Welcome to this practice on borrowed calm,
An exploration of the people,
Places,
And environments that help you feel a little more grounded,
Supported,
And at ease.
Today's practice uses pranayama,
Guided imagery,
A simple somatic exercise,
And an art prompt designed to help you recognize where support already exists in your life,
And perhaps where you might need a little more of it.
Before we begin,
You will need something to write or draw on,
Along with whatever art materials feel accessible to you today.
We will begin with a centering practice to bring you into the present moment.
And from there,
I will guide you through an exploration of receiving and offering support before moving into our creative practice.
Let us begin.
Find a comfortable seat,
Let your feet rest flat on the floor,
Or sit cross-legged,
Whatever feels most supported for your body right now.
Allow your hands to rest softly in your lap.
You may close your eyes if that feels comfortable,
Or simply soften your gaze towards the floor in front of you.
Extend the spine long and begin by noticing your breath.
There is nothing you need to change just yet.
Simply notice the natural movement of the inhale and the exhale.
Now notice where your body is being supported right now and feel that surface beneath you.
Notice the physical weight of your body being held by the chair,
The floor or the earth beneath you.
And for just a moment,
Allow yourself to notice that you do not have to hold up the body.
Something is already holding you.
Begin now to deepen the breath slightly,
Inhaling to the count of four.
And exhaling for a count of five or six.
Continue for a few more rounds of breath,
Inhaling to the count of four.
Exhaling to the count of five or six.
Let the exhale be easy and complete.
Continue.
As you breathe,
Notice if you can allow yourself to be just a little more supported by the floor or the chair.
To simply receive the grounded supportive feeling that is already there.
Allow the breath to come back to natural and now bring to mind a place where you have experienced some sense of ease.
Perhaps it is a room in your home.
A chair near a window.
Maybe it's a garden or a yoga studio.
Perhaps it is somewhere you haven't visited for years,
But your body still remembers it.
Let one place arrive without searching too hard.
Now begin to notice the details.
What is the light like within this space?
What can you hear?
What colors are around you?
Is there a particular temperature to the air?
Notice what your body remembers about being in this calm,
Serene place.
And now notice whether anyone or anything else belongs in this calm space with you.
Perhaps another person arrives or a pet.
Perhaps there is music or running water.
Allow whatever belongs in this environment to be present.
You do not need any of these things to make you calm.
But for these few moments,
Simply notice what happens in your body when you place yourself in proximity to them.
Does your breathing change?
Does the jaw soften?
Do the shoulders release.
Does something inside you feel a little less responsible for holding everything together?
Stay here for a few more breaths and let yourself receive whatever this place has to offer.
Now keep some connection to the place you've just imagined and turn one hand so that your palm faces upward.
Let this hand represent receiving.
You might allow the person,
Place,
Animal,
Practice,
Or environment you just imagined to rest symbolically here in the palm of your hand.
Notice what it feels like simply to hold your hand open to receiving these things.
Now turn your other palm up,
And let this hand represent what you offer.
Perhaps your steadiness is something another person relies upon.
Perhaps you care for children,
Clients,
Students,
Family,
Co-workers,
Animals,
Or a community.
You do not need to name everything.
Simply notice the experience of giving.
And now hold both hands over your heart.
Notice the experience of receiving as you feel your heart being held.
Now notice the experience of attending or holding.
Notice the experience of the hands holding the heart.
Notice whether one feels more familiar than the other.
Receiving versus attending or holding.
Now ask yourself quietly,
Where in my life am I supported?
Where do I offer support?
And finally,
What support might I need to move a little closer to?
Take one more full breath in.
And as you exhale,
Let your hands return softly to your lap.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes or lift your gaze and gather your art materials.
For today's art practice,
You will create a landscape of calm.
You'll begin by placing yourself somewhere on the page.
You do not need to draw a picture of yourself,
Necessarily.
You might simply make a shape,
A mark,
A symbol,
Or choose a color that represents you.
And then begin building the landscape around you.
Add the people,
The places,
The animals,
The objects.
The practices,
Words,
Colors,
Images,
Sounds,
Or experiences that help your body to relax,
To soften,
To feel calmness.
Try not to choose the things you believe should make you calm.
Instead,
Allow yourself to remember the things that actually do.
What surfaced in the guided imagery?
Maybe it was the person,
The pet,
The place.
Or something you've created.
You do not need to make a literal picture of any of these things.
Allow color,
Line,
Shape,
Texture,
And symbol to represent them in a way that feels natural.
And as you work,
Notice where each element wants to live on the page.
What belongs closest to you?
What belongs further away?
And what takes up more space than you expected?
Is there something you almost forgot to include?
When your image feels complete,
Step back and take it in as a whole.
Consider this to be a visual inventory of support.
Notice what you have placed around yourself and allow the image to show you something about the conditions in which your own nervous system can soften.
Spend a few minutes in quiet dialogue with the artwork.
Journaling.
You might ask,
Where do I receive support without recognizing it?
What am I giving more of than I'm receiving?
What feels too far away from me right now and what would I like to place myself in proximity to more often.
And finally,
What is one thing in this image that I can move a little closer to?
Let your artwork answer before your thinking mind rushes in.
You might be surprised by what your art already knows.
And remember,
The image came from inside of you,
So the information it shares is not truly from the artwork.
That wisdom is yours.
As we close today's practice,
Take one final look at the landscape you've created.
You do not need to turn it into a plan,
And you do not need to change everything represented on the page.
Simply notice what becomes visible when you stop asking yourself to generate everything you need from within.
And begin recognizing the support that already exists around you.
Because a regulated life is not necessarily a life in which you have to learn to remain calm no matter what happens.
It is also a life in which you become increasingly aware of the people,
Places,
Practices,
And environments that help you come back into relationship with yourself.
So if you've been working very hard lately to regulate,
To manage,
To ground,
To center,
And to hold yourself together,
Perhaps the invitation is not to work harder at becoming calm.
Perhaps it's simply to notice what you're standing near and move a little closer to what helps your body remember that I do not have to do all of this alone.
Thank you so much for being here.
As we end today's practice,
The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.
