Let's begin.
By settling.
Turning inward.
Getting comfortable.
You might choose to close your eyes.
Or soften your gaze.
Knowing we'll be like this for the next say 20 minutes spend time getting comfortable.
Does this position work?
Allow your body to be held.
Relax the brow.
Release the jaw.
Drop the shoulders.
Let them settle down your back.
You have nowhere to go.
Nothing to do.
All I ask is that you just be here in this moment with me.
And I invite you now to bring your attention to your breath.
Notice your inhale.
Notice your exhale.
Notice,
Perhaps,
Your chest,
How it rises and falls.
Notice your heartbeat.
Softening.
Settling.
Into the body.
And when your mind begins to wander,
As minds often do.
Simply.
Noticing.
And returning your attention back to your breath.
Now allow your awareness.
To start to expand throughout the body.
Starting with the top of your head.
Noticing any sensations there.
And letting whatever you find Remain exactly how it is.
We have nothing to change.
We're only noticing.
Let your attention drift down.
Down into your forehead.
Down through the eyes.
Down through your cheeks.
Moving down to your jaw.
This place where effort can gather.
And just noticing.
What happens when you don't need to hold it all together?
Even for a moment.
You can relax.
Moving down through your throat,
Your neck.
Your shoulders.
These places that often carry the weight of responsibility.
Of time.
Of others' needs.
Perhaps you might even take away one of these responsibilities.
And set it off to the side.
Just for this practice.
Now bringing awareness into your chest.
The space of the heart.
And just noticing any sensations that are hanging out here.
Any openness.
Tightness.
Movement.
Sending some breath gently into this space.
And as you rest here,
You might start to notice.
That a full life is not always a comfortable one.
That to be alive.
Is to feel.
To love.
To lose.
To long.
And perhaps.
There is something here.
That has shaped you.
Something here that has challenged you.
Something here that has given you purpose.
Now guiding your attention to your belly.
This place of knowing.
Certainty.
And as you rest your awareness here.
I want to gently introduce some reflections.
Not as rules.
But as invitations.
Ideas to chew on.
To explore.
To get curious about.
Ideas to feel into.
Life is not preserved through perfection.
Control.
Focus on outcome.
Life is preserved.
Through living.
You might notice.
What it feels like in your body.
To consider.
Doing things you might regret.
Moments that will stay with you.
Perhaps even holding the truth that parts of life that keep your blood moving,
That keep your heart awake.
Are usually the parts that challenge you the most.
Now slowly guiding your attention.
Down into your hips.
You might sense here the places where you've held on.
To love.
To heartbreak.
Because even a broken heart means that something or someone mattered.
Now down through your legs.
Your thighs.
Your knees,
Your calves.
And arriving at your feet.
And now gently expanding your awareness.
To include your whole body.
From head,
To toe.
Breathing.
Sensing.
Allowing.
An open acceptance towards everything your body is offering to you right now in this moment.
And here.
You might begin to sense.
That a long life is not about controlling everything.
But about staying in relationship.
With your contradictions.
With your dreams.
With the parts of you that don't fully make sense.
You might notice.
What it feels like.
To not need to resolve everything.
Do not need to become perfectly consistent.
To let yourself be.
Human.
Layered Continuing to breathe.
Letting your body receive.
And just feeling your body here.
Breathing.
Alive.
Not perfect.
But present.
And as we begin to close,
We might take a moment.
But notice what stays with you.
Not everything.
Just.
.
.
Something.
Because even these ideas.
.
.
Don't need to be followed perfectly.
There is wisdom in holding them lightly.
And remembering that being alive It's not about getting it right.
But about staying connected.
To your experience,
To your body.
To this moment.
And when you're ready.
Gently.
Starting to wiggle your fingers.
Wiggle your toes.
Blink your eyes open.
Bringing your awareness back to the room.
Ready for a beautiful day ahead.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
