Take a moment to find a position that gives you ease and comfort with a straight back and a soft front.
Allowing your body to settle into the support beneath you.
Letting your spine be naturally upright.
Without making yourself rigid.
And whenever you're ready and not a moment too soon.
Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Taking a moment to arrive.
Just here,
Just now.
Before we begin.
I invite you to check in with three places of our experience,
The body,
The heart and the mind.
First,
Bringing your attention to your body.
Notice how your body feels right now.
Perhaps there is energy,
Maybe a little bit of heaviness,
Maybe some tension.
Maybe your body feels fairly settled.
There is nothing you need to change.
Just noticing it.
And then softly bringing your attention to your heart.
Just noticing what's present emotionally.
Maybe there's enthusiasm about what you want to accomplish.
Or maybe there might be resistance.
Maybe there's a feeling of overwhelm by everything that is waiting for you.
Maybe there's very little feeling,
Or even no feeling at all.
Just notice what's here.
And then bringing your attention to your mind.
How is the mind right now?
Is it busy,
Scattered?
Maybe it's clear like the skies or cloudy like the skies.
Maybe it's already thinking about the next thing.
Maybe there's a replay of something from earlier.
Maybe there's a jumping ahead to everything that needs to happen.
Just noticing this quality of mind.
And now,
Rather than trying to fix any of these experiences,
Simply recognize,
This is where I am right now.
Taking a slow breathe in.
And a slow breathe out.
Letting yourself slow down just a little bit.
You don't have to figure everything out right now.
You don't have to hold the whole day in your mind.
Just for these next few minutes.
There's only this moment,
This breath,
This body,
This experience.
And now going back to the breath,
Allowing your breathing to return to its natural rhythm,
Just observing it,
Cause there is nothing special you need to do with it.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
If the mind moves towards something else,
This is okay.
For now,
Simply notice that movement and just remember to keep on coming back to the breath.
And from this little bit of space,
Bring to mind the thing that maybe you've been putting off or you're planning to do.
You don't have to think through the entire task,
Just touching this.
Just allowing it to come to mind.
Noticing what happens in your body as you think about it.
Maybe noticing what happens in your heart.
And then noticing and touching what happens in your mind.
That there could be some sort of resistance,
Uncertainty,
Joy,
Maybe there's desire to do it or to do something else completely.
Maybe the task becomes bigger than what it actually is.
Or maybe smaller.
Just noticing what's here.
And then coming back again to the breath.
One breath.
One moment.
One point of attention.
Clarity doesn't necessarily mean knowing everything that needs to happen.
Sometimes clarity is simply knowing.
What is the one thing I am ready to give my attention to right now,
Right at this moment?
And just letting that question rest for a bit.
What is one thing?
Not everything.
Just one thing you can do.
Right now that's to breathe.
Right now that's to settle.
Just following this thread of one thing right now and then the next moment and then the next.
And maybe something will come to mind,
Just noticing that as you sit here or lie here.
You don't have to build the whole plan right now.
You don't even have to finish it in your mind.
Just recognize that direction of your attention.
Now returning once again to the breath.
And remember that this is how attention works.
It moves.
We know it is.
Maybe there's a feeling we notice that too.
We touch it and then we return.
The returning is part of the practice.
It is the practice.
Every time you notice you've wandered.
You've already noticed.
That noticing gives you another opportunity to choose.
So if your attention moves away from the breath,
Just gently and mindfully return.
If your attention moves toward another task.
Just return.
If your attention moves toward your phone or another idea or another worry,
Another thing to remember,
Just notice that and maybe holding it for a bit.
The return.
You don't have to force your mind to stay perfectly focused.
You are simply practicing returning.
Again and again.
Taking one more slow breathe in.
And a long easy breath out again.
Noticing your body is here.
Your mind is here.
Your heart is here.
Your intentions are here.
And perhaps there's a little bit more space around whatever you were carrying or maybe not.
And perhaps there might be a little bit more clarity about where you want to place your attention.
Just remember,
You can pause,
You can choose,
You can return.
It's just one breath.
One thing,
One moment in time.
And whenever you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes if they were closed,
Taking your time to come back,
Carrying this quality of attention with you into whatever comes next.
