Finding a comfortable seat.
Or maybe positioning yourself reclined.
Finding a balance between comfort and alertness.
Let the eyes close and the shoulders relax and the belly become soft,
Open.
Take some full deep breaths.
Inhaling through the nose to fill the belly and chest,
Holding the breath at the top.
Slowly exhaling through the mouth.
Another breath like this,
Full belly breath.
If you like,
Doing another one or two full breaths as you exhale.
Feeling the body settle and sink,
Feeling the body relax and let go.
You could bring a small smile to the mouth,
Turning the corners of the lips up.
We'll do a brief practice of loving kindness,
A meta for ourselves.
Begin simply by settling in.
Continuing that process of the body relaxing,
Allow your mind to be in the body,
To be with the body.
Noticing the sensations in the feet and toes,
The ankles and lower legs.
The knees,
The thighs,
The hips.
Attending to the pelvic floor,
The hips and lower belly and back.
Moving up the spine to the mid belly,
The chest and upper back.
Letting the attention move down the length of each arm.
Knowing the hands and fingers,
Their liveness.
Moving the shoulders into the neck,
The throat.
Going up the back of the spine to the head.
Allowing yourself to sense into and feel the sides of the head,
The top of the head,
The face.
Relax the eyes,
The muscles around the eyes,
The cheeks,
The tongue,
The jaw.
We'll use a combination of simple phrases,
Visualizing of light energy to open to loving kindness.
I'll suggest a simple phrase but you can adjust the words to suit you.
I'll put the phrase in the positive present tense.
I am peaceful and at ease.
I am filled with love.
So reciting that or your variation.
I am peaceful and at ease.
I am filled with love.
Letting the words be heard,
Letting yourself know or receive loving kindness.
I am peaceful and at ease.
I am filled with love.
You can continue to recite words as you breathe in and out.
Noticing any deepening of the easefulness or restfulness of the body.
Feeling into the heart space,
Centre of the chest,
The emotional space of the heart.
We can feel that we are surrounded by love,
That the air and the space around you is the nature of love.
As you breathe in,
This loving energy comes into the body,
Filling the body with ease,
Well-being.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing any tension you find that's lingering,
Making room for the next inhalation,
Receiving safety and support and kindness with each breath.
You could imagine this love that surrounds and is now filling your body and mind.
You imagine it as a clear light.
And finally,
You could imagine that your inhalations are coming through every pore of the body so that the love that you are immersed in that surrounds you is coming from every direction.
Feeling the body,
Feeling the heart,
Feeling the mind.
I am peaceful and at ease.
I am filled with love.
Continuing to sit as long as you would like or to be as long as you would like in this loving energy.
