All right,
So we've got a candle here but you can use any object that you want.
I'll hold it here for a second as our center point.
It's really useful for our attention,
I.
E.
Our mind,
To have a center point,
To have something very simple to rest the senses upon,
Whether it's the sense of sight we rested on something,
Could be the sense of sound and so forth.
So for me in this moment and maybe you the sense of sight on the candle,
There's nothing to fix about that candle,
Figure out,
Manage,
Understand,
Negotiate with.
It's just a flame.
It's a very clear actual factual,
So that can be really nice for the mind,
For attention,
For the nervous system to rest upon.
So as I put this candle down,
Just letting yourself find your own center point.
That wording is just popping in today for some reason to use.
So some center point for your eyes for a second.
And again letting your eyes find something that's so simple,
That doesn't need to be managed.
And when you find that object,
Letting your eyes just rest there.
It doesn't mean that thoughts about other things will stop.
It doesn't mean that everything will become wonderful.
So that's not the goal,
Quote-unquote.
The invitation is to support the brain and nervous system and we know that happens when we let a sense mechanism settle on something simple.
So letting the attention connect to something simple and just doing your best to let attention stay there at least a little bit.
Breath comes and goes.
The heartbeat comes and goes.
Other sense mechanisms and thoughts come and go.
And inviting some of that attention to stay with a visual that's very simple.
It doesn't have to be one object.
You could let your attention move around the room that you're in,
Just noticing other simple actual factuals in your space.
And along the way letting your your brain know that there's no threat or danger in the room that you're in.
And you can verify that by looking behind you and very gently looking around to the floor,
To the ceiling.
Verifying there's no threat or danger in your immediacy.
Even if you're having thoughts that are anxious or feelings that are challenging,
We can still verify with our eyes that there's no threat or danger.
Then you can let the eyes close and you can let your attention come to another center point.
Maybe a sound,
Maybe a smell,
Maybe taste,
Maybe touch.
Whatever your attention decides that is simple to include.
And it's okay if you rotate through them.
I'm noticing a buzzing sound that's really simple to include.
But I'm also noticing the sense of touch through my hands.
So there's no right or wrong subject or object of a center point or something for attention to settle with.
Might settle with different some different things or rotate through.
The invitation is to keep ushering forth attention or the mind or perception to something very simple in this moment.
And when you get distracted by thoughts or things that aren't so simple,
That's very human.
You've had a human experience so that will happen.
We can expect it to happen.
It's a predictable perhaps even.
And then just acknowledge that or acknowledge that you've gone to mind or you've gone to thoughts.
And then just gently bring that attention back to something very simple in this moment.
I'm just noticing what is pretty easy to return to.
Is it something,
An anchoring of your body?
Is it a sound that anchors you?
Is it a visual?
Is it a smell?
Maybe many of those.
And just continue to connect with your attention to those simplicities where there's nothing to figure out or manage or negotiate.
It's just here.
There's no right or wrong or should or supposed to with regards to what attention anchors with.
There just is something that comes that has a little bit of ease maybe in resting with.
I was with a friend yesterday and she was expressing how busy she's been and how much traveling she's been doing and the holidays are coming up and she's like I just I really want to be able to have something I can ground into no matter where I am.
And of course that's something that we really we really journey with.
We really journey with what can be anchoring for us no matter where we are.
So sometimes what is anchoring us is contextual.
If it's the sound of this room for me,
Well that sound isn't going to be somewhere else when I go into another location.
But there will be sounds that I can probably anchor with.
Or if it's a particular visual in this room,
Well that won't be here when I go somewhere else.
But there might be a visual that I can find where I go next in another context.
And we want to be curious of being adaptable to our surroundings with anchors or center points as I used in the beginning.
But I'll probably move to anchors at this point.
We want to be hmm we don't want to be able to be fluid with wherever we are to find something that our attention can rest with that helps our brains and nervous systems and therefore our hearts and our minds.
So even if we're in a family dynamic for the holidays for example,
We can have some attention outward to that family dynamic but some attention or maybe a lot of attention is going to be really hmm directed to something very simple of our perceptive from a perceptive self that anchors our brains,
Our nervous systems,
Our hearts,
Our spirits in a really generative and practical useful way.
So we're all really unique in what anchors us or what is simple.
So in this moment just have a conversation with yourself.
Notice what's simple now and notice what you might be able to take into another dynamic that you find yourself in.
So you're kind of having a conversation.
Well when I'm in X location I really want to set an intention to include my whole self,
To include me,
To not lose myself and to do that I want to remember that my hands exist for example and I can connect to my hands or my armpits exist and I can bring attention to the simplicity of my armpits and it will be whatever is useful for you in your dynamic,
In your body,
With your sense mechanisms.
So utilize this present moment while you utilize the gift of imagination of how you might connect to the here and now in practical ways when you are in your different situations and be playful and curious.
What will support your brain and nervous systems and hearts in your different contexts and how might you connect in simple ways.
I haven't brought in breath yet but or and breath might not be something that's an anchoring occurrence for you and it might be and so in this moment just notice what's really simple about breath.
What does breath say hello to in your somatic experience?
Does it say hello to the nostrils?
Does it say hello to the pelvic floor?
We know that breath moves all the way from nostrils to pelvic floor and everywhere in between and you don't have to track all of that but there might be some simple engagements with breath that you might utilize when you're in challenging circumstances whether it's in your own home or somewhere else.
What aspects of breath are really practically useful for you to include?
Continuing to be curious and playful and just seeing what shows up.
If you want you can make a game of it.
Earlier this week there was a playful exchange where it's like oh what can my breath move in my belly?
How does my breath move my belly?
My front belly or maybe the sides of my body down low or even into the lower back that's behind the belly area.
So breath moves us and we can be playful with how it moves us.
We can be curious how does it move me?
There's no right or wrong way for breath to move us.
It just does.
It does it as a matter of actual factualness.
So if we want to play with it we can play with how it moves different areas whether again whether it's the nostrils,
The pelvic floor,
The belly,
The ribs,
The front ribs,
The side ribs,
The back ribs.
Could move the shoulders.
How does it move the shoulders?
How does it move my armpit area and so forth?
So just another few moments of playfulness with what is simple in our experience here.
And letting the eyes slowly start to open and if you have paper nearby or you want to type in what your what simplicity your attention found today what simplicity your attention said hello to today either with sitting or breathing or hearing or seeing,
Smelling,
Tasting.
Don't want to exclude any of those possible sense mechanisms.
And maybe some of those can be utilized as we move into some holiday engagements.
And then we'll come back to the screen when you're ready.
