Find a comfortable seat.
This could be a formal meditation seat,
Cross-legged,
Could be sitting up in a chair,
On a couch,
You could even be laying down.
Whatever you need today,
Whatever makes this practice accessible for you.
So take a few moments to get comfortable and get the fidgets out.
And whenever you're ready,
Gently close the eyes or find a focal point on the floor in front of you.
Notice the quality of your breath.
Notice the depths of your inhales and your exhales.
Don't change anything,
Just observe.
Notice any physical sensations you might be experiencing in the body.
We'll do a quick body scan.
Starting from the soles of your feet.
Just scanning mentally,
Energetically.
The soles of your feet,
Tops of your feet.
Your lower legs,
Your shins,
Your knees.
How do your thighs feel,
Your quads,
Your hips,
Your back,
Your spine,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your neck,
Your head.
Relax the space between your eyebrows.
Release any tension you might be holding in the jaw.
Relax your shoulders.
Bringing your awareness now into the breath.
We'll take three deep breaths together.
On the next inhale,
Fill up the belly,
Ribs,
Chest.
Open mouth,
Exhale,
Let it go.
Again,
Just like that.
Big inhale,
Fill up.
Exhale,
Let it go.
One more just like that.
The biggest one all day.
Inhale,
Fill up,
Grow tall.
Exhale,
Surrender,
Release.
Inhaling the lips now,
Breathing in and out through the nose.
Coming back to a neutral breath.
So there's no holding,
There's no counting with the breath.
Just bringing our awareness to guiding our breath into even and equal inhales and exhales.
Allow the shoulders to fall away from the ears if they've crept up.
Just breathing.
The goal here and now is it's nothing more than pure being.
There's no higher or lower or better or worse than wherever you are right now and whatever you're experiencing.
If you've noticed that you've picked up a thought or a plan for later,
Don't worry.
Just return back to the breath.
Always coming back to the breath.
Because our practice here,
What we're experiencing now,
We're really not doing that much of anything.
Truly.
This can be quite effortless.
So if it feels effortful in this moment,
I invite you to do a little bit less.
Hold on a little less tightly.
The thoughts will come.
Don't worry about them.
There's no need for you to fight them or shush them out of your mind.
The mind thinks.
It will always think.
So just don't get in the way.
It's very similar to cars passing on a highway or down a busy street.
And you are on the side of the street seeing them pass.
When a thought comes,
You can imagine that it's a car that stops,
Drives a little bit slower and says,
Hey,
Come on in.
Come with me.
And you can say,
No,
It's okay.
You can keep going.
I'm good.
So you don't have to get in the car.
But if you do find that you have hopped in with any thought that comes to mind during this practice,
Again,
There's no need to stress.
There's no need to get worried or upset or frustrated.
Just pop back out.
Come back to the breath.
You are watching the cars drive by.
This practice is just about watching.
It's not about driving.
Come back to the breath.
Come back to the breath.
And come back to the breath.
Big inhale through the nose.
Fill up.
Open mouth.
Exhale.
Let it go.
Bring some movement to the fingers and the toes.
Perhaps finding a good morning stretch,
Reaching the arms up overhead,
Growing a little bit taller.
These last few moments,
Perhaps setting an intention to keep this practice with you as you go about your day.
Remember that the thoughts will come.
The cars will come.
And you might jump in a car for a second.
You might entertain an idea.
But you always have the awareness and opportunity to hop back out.
Have a great day.
