Settling With Ease

Take a deep breath.

Find a comfortable posture.

Checking your chest feels open,

Your belly soft,

Lining up your head and neck with the spine.

So you feel a sense of uprightness.

Letting your shoulder blades slide down your back.

You can close your eyes,

Lower your gaze,

Feeling your body resting on the ground.

See how much you can give your weight to the earth,

Letting the ground support you,

Support your body,

But also support your heart.

So starting with the tissues in your body,

Seeing if you can invite a sense of releasing,

Lengthening,

Softening inside,

Softening into the steady support of the ground.

So you might loosen your jaw,

Relax the muscles around your eyes.

Can imagine a wave of relaxation moving down through your neck,

Your shoulders,

Down your arms,

Into your hands.

Imagine that wave of relaxation moving down through your torso and your back,

Through your pelvis,

Down through your legs,

All the way down to your feet.

What would it be like to allow a similar process of releasing,

Relaxing in the heart,

Allowing the tensions,

Constrictions and tightness,

Emotionally,

Psychologically in the heart and the mind to loosen even a little bit.

So just as the earth offers a steady,

Solid support,

You might use the rhythm of your breath as a kind of soothing reminder for the heart,

Like the waves of the ocean.

Or if the breath feels tight,

Complicated,

Imagine a warm,

Soft blanket draped over your shoulders,

Around your body,

Receiving the warmth,

The holding of that shawl or blanket,

Like just being surrounded by a sense of friendliness and love,

And allowing this process to continue to unfold on its own,

The process of the body relaxing,

Loosening,

Opening,

Supported by the earth,

By the steadiness beneath you,

And the process of the tangles in the heart and the mind,

Softening,

Just loosening and opening a little bit,

Held by the rhythm of your breath,

Sense of a loving embrace around you.

You don't have to get it right,

You don't have to make it work,

Just resting right here and now,

And using what feels supportive,

What helps.

And then in your own time,

Whenever you're ready,

Starting to let your attention move from within to the space around you,

Just first kinesthetically,

Just being aware of what's around you,

Sounds,

Space.

When you're ready,

Bringing a little bit of movement into your body,

Let your eyes slowly open.

And as we end,

Maybe taking a deep breath or two again.

Thank you.