Hello and welcome.
Sitting or standing,
Find a comfortable position.
Whatever position that you're in,
Taking a moment to feel into the soles of the feet.
Allowing the soles of the feet to be alive with sensation.
Allow for the spine to be long,
Reaching up towards the sky.
Shoulders relaxed.
The posture embodying a sense of strength and nobility,
Yet soft and easeful.
Checking in,
How is your internal landscape at this moment?
Is there any physical tension?
Thoughts or feelings that are directly on the surface?
Taking a moment here to just simply observe.
Allow your gaze now to find a spot in front of you on the horizon.
And once you find a spot to focus,
Sense that the gaze is looking beyond that point,
Allowing for the peripheral vision to open,
Encompassing everything that is in front of you.
Now,
Begin to slowly turn your head to the left,
Following the horizon with your vision.
Vision is open and receptive to everything that is here.
Looking as far left as the neck will allow.
And then slowly moving the neck back towards center,
The gaze follows.
And the same movement to the right.
Slowly looking at nothing in particular,
Yet everything in general.
Doing this one more time,
The gaze and the head move over towards the left.
Taking your time to move your head back through center and over to the right.
And we will meet back at center,
Moving slowly and mindfully.
Once back at center,
Take three deep breaths through the nose if possible,
And exhale intentionally long and slow,
Completely emptying the lungs of air.
And with the eyes open or closed,
Whichever you prefer,
Cross your arms,
Bringing opposite hands to opposite shoulders.
And begin to massage your shoulders gently.
In any way that feels good to you.
Continuing with these deep intentional breaths,
Or breathing normally.
And the hands can move down to the upper arms,
Rubbing the upper arms in an up and down motion.
The hands move downward towards the elbows,
Down towards the lower arms,
Gently massaging.
And allowing there to be an attitude of care and compassion towards yourself with this gentle warm touch.
And then resting the hands at your side or in your lap.
And begin to sense the breath in the belly.
Intentionally inhaling to expand the belly outward.
And on an exhale,
Allowing the belly to soften.
Building on this now,
See if you can allow the low waist,
The low back,
The belly,
To all be involved on the inhale,
Creating this expansion three-dimensionally as the breath comes in.
And then an exhale,
There's a softening,
A relaxing.
A letting go.
Continuing with this belly breath,
Ensure that the forehead is relaxed.
Allow for the eyes to be heavy in their sockets.
The jaw is relaxed.
The tongue resting in the bottom of the mouth.
The throat is soft and open.
And with the next exhale,
Sense if the shoulders can relax downward.
With each exhale,
The muscles of the face soften.
Each exhale,
Giving the nervous system permission to restore and balance.
Each exhale,
A letting go.
Bringing the awareness back to the breath in the belly.
Feeling into the sensations that are present.
Now begin to invite a deeper breath into the body.
And on the exhale out,
With the mouth open or closed,
We'll do a long and smooth hum.
We'll do this three times.
Deep breath in.
And on an exhale,
Hum.
Taking a few moments to feel the effects of that long exhale and the vibration of our voice.
We begin to close this practice the way we began,
By reflecting on our internal landscape.
Just noticing if the body feels any different.
If there are any thoughts or feelings on the surface now.
Without judgment,
Just observing.
Wherever you are in your day,
May you continue to be mindful,
Grateful,
And kinder than you have to be.
Thank you.
