Find a comfortable seated position and gently close your eyes.
Bring your awareness to the space behind the eyes now and as you become aware of this space allow yourself to come fully into this present moment.
Guide your attention into your body now.
The body is always resting in the present moment.
It's not worrying about the future or thinking about the past.
Just allow your body to bring you right here.
And let your awareness rest on your feet now.
Feeling the heels making contact with the floor.
Feel the balls of the feet on the floor and notice each of your toes making contact with the surface beneath you.
Gently press your feet into the ground now and feel your physical presence right here.
Bring your awareness into your ankles and calves,
Into your knees and thighs and allow the lower part of your body to sink into your chair now.
Now move your awareness into the upper part of your body and see if you can bring a gentle alertness into the spine.
You may want to realign your spine as you gently lift from the top of your head.
Tuck your chin slightly and allow the upper part of your body to feel a little more alive and awake.
And notice how you're able to hold a sense of stillness in the body at the same time as feeling this alertness.
This subtle paradox is a reminder that as you go through your working day you might encounter a vast range of emotions.
Remember that you have the capacity to hold all of these emotions within yourself by allowing everything you experience to just be.
Not resisting anything,
Not needing to change anything,
Simply making room for all of your experience.
Now bring your awareness to your heart area and press the shoulders gently back creating an openness in the heart space.
Take the breath into the heart breathing openness and lightness into your heart area.
As you take your next in-breath call in the love and compassion that exists all around you and give yourself permission to take in this love for yourself now.
Filling yourself with the care and kindness that you'll share with the patients and colleagues you encounter in your day.
Allow this love and kindness to sink into every cell in your body.
And as you embrace this open-hearted compassion remind yourself that the work you are doing is work you've been called to do.
This is the work that gives meaning and purpose to your life.
Even on the days when you find yourself weary or worn down remember you still have the capacity to offer comfort to your patients.
You can listen with care and even when time is limited know that you're still making a difference in each person's day.
Take another breath into your heart area now and offer some of this kindness and care to yourself.
You might like to ask yourself is there anything you could be doing to take better care of yourself today?
Maybe taking a short break,
Savouring a cup of tea or just allowing yourself the luxury of a pause and taking a few deep breaths between patients.
Now take a moment to think of one thing in your life you're truly grateful for.
Maybe the warmth of a shower at the end of your shift,
The leafy trees in your local park or the clear blue sky on a sunny day.
With your heart open with gratitude and compassion feel a sense of connection with all of the other health workers around the world who are pausing in this moment preparing for their day.
Remember the shared experience of being part of something bigger than each individual and remind yourself of the collective capacity for healing.
Send out some of the love and compassion that you've gathered in your heart now to the patients and families in need,
To your own supportive loved ones,
To yourself for the wonderful work that you do.
As we come to the end of the meditation now let's take three deep and loving breaths together.
Breathing in through the nose and pause and a long slow breath out of the mouth.
Another breath in through the nose and a gentle breath out through the mouth.
And a final breath in together and a long slow breath as we breathe out.
Scan across your body now and notice the sense of compassion and calm as you feel your feet on the floor once again.
And remember that during your day anytime you lose clarity or focus you can bring yourself back to the present moment by gently pressing your feet into the floor to feel grounded and centered and calm.
Guide your attention back into the room now and when you're ready gently open your eyes.
