I invite you to allow yourself to begin to settle.
Just arrive into the room letting go of all the stories and the drama and the plans for the rest of the evening.
Leave them outside the door.
There's no need to control the breath,
So let the body breathe itself.
And I invite you to take three breaths that are a little deeper and longer than normal together.
So begin with an in-breath and then release and breathe out.
Breathing in and then release and breathe out.
And finally breathe in and then with a big release just letting go in the body.
Almost like you're floating in the ocean and you finally are able to rest in the waves.
Just let the water carry you.
Just let your breath breathe.
Also invite you to start to check in with the body.
It's releasing any tension that you find maybe in the shoulders.
It's helpful to have the shoulders back and down.
It's also potentially some tension in the stomach.
It's a hot spot so you can release the muscles in the stomach.
And finally the hands,
Releasing the grip in the hands.
Also invite you to start to take in sound,
The noises in the room,
Noises outside of the room just starting to wake up to the aliveness in the present moment right here,
Right now.
And next I invite you to sharpen your mind's attention,
Narrow your awareness.
Bring it to the upper half of the face.
Looking at the forehead,
The muscles in the skin around the eyes.
As you make your way through the body scan,
You can loosen the muscles in that area and then notice what sensations appear.
Is there tingling?
Is there a flow of energy?
Can you feel the air flowing by on the forehead right now as you let go?
Now moving your attention to the bottom half of the face,
The lips,
Cheeks and the jaw.
Letting go,
Releasing,
Arriving and then noticing the sensations.
Being curious about what appears.
And now bringing your attention through the shoulders,
Feeling them from the inside out.
Can you feel the bones and the cartilage,
The shoulder blades?
What do they feel like when you release the shoulders?
Now bring the attention down through the arms,
Feeling them at the same time and then into the hands.
See if you can notice that the more you let go with the hands,
The more that you can feel.
Now,
Bringing the attention up into the chest,
Right in the center,
Side to side,
Front to back,
Bringing your curiosity to the emotional resonance that you're carrying in your chest.
Maybe asking yourself,
What is my intention for coming tonight to this meditation?
Why am I here?
Trying to stay with the raw sensations,
The flow of energy,
The slight pain,
The pleasure,
Whatever appears in the chest instead of going off into stories.
Just notice the sensations.
See if you can just be with them.
Now guiding the mind's attention to the stomach area,
The lower abdomen,
Really letting go of the muscles here.
A lot of us carry expectations that have been put on us for how to look.
So maybe we hold our stomach in all day.
So here's a chance just to be.
You might even try what's called soft belly meditation where you allow the belly to rise as you breathe in and then release as you breathe out.
Now,
Bringing the attention down into the feet.
Feeling them from the inside out.
And if your feet are on the floor,
You can also notice the connection points with the floor or the cushion.
And now I invite you to start to notice how the floor and the building beneath us and even the ground beneath the building are supporting you.
You can imagine yourself falling into the support like it's a big pillow,
Resting in the support.
There's nowhere to go right now.
There's nowhere to be.
There's nothing to do.
See if you can find a little bit of home in this present moment.
Now,
I invite you to widen your attention.
So moving from precise attention on different parts of the body to noticing the whole body at the same time.
So this involves stepping back with the mind's attention,
Taking a wider view,
Simply observing this whole field of awareness that is the body.
You might also notice the movement of the breath through this field of awareness.
There's a distinct set of sensations that comes with the in-breath and then leaves with the out-breath.
So you can take a step back and observe that from a distance.
And finally you might start to invite sound back in.
So allowing sound and noise into this broader,
Wider awareness,
Just being the witness.
And you might have noticed that the mind doesn't like to be the witness.
It likes to think.
It likes to plan.
It likes to replay things that happened earlier in the day.
It likes to worry.
So whenever you notice that the mind has wandered into the past or into the future,
You can gently open back up to this wider awareness.
It's always here.
You can feel back into the body.
You can notice the breath.
You can start to listen again.
These are the anchors.
Just keep coming back.
You mayLA I could move aren't you?
Are you?
These last few minutes,
I encourage you to check back in with the body,
A little bit of precision with the mind,
Seeing if any tension that has reappeared in the shoulders,
Maybe the hands,
Stomach,
Maybe even the face.
Just do a little bit more letting go.
Good.
?
?
?
?
And with the sound of the bell,
Just notice the noise as if it was a phenomenon,
As if it was a sensation in the body,
An itch.
And then open your eyes when you feel ready.
And then open your eyes when you feel ready.
