Good on you for taking this time for yourself to calm your mind,
Your body,
To rest your thoughts and connect with yourself.
Sometimes in this life something unexpected happens.
We can feel shock,
Sadness,
Grief,
Anger,
Sometimes on repeat and out of order.
Our whole world can feel out of order,
Out of control,
Our minds racing,
Jumping from one scenario to the next.
In between all of this there are moments of peace,
Calm,
Even contentment or bouts of laughter or happiness.
As we move through our day,
As we take care of our responsibilities,
Despite all that is going on,
There are moments that feel light when our heart feels light,
Our bellies,
Our shoulders,
Our entire body.
So now we're going to take some time to relax our body.
Lay down comfortably.
Hands can be facing the sky or face down,
But make sure they are open.
Your shoulders are relaxed and touching the surface beneath you.
Your arms are limp,
Your belly is relaxed,
Legs are heavy,
And feet are splayed open.
Notice that you are supported by the surface beneath you.
You are always supported.
Let us draw our attention to our breath,
Not change it,
Just observe.
Our breaths have three parts,
In,
Out,
And that pause after we've completed one breath.
Inhalation,
Exhalation,
Pause.
Don't change the pattern of your breathing,
Just notice your breathing and notice these three parts.
Notice the stillness of your body,
The feeling of calm or even peace that has come over you right now as you take this time for yourself.
In,
Out,
Pause.
Begin noticing the impact of our breathing,
The expanding impact of our inhalation,
The softening,
Relaxing impact of our exhalation.
Keep observing as thoughts come into your head,
Come back to your breath.
Recognize your thoughts and come back to your breath.
This is normal and we just refocus on our breathing.
Notice how every exhalation ends with this small pause and each inhalation is born from this pause.
Let us be comforted by our breath,
By our ability to observe our breath,
To find peace in our breath,
To know it is always there for us to return to in particular moments of stress.
And when we feel those moments creeping up on us,
Let our minds go to the small moments of joy in our day,
To the laughter we shared,
To the moments of contentment,
To the ways we were strong and capable,
Calm and at peace.
Just like that pause between our breaths,
We can find a pause during times of stress and take comfort that this overwhelm is temporary and our breath is always there for us.
Let's take a few moments to breathe now.
In,
Out,
Pause.
Let's come back to awareness now,
Wiggle our toes,
Move our fingers and lift our hands,
Maybe slowly move your head from side to side and know as you move through this time,
Know that these small moments of happiness will slowly increase bit by bit,
Day by day,
And even then your breath will be there for you.
