Hello and welcome to the Peace Pause.
My name is Laina and I'm honored to have this opportunity for 10 minutes to be in this sacred pause with you.
So please find a way that you can either sit or lie down,
Recline,
Or even stand for these next 10 minutes.
And aside from absolutely necessary movements,
I invite you to just make the commitment and decision to just hold yourself lovingly in stillness.
Let's take a big breath in together and a generous breath out.
I'm gonna ring the bell three times and I invite you to just take in the sound of the bell with your whole being.
Not just your ears,
But your feet,
Your belly,
Your back,
The space above your head.
Just coming into a fuller presence.
As you settle into the stillness,
Just invite a few sweeping but gentle breaths to roll through the landscape of your living body.
So noticing when you inhale where you're feeling expansive,
Where that in-breath goes to within you.
And with that same gentle curiosity,
Follow the tail end of your exhale and notice where in your body do you feel the exhale emptying from.
And with that same soft touch of awareness,
Notice your contact with the earth,
Whether it's your feet,
Your whole back body,
Your seat.
Just invite the full volume and mass of your body to rest into the earth,
Not resisting.
Just allowing a natural earthiness to bless you.
And from that earthiness,
Just turn towards your breath,
Feeling your breathing body.
And as much as you can,
Resting your mind on the quiet altar of your breath.
Notice if you're holding your belly in tightly,
Or maybe it's your jaw that feels clenched.
Just invite yourself with a gentle invitation to soften your belly so there's lots of space to breathe.
Soften through the jaw.
Soften between your eyes.
Soften the space of the heart,
The front and the back.
With this quality of gentleness,
The softness that we're feeling,
It's really taking up some space,
Some residence in the here and the now,
This present moment.
Letting go of everything else.
And when your mind wanders,
And of course it will,
Just smile,
A friendly smile.
Maintaining that warm friendliness.
Just catch your next inhale,
Just like you're catching a wave.
Follow the inhale all the way to where you feel you're expanding.
And then follow the exhale,
Just like a slide,
All the way to where you're currently emptying from in your body.
And then again with the next breath,
Taking residence in the present moment.
This present moment is all that exists.
Everything else has either not yet unfolded,
Or is already in the past.
Please bring your palms together right in front of your gentle heart.
And take a full breath in.
As you exhale,
Offer the softest bow in service of this present moment of being alive and aware of that sparkle of life that exists right here,
Right now.
Thank you for your practice friend.
I wish you peace.
I wish you pauses.
I wish you well.
