and the chest rises and falls.
You may feel as the air enters into the diaphragm and the rib cage expands and contracts.
And you may feel as the air pulls deeper into the body and fills the belly,
The side body,
And the back.
And you may feel that on the exhalation,
The belly very gently pulls back towards the spine.
Allow this simple act of breathing to be enough.
Let everything else go and find that place within the breathing process that holds your attention best.
The place where you feel the sensations of breathing most prominently.
And make this home,
A place of calm and comfort and peace.
And any time that the mind wanders,
Remind yourself that right now,
The most important thing is the breath.
And just breathe.
And come back home to those sensations of breath and allow them to bring you peace.
This is not a time for you to be solving or fixing or planning.
This is a much needed pause,
A time for you to create spaciousness and allow the breath to help you do that.
Breathing in,
Creating spaciousness,
Breathing out,
Letting go of the busyness and the worries.
Enjoy each breath.
And any time you start to think,
Very gently call the mind back to the breath.
And in the spaciousness that you are creating,
You can begin to observe how you have been relating to your experiences lately,
To your busyness lately,
To the places in life bringing you stress.
Put yourself back there in those moments where you're feeling that stress and notice what are you thinking about in this moment?
Are you thinking about all the things you have to do next?
Are you thinking about all the negativity of this experience?
Why it's difficult?
Why you're struggling?
Are you blaming yourself or others?
Are you judging your performance?
Are you setting expectations of how things should be and trying to push yourself to be there?
Is your mind going to all of the things you're worried you can't do?
And now observe what is your mindset around this experience doing to your wellbeing?
The way that you are perceiving this situation or the task at hand or what you need to accomplish or do,
Is it serving you?
And notice the reaction it's creating in your body.
Maybe you feel the tightening of the muscles.
Maybe you feel the adrenaline.
Maybe you feel that kink in the neck or the constricting in the head.
And just notice what the body feels like when you are approaching this situation in this way.
Is it serving the body?
And then notice what it's doing to the mind,
All these thoughts and the way you are perceiving this task at hand.
Is it serving the mind well?
Is the mind able to focus and be present and relax?
And how is your perception affecting your heart and your spirit?
Are you open to listening and receiving?
Are you opening to connecting with others?
And are you able to be a positive presence for them?
And now return your attention to the breath and breathe deeply into your heart space.
And allow this heart space to remind you what's really important to you.
What really matters.
And notice that this is seldom what you accomplish,
How quickly you get it done,
Or how busy you are in the day.
But what the heart cares about is who you are being.
And if you are prioritizing your true values.
So ask your heart,
What is it that you value most?
What is it that's most important to you?
And who is it that you would like to be out in the world?
How would you like to be showing up for yourself,
Others,
And the world?
And now return to that stressful situation,
Carrying the heart with you,
Looking at it from the eyes of the heart.
And ask the heart,
How do you perceive this task at hand?
How do you perceive my to-do list or my busyness?
And the heart will tell you that it's not so important how quickly you get this done,
How efficient you are.
What's really most important is who you are being through this experience.
And so ask yourself,
What would be a healthier way for me to approach this work,
This experience,
This task?
How could I perceive this in a way that serves me better,
That keeps me aligned and centered?
Can I breathe here and remember the true values of my heart?
And ask myself,
Can I show up as the truest version of me here?
And normally it takes a switch of focus from the output,
The outcome,
The task at hand,
More into who we are being and what we are cultivating within ourselves.
We say,
Can we take care of ourselves even here?
Can we take care of the body here?
Can we take care of the mind here?
And can we stay aligned with the heart and the spirit here?
And imagine yourself doing that now in that stressful situation,
In the places where you are feeling worried or anxious or too busy.
Imagine yourself breathing and remembering what's really important.
And notice how that switches your focus and how all of a sudden your body can relax and you feel every muscle letting go and loosening.
And then notice how your mind opens.
It's not so restricted and focused just on the negative and the difficult,
But it begins to be able to see the good,
The smiles and the people around you,
The blue sky,
The birds singing.
The mind can now approach this task with more focus on what's really important.
And then notice what it does for your heart and your spirit that you are no longer contracting and putting up walls and telling people you are too busy to connect.
You are no longer run by your stress and your worry.
Now you are centered on the heart and you are able to show up here as the best version of yourself and you can be present for this experience in love and acceptance and compassion.
You can take this peaceful state with you as I ring the bell three times and we come back to our shared space.
