Welcome and Namaste.
My name is Iris.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Let's take a few minutes to draw our awareness inwards by observing our breath and body.
Please make yourself as comfortable as possible.
You might lie down or if you prefer you might sit with your back upright but not rigid.
Take the opportunity to notice and acknowledge how you are feeling overall.
Physically,
Energetically,
Mentally,
Emotionally and spiritually.
Now close your eyes and notice that with visual stimuli shut down it's so much easier to go inwards and access that still and tranquil place within.
Start to watch your breathing.
There's no need to alter your breath in any way.
Merely observe becoming the witness of your breath.
Notice the cool air entering your nostrils and the warm air departing.
Can you feel the air travel through your nasal passages and touch the back of your throat and perhaps the top of the lungs?
Does your breath have a sound?
Does your breath have a taste?
Is it smooth or irregular?
Notice all the subtle nuances of your breath.
Each breath is different like the waves of the ocean.
Our breath has four parts.
The in-breath,
The retention with the lungs full,
The out-breath and the breath suspension with the lungs empty.
Notice each of these phases as you breathe in.
Feel a sense of freedom and lightness as you retain your breath.
Have a sense of the openness of your chest and heart as you breathe out.
Let it be with the sense of letting go and releasing and as you suspend your breath have a sense of deep peace and stillness.
Notice the way that your body moves as you breathe.
The rise and fall of the chest and the shoulders,
The expansion and contraction of the ribs,
The swelling and receding of the belly.
Now let's scan our body and seek out anywhere that is ready to soften and relax.
Relax your scalp and brow and all the little muscles around the eyes.
Feel the smooth contact of your eyeballs with your inner eyelids.
Relax your ears and the muscles around your ears.
Allow the jaws to soften and the upper and lower teeth to separate slightly.
Allow the tongue to rest at the base of the mouth.
Relax your neck and your shoulders.
Allow the arms to rest heavily,
Completely relaxed all the way from shoulders to upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms,
Wrists and palms of the hands and each of the fingers.
Relax your chest and abdomen.
Soften the muscles of the upper back,
Middle back and lower back.
Relax your hips and both legs all the way from the hips and buttocks to the thighs,
The knees,
The calves and the shins,
Ankles to the soles of the feet and each of the toes.
Feel your whole body relaxed.
By observing our breathing and body we establish ourselves in the present moment and in so doing we free ourselves from drifting into and getting stuck in the past and from projecting into the future.
In the sweet and precious present moment we can take refuge in a place of peace and equanimity.
The present moment is the only place where we can experience the fullness of life.
When we draw our consciousness inwards in this way we shift our nervous system into parasympathetic mode.
This is the mode for resting,
Digesting and healing.
In just a few minutes we can reset our nervous system so that we can live our lives with more calm and less overwhelm,
More equanimity and less reactivity,
More creativity and less repetitive behavior,
More wisdom and less hardwired programming.
Resting your awareness now on your lips.
You might feel some warmth or a buzz or tingling there.
Bring a sense of a smile to your lips.
Whenever we smile,
Whether it's a spontaneous or deliberate smile,
We trigger a relaxation response.
Feel this sense of a smile spread to your heart and from there to your whole body.
Check in with yourself and notice again how you're feeling on every level of your being physically,
Energetically,
Mentally,
Emotionally and spiritually.
Prepare to emerge from meditation and return to your day feeling more relaxed and at ease.
Take a couple of deeper breaths,
Slow and smooth through the nose.
Bring gentle movement back to the hands and feet,
The neck and shoulders.
Blink your eyes open.
Thanks so much for spending this time with me.
Have a beautiful day.
Blessings and Namaste.
