Today,
You will bring awareness and space into a part of the body that carries so much for us,
The shoulders.
So often,
The shoulders hold what the heart doesn't know how to say.
They brace,
Carrying stress,
Responsibility,
Old emotion,
But today,
We'll meet them with the breath,
Starting by finding a comfortable position.
You can be sitting or lying down.
Any position that lets your body feel supported,
Letting your hands rest naturally and gently closing your eyes or softening your gaze,
Taking a slow inhale through your nose and a long,
Easy exhale through your mouth,
Letting yourself arrive and now bringing your awareness to your shoulders.
No need to force them to relax.
Just notice what's there.
Feel their weight,
Their shape.
Feel how they settle or hold in this moment and starting to breathe gently into them.
Inhaling slowly through the nose,
Experiencing the breath flowing into your shoulders and as you exhale,
Experiencing your shoulders softening and releasing,
Continuing in this way,
Letting your next few breaths land here,
Meeting it with the breath and allowing that gentle softening,
That sweet release.
Maybe feeling your shoulders dropping a little further away from your ears with each breath.
You get to set it all down,
Inhaling slow and steady,
Exhaling that sweet release.
Letting the breath move into any pockets of tension,
Tightness,
Or holding.
Creating more and more space,
Inviting in a deeper level of ease.
If thoughts arise,
That's okay.
Just innocently favoring the breath once you notice.
Continuously bringing your awareness back to the shoulders,
Feeling what shifts with each exhale.
Body softening,
Shoulders letting go.
Now experiencing your breath expanding through your collarbones,
Through the tops of your arms,
Through the upper back,
All of it breathing.
With each exhale,
All of it releasing,
Even just a little more.
You don't have to hold it all together,
Not in this moment.
Letting your breath do the heavy lifting.
Each exhale supporting you to release all that you no longer need.
Lightening that load,
Breathing into your shoulders.
Maybe a little more space,
Maybe a little more ease.
Feeling the difference in your body and taking as much time here as you want or need.
Only when you're ready,
Starting to wiggle your fingers and your toes and slowly returning to your space.
Carrying this spaciousness with you.
Spaciousness in your shoulders,
In your breath.
