Making yourself comfortable.
Sitting upright.
Bringing yourself into awareness of your posture.
Stack your feet below your knees.
Scoot your seat of your body into the corner of the chair.
Have your body back upright.
Stack your head above your shoulders.
As you take in your next deep breath,
Take in that breath of arriving,
That sense of coming home.
As you become aware of being in your body.
On your next breath,
Drop into your feet.
Become aware of gravity.
Feel your feet and toes squarely on the floor.
Drop into the seat of your body in your chair.
Your back against the chair and the weight of your head above your shoulders.
And see if you can allow the floor and the chair to do its job.
Let it hold you up.
What does that sense of letting go feel like?
Becoming more and more aware of the rhythm and pace of your breath.
Allowing it to last just one second longer.
As you do so,
Ask yourself,
What does dignity feel like in my body?
How might my posture reflect that?
Your attention to your jaw and your tongue.
Notice if there's any gripping.
See if you can just allow the jaw to release a little.
Your tongue to lower and to relax into the base of your mouth.
Notice how these affect the rhythm and the pace of your breathing.
Begin to pull back the layers.
Narrow your experience more.
The point where your breath meets matter.
Perhaps you feel your breath at the top of your lip.
Or it's the coolness at the back of the throat.
Or the gentle rising of your chest.
Or the expansion in your abdomen.
Wherever you're feeling your breath most right now,
Go there.
Go to that space.
Feel it deeply.
Allow yourself to become immersed in the experience.
The sensation of breath meeting matter.
Becoming aware of how your ribs expand and contract.
Feel the fullness of your breath in a three-dimensional movement.
Become aware of the movement at the back,
Up through your shoulders.
Feeling the breath.
As each inhale,
You're breathing in life and energy.
As that breath meets the matter,
Visualize it nourishing your whole body.
On the exhale,
Visualize that scooping up and releasing and letting go of anything that doesn't serve you in this moment right now.
Releasing the tensions.
Releasing the worry.
Releasing the blizzard of thoughts.
Choosing to narrow and focus just on what it feels like.
Just breathe in my body.
Inhaling,
Releasing,
And letting go.
Breathing in more fully,
Becoming aware of your whole form.
Coming aware of the boundaries of your form.
And when you breathe in next,
Imagine your lungs reached all the way through the inside of your body.
From the inside of your head,
Through your shoulders,
Through your arms,
Down to your fingers,
Through your torso,
Hips,
Legs,
And all the way through your feet.
And on the exhale,
Scanning through and releasing anything that doesn't serve you.
Noticing the gripping,
The tension.
Direct your attention to that place.
And use your breath to soothe,
Soften,
Massage the tension away.
Using the exhale to release it and let it go.
And if your mind wanders,
Notice where it's gone,
And just gently coax your attention back as you would a young child with the softness and the tenderness and the care.
Coax your attention back and feel your breath and body.
Inhaling,
Releasing,
Letting go.
Every time you find that moment,
A glimpse of ease and flow,
Choose to stay there.
Allow your body to know it,
Become accustomed to it.
Notice any resistances,
Any grips,
Any tension.
Just go to that place and use your breath and attention to soften,
Soothe,
Explore it and then release it and let it go.
Winding rest,
Winding flow.
Feeling more aware now of where you are in this room.
Notice the sounds out the room,
In the room.
Gently bringing some movement into your fingers and your toes.
Gently moving your head from side to side.
Noticing the light passing through your eyelids.
As you flicker your eyelids open,
Take in the sight that's before you.
As you become more aware of where you are.
Greeting the day.
