Find a position of ease coming into that mountain pose that we know so well now.
Perhaps the feet are flat on the ground,
Perhaps the spine is backed above the pelvis and the head is balancing above the spine.
Noticing those points of the body that make connection with the earth,
That make connection with whoever's supporting you.
Perhaps noticing the feet,
The sit bones,
And gently moving your awareness to take in the whole of your body.
Noticing those points of pain or discomfort as well as those points of ease,
Maybe numbness.
Seeing if it's possible to open to the whole of your experience right now,
Be that stiff and aching or tired.
Wherever it might be welcoming that,
Noticing that.
Noticing also emotions or feelings are here.
What are you feeling right now?
Knowing there's no right way to feel.
Simply noticing what's here.
These feelings will come and go.
They're simply noticing.
Noticing the mind.
Perhaps your mind is busy and full of thoughts,
Or maybe it's feeling quite slow.
Whatever's present,
Simply noticing that.
And releasing awareness of the mind and moving your awareness to the point where you notice the breath most strongly in the body.
Noticing that.
Gentle rise and fall as the body breathes.
Noticing the sense of the air being drawn into the body and releasing.
That which no longer serves.
Releasing awareness of the breath.
Knowing that the breath and the body on the earth is here throughout the practice.
This support,
This anger is always open to you.
Always return to this at any point.
And if you'd like to,
We'll start thinking about connecting with our sense of kindness,
Of compassion.
And perhaps bringing to mind a time where you felt warmth,
Happiness,
Perhaps.
Perhaps a sense of kindness.
A point when there was a sense of ease.
Perhaps remembering how it felt in the body in that moment.
Remembering the flavour of the thoughts,
The sense of the feelings.
Perhaps allowing this memory to allow you to feel the sense of peace.
And perhaps allowing this memory to allow you to connect with that atmosphere of kindness,
With that sense of compassion.
And we're not trying to force nothing.
It's already here.
We're simply noticing,
Connecting,
Remembering.
And if nothing's coming to mind,
Knowing that just the intention is enough.
There's no right way to do this practice.
And you might like to bring your imagination in here,
Your creativity.
Maybe imagining a golden light falling on you.
Or maybe imagining yourself,
The point in this memory,
Where you felt connected with kindness,
Where you felt at ease.
Or maybe simply repeating the words to yourself of where you were.
Maybe you can remember what you smelt,
What you tasted,
What you touched.
Touched.
And as you hold this gentle,
Kindly awareness of yourself,
In this atmosphere of kindness,
You may feel like you'd like to drop in a wish for yourself.
You don't have to.
You may like to simply stay in this place.
But if you want to play with this,
If you want to explore,
Perhaps gently dropping in a wish,
Perhaps offering yourself the traditional wishes,
May I be well,
May I feel safe,
May I feel happy,
May I feel healthy,
May I feel at ease.
These don't resonate with you,
Finding your own words.
Perhaps simply an image,
A sense.
And if you like to,
You may like to bring this in with a breath.
Perhaps as you breathe in,
Saying to yourself,
May I,
And as you breathe out,
Feel well.
Breathing in,
May I,
Breathing out,
Feel safe.
Allowing your wish for yourself to ride on the breath,
To flow with the breath.
And again,
Knowing this is your practice,
That doesn't feel right for you,
Adapting it,
Changing it.
And if you notice the minds wandered off,
Knowing nothing's gone wrong,
This is the nature of the mind.
And celebrating this noticing,
This noticing is the moment of mindfulness.
Noticing where the mind's gone and gently and kindly when you're ready,
Guiding your awareness back to this moment,
To this sense of this kindly atmosphere,
Perhaps to this wish,
Your wishing of yourself.
The felt sense of your body in this moment.
You connect with this well-wishing for yourself.
And noticing if this feels challenging,
Feels like things are not feeling as you feel they should,
Be bringing gentleness to that.
Gentleness to that.
It's okay.
As we begin to come towards the end of the practice,
Starting to let go of this wish,
Knowing that it may linger on,
Perhaps it will travel with you into the rest of your day.
Releasing this memory or this sense of this kindly atmosphere,
This warmth for yourself,
Knowing it's here to come back to you whenever you want.
And returning your awareness to the body in this moment,
Perhaps to the breath,
Perhaps to the body on the ground,
Perhaps taking a deeper breath in and out,
Noting the same space around you and when you're ready opening your eyes.
