Good morning and thanks for joining me this morning in this simple active meditation and a time of enjoying your first sips of coffee or tea or hot water and lemon or perhaps something else.
It's important that you have your warm drink in a mug or cup that feels smooth and comfortable and familiar in your hands because this is a self-soothing exercise and the warm cup and drink are central to this.
So take a moment to get yourself all settled with drink in hand and in a comfortable position and I'll meet you shortly.
Place me on pause and assuming that you're all ready to go,
We'll begin by taking a drink from your cup and notice the feeling of warmth in your mouth and warmth of the cup in your hands and the comfort that this warmth brings to your hands in the early morning or at the end of your day if you're doing it at night and take in a deep breath of appreciation for this feeling and for the ability to sit this way about to enjoy a session of quiet all by yourself.
Breathing in and out and you may wish to take another sip of coffee or tea whatever you're drinking and then just hold the warm cup in your hands and rest your hands comfortably on your lap and we'll take another deep breath in and just feel your lungs expanding to their fullest and then slowly release the breath and as you do your head to fall forward as far as is comfortable feeling a gentle stretch in the back of your neck and then take a more gentle and full breath in this position with your head down and then on your next in-breath gently and slowly raise your head back up with your breath and then breathe out slowly and take a slow and relaxed fully expanded breath in this position with your head upright and on your next out-breath allow your head to move back only as far as is comfortable for you and slightly open your mouth at the same time again take one full relaxed breath in this position and then on your next in-breath slowly move your head back up in concert with your breath so that the breath and the movement are listening to one another and then take another relaxed breath in your upward position and with your next out-breath slowly move your head down to the right as far as is comfortable don't force your head to go any further instead breathe deeply in this position and you may feel a slight loosening in your neck muscles on the left side and on your next in-breath slowly bring your head back up and remain this way for another full breath just taking your time and then with your next out-breath slowly move your head down to the left as far as is comfortable again not forcing instead just breathing deeply in this position possibly feeling a loosening in the neck muscles on the right and then on your next in-breath slowly bring your head back up and remain this way for another full breath and then continue to breathe slowly and gently just relaxing in this position and then take a sip of your warm drink and enjoy this feeling of relaxation and we're going to repeat this sequence but before we do let's take a look at how your body is feeling in particular let's notice your shoulders and if they need to be relaxed a bit more just bring your awareness to your shoulders let them soften and lower and at the same time allow your arms your upper arms and your lower arms to relax as well bringing that relaxation down into your hands where you're feeling the warmth from your cup enjoying this feeling and then bring your awareness to your face particularly your forehead between your eyebrows relaxing that part of your forehead and also relaxing your lower jaw allowing it to open slightly while keeping your mouth closed and then returning your attention again to the warmth of your hands and allowing that warmth to flow both upwards and downwards in your body all the way to the tips of your toes bringing your awareness to this sensation of what you're sitting on the support you're receiving from whatever that is and the comfort and just take another slow and deep breath into this concept breathing with me slowly breathing in and slowly breathing out letting your exhale be a little bit longer again breathing in and breathing out one more time in and out and then take another sip of your drink put a smile on your face and just enjoy this moment of comfort of sitting this way and enjoying your warm drink in your hands and the gift of breathing easily and gently and then relax your hands down onto your lap again and let's take another deep breath in and fill your lungs again expanding them to their fullest and then slowly release the breath and as you do allow your head to fall forward as far as is comfortable taking a more gentle and full breath in this position and then on your next in-breath gently and slowly raise your head back up with the breath and then in your upward position breathe out slowly and take a slow and relaxed fully expanded breath in this position and on your next out breath allow your head to move back only as far as is comfortable for you slightly opening your mouth at the same time and again taking one full relaxed breath in this position and on your next in-breath slowly move your head back up in concert with your breath so that the breath and the movements are listening to one another and take another relaxed breath in this position and with your next out breath slowly move your head down to the right as far as is comfortable not forcing a full round of breathing in this position and on your next in-breath slowly bring your head back up and remain this way for another full round of breath and then on your out breath slowly move your head down to the left as far as is comfortable not forcing the full breath and then on your next in-breath slowly bring your head back up and take a full and slower gentle breath again and just continue to breathe easily and gently fully aware of how you're feeling find that smile again and put it on your face feel the smile going down into your body wearing it in your chest in your tummy as you take another sip of your warm drink and go into this new day relaxed enjoying the moment of now and trying to take this feeling of pleasure and relaxation with you and keep it with you in your heart throughout the day wishing you many blessings on your day namaste
