Let's find a comfortable place to start this practice.
Maybe that's laying down,
Maybe it's seated,
Maybe it's resting with your back against a wall.
Just any place that feels comfy to you.
It doesn't need to look like a traditional yoga pose.
Just any place where you feel safe.
You can have the legs bent,
Whatever feels good.
Then let's just take a full breath in once you land.
And a long thorough sigh out.
Feel that melt as you let go.
Another full breath in.
Melting down with your exhale,
Long slow sigh.
Let's do one more.
A full generous inhale and the longest slowest sigh you've taken yet.
Once you're done just resting,
Letting the breath return to its own natural pace.
Without changing anything,
Notice the shape your hands are making.
Are they face up,
Face down?
Are our fingers curled in?
Is there even space between each finger?
Do the palms feel cool or warm?
Just bringing your awareness to the hands.
Can you feel everything happening in the right hand?
And then shifting your awareness to the left.
And then feeling both left and right at the same time.
Come back to noticing your breath.
And on your own time with your own inhale using that breath in to rise the hands up.
And as you breathe out let the hands just fall so right hand falls to belly,
Left hand falls onto chest.
Just take a moment here.
Just getting used to having the hands on your body.
Your own hands,
Your own body.
See if you could soften in the arms and shoulders.
Just letting your body accept this light touch.
Maybe you can feel the warmth of your hands.
Just that slight bit of weight so the hands can add on to the body.
And then feeling the feedback of the breath in the body in your hands.
Maybe as you breathe in and the lungs fill,
The ribs expand,
Chest lifts,
Left hand lifts.
Maybe you feel this in the abdomen as well.
As you breathe out what do you feel as the lungs empty?
Can we just tune in to the hands lifting and then gently lowering as you breathe out and soften down.
Inhale the lungs ribs and abdomen expands and rises.
As you breathe out releasing letting the hands fall.
Maybe they get a little heavier.
Inhale rising and exhale falling.
Air moving in creates this rise.
Air moving out creates this falling.
Just like waves in the ocean coming and going.
Let's start to bring some words into our practice tonight.
As you breathe in repeating in your mind rising rising and as you breathe out falling falling.
Inhale rising rising exhale falling falling.
Just those two words linking together breath,
Physical sensation and the mind.
Rising rising falling falling.
Letting the words follow your breath.
Keep coming back.
Rising rising falling falling.
Maybe you start to notice a little pause between breath in and breath out.
Or breath out and breath in.
Just that little pause maybe a third of a second.
That moment of total ease and balance.
A place where you can just rest and watch.
Just for a moment.
That space between the rising and falling.
A place with no words.
It goes quick but every time you breathe you have a chance to catch it.
Rising rising and falling falling.
Lingering in these pauses between the breath for just a few more rounds.
Let's do two more rounds savoring that sweet stillness between the breaths.
You can let the hands fall.
Keep the eyes closed.
One last time that full breath in.
Pause at the top and then sigh it out.
Let it go.
Your own natural breath coming back.
You can slowly blink the eyes open.
Thank you so much for joining me in this practice.
Namaste.
