Hello there,
Welcome to this mindful tea break.
Thank you so much for being here.
The next 15 minutes are just about taking a little break.
And what better way to do that than with a cup of tea?
It can be busy,
You know,
In our daily lives to find that time to prioritize ourselves,
To give ourselves that self-care that sustains us and keeps us going.
Feeling refueled for all the things that we want to do in life.
So this is your time,
We're going to take a little break together with your favourite drink.
And while it brews do some gentle breathing exercises and then a little bit of gratitude and mindfulness to round off our 15 minutes together.
So if we haven't met before,
My name is Kayleigh.
I'm really delighted to have this break with you.
And make sure you have your drink.
So pause,
Grab that now if you haven't already and put that down in front of you to let it brew.
And once you have your drink.
Find a comfortable seat.
You don't need to be sat on the floor like me.
You can be sat on the sofa,
The desk chair.
Whatever feels most comfortable.
But I always find it helpful to sit with the hips slightly higher than the knees,
So I have a cushion underneath me today.
So when you've chosen your seat.
Really ground yourself.
Feel the.
.
.
Seats supporting the weight of you,
The connection of your body to the cushion or the chair beneath.
And then sit up tall.
Feel length through the spine.
So from the connection to the seat below you.
Start to feel the body lifting upwards.
Crown of the head reaching towards the ceiling and feel length all the way through your back.
And at the same time,
Relax the shoulders,
Bring them down,
Away from the ears.
Really important if you've been sacked.
At the desk.
On the keyboard.
If you've been carrying a lot of stress recently you tend to hold that in the shoulder so really relax them down away from your ears.
And then start to connect with the breath.
Notice the flow of the breath in and out of the body.
And if it feels comfortable for you,
Close the eyes down.
That just helps to draw your awareness inward.
To notice those little micro sensations,
The signals between the body and the breath.
Start to observe the breath as it flows in and out.
Feel the breath as it hits.
The nose.
It moves in through your nostrils.
And then down the back of the throat into the lungs.
And on your next inhale.
The next in breath.
Feel yourself drawing in the breath through the nose and intentionally send it down into the lowest parts of the lungs as though it's filling the belly.
Allow that belly to grow out big and beautiful.
And then as you exhale relax the belly and even start to use your abdominal muscles to pull the belly back in.
So as you inhale at your own pace.
Breathing in,
Sending the breath down to the belly.
And as you exhale,
Feel the belly softening.
And the breath coming back out.
And have again.
Breathing into the belly.
Exhale.
Softening and relaxing.
Every breath an opportunity to relax and let go.
Let's carry on like this for a few more breaths.
Breathing into the belly.
And every time that you breathe in to this area.
You're actually starting to stimulate the part of the nervous system that helps you to relax,
The parasympathetic nervous system.
I take another breath like this.
Finding your rhythm.
And then if it feels okay.
Going to start to add in a breath count.
So keep breathing into the belly but this time as you inhale.
Count for 4 two,
4 and exhale for 4.
Too.
Three four,
Inhale four.
Two,
Three.
Four,
Exhale for four.
Two.
Three.
Four inhale for four too.
3.
Four,
Exhale four.
Two.
Three.
Four,
Inhale four,
Carry on counting yourself through now.
Breathing in for four,
Exhaling for four.
And if it feels too much,
If it feels too intense,
Drop that count to three.
So breathing in for three,
Exhaling for three.
Just noticing what feels right.
What feels like it's not overexerting the body as you take this little time for yourself.
Feel that every round of breath.
You're releasing.
Looping thought.
Motions that aren't serving you today with every breath out.
And every breath in.
Bringing in fresh oxygen.
Feeling of vitality that's going to carry you through the rest of your day.
As you continue to breathe in this even rhythm.
Inhaling for four,
Exhaling for four or whatever pattern.
Feels okay for you.
We're going to start to add in gentle breath hold.
So after you inhale,
You're going to hold the breath for two counts.
And then exhale.
At the same count.
So we'll start.
On the next round.
You're gonna inhale for four.
3.
Four,
Hold in for two.
Exhale for four.
Two.
Three four,
Inhale four.
Two.
3 4.
Hold in the 2.
Exhale,
Fold.
Too.
3.
Four inhale for four Two.
Three.
4.
Hold in for 2 counts.
Exhale,
Fold.
Two Three.
Four,
Inhale four.
Two three Four,
Hold in two.
Exhale,
Fold.
Too.
Three four,
Inhale take yourself through.
Again,
Finding your rhythm.
Holding the breath in just briefly.
And then exhaling to let go.
And as you hold your breath in that gentle pause.
Use it as an opportunity to keep the mind super still.
Finding an extra moment of calm.
Extra moment of stillness.
In your day.
And then finish the cycle you're on and take one more full round of this breath.
And after exhaling for the final time,
Release the breath count and just allow the breath to become effortless once again.
Trusting that your breath is taking care of you.
Always with you.
And keep the eyes closed just for a moment more.
Really soak up this moment of stillness,
This moment of calm.
And feel into it.
So that you can take it forwards into the rest of your day.
And when you're ready.
Carefully open the eyes.
And find your drink in front of you.
And if,
Like me,
You need to pour your drink,
Just take a moment to do that now.
And as you reconnect with your tea,
Your coffee,
Whatever your drink of choice is today.
Take a moment to notice all of the sensations.
Of your drink.
So noticing how it looks.
Feeling that connection through the eyes,
The color of your tea,
Of your drink.
Even the color of the mug.
Or the cup that's holding it.
Notice the smile.
And feel any warmth or temperature of the drink.
Maybe the heat.
Against the side of the mug.
Or the feeling of the steam as it hits your hands.
An icy feeling if you have a cool drink.
Feel all the.
.
.
Texture of the cup that's holding your drink.
Really pay attention to all of these.
Micro sensations,
These little moments that you can enjoy in your day.
And it doesn't have to be much at these little moments of spark.
So much joy and feelings of gratitude.
So with gratitude in mind.
Take a moment to think about all the people that brought you this drink.
Or the people that picked the tea leaves or the coffee or the fruit,
Whatever went into this cup.
And all the people who transported it and brought it to you.
The people whose knowledge it took to grow these ingredients.
And of course to you.
For putting it into your cup and making this time to enjoy it today.
So feel into that.
Gratitude,
Appreciation.
And take another moment.
To think of something else that's happened today that you feel grateful for.
A moment that sparked joy or a conversation that you had.
Or a special object in your life.
That you feel really happy to have.
And when you're ready.
Take your sip,
Your first sip if you haven't already.
And I'd love to know what drink you're enjoying today.
So let me know.
Tell me in the feedback,
The review.
You can see that my drink today is this fruity.
Deep purple colour.
And I have butterfly PT.
It's a flower that grows in Thailand,
Which is where I'm currently based.
And it goes all over the place on the vines,
Quite abundantly.
And when you use it in its dried form,
You can put it into your teacup.
Just pour over water and then you have a delicious drink that you can have hot or cold.
So I love this and I'm feeling very grateful for this right now.
And I'm feeling super grateful to you for sharing this time,
This practice with you.
Thank you so much for being here.
And if you have some extra time in your day,
Just take a few more moments for yourself to really enjoy your drink.
And remember that you can come back to this practice.
Any day,
Any time you want to share another mindful tea break.
I look forward to having another tea break with you soon.
Enjoy the rest of your day,
Whatever you're up to.
And take good care.
See you then.
