Hey mama,
Thank you for choosing a time that feels of service to practice together.
Now take your time to find a comfortable and supportive way to stand,
Sit,
Or lie down for this guided practice.
Feel free to use any props like blankets,
Holsters,
Pillows,
Or blocks to support your practice today.
Let's begin.
So finding a way where your spine feels nice and tall could be lying back on something or finding a seat or even standing.
And maybe just allowing your shoulders to meet your ears and then letting them slide down the back.
So I'll invite you to keep your eyes open and we're going to do a grounding practice to really land in meditation.
So we'll do a grounding practice that Leslie Brooker does,
Which is keeping our eyes open to engage with our visual perspective.
And so just gently turning the chin and the head over to the left with the eyes open and just following that movement.
So if you imagine like an owl turns its head over to the left.
And once you get to the point where you can't turn it any further,
Pause,
Take a breath,
And then turning the head slowly and gently back through center and on the way back.
So it should be very slow.
Notice if you can see anything,
The color red.
And if you can,
Notice it.
And if you can't,
That's okay.
No need to attach to it.
Just noticing what's in sight.
And when the head comes back through center,
We're going to do something similar,
Turning our head slowly over to the right and just noticing what's in your sight as you gently turning the chin,
Turning the gaze,
Perhaps noticing something you may not have noticed before in this space.
And on the way back,
Again,
Slowly turning the chin back towards center.
See if you can notice something maybe in the shape of a circle.
And once you notice it or don't,
Just continue to follow back through center.
And once you're back through center,
Go ahead and turn the chin up slowly once again,
This time towards the sky.
Maybe tilting the head back and gently on the way down,
Maybe noticing something that's a light color.
And then coming back through center and now turning the chin down.
As your gaze goes down,
Maybe see where your legs land or your feet land.
Slowly allowing the chin to slowly come back up to a neutral space.
And you're welcome to keep the eyes opened or closed.
I'll guide us through some gentle movements.
So let's inhale,
Reaching the arms up to sky and then just gently shimmying the hips down wherever they meet.
Maybe it's the floor or the cushion.
And if you're standing,
Just allowing the hips to be heavy and reaching up just a bit more with the heart as you settle and sink into the hips.
Let me take a nice big breath,
Inhale in through the nose.
Exhale,
Opening the arms up slowly out to a T and letting them gently drop down by your side.
Let's inhale the palms,
Reaching up forward through center up to the sky.
Once again,
As you inhale,
Settle the hips,
Shimmy them,
Reach the heart up,
Maybe the chin gently lifts.
On an exhale,
Open the palms up to T,
Like giant wings,
Letting them fall open.
And once they fall down,
Taking your left palm,
Meeting the ground.
And if you're standing,
Just taking that left palm to the hip.
Right arm is going to reach up and over towards the left.
And even if you're lying down,
You can still do this.
Just make like a half banana shape with your upper body.
Feel into the side body.
And see if you can land really with that left shoulder,
Letting it soften.
Left palm,
Inhale back through center,
Reach the palms up to sky.
Exhale,
Right palm's going to come down to meet the mat or the hip.
Left arm reaches up and over to the right.
Let the right shoulder soften down and away from the air.
Allow the hips to be heavy.
Inhale back through center,
Reach both palms up to sky.
And exhale,
Palms meet at heart center.
Giving palms to baby,
To belly.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Exhale out through your mouth.
And allow your palms to be face down.
So maybe you want to keep them on baby.
Maybe you'd like to place the palms down on the knees or just down by the sides.
And just noticing how it felt to move the body just a bit.
Whether it was just through some gentle neck and head movement or some opening up the arms.
Some gentle breathing.
And too,
Noting what it was like to bring in the visualization,
The sight.
And if you do have your eyes open still,
You're welcome to keep them open or maybe finding that soft gaze and noting what it feels like to close your eyes.
And choosing whichever feels most of service for you in this moment.
Notice where your palm connects.
Whether it's your body or maybe the earth.
Or just suspending in air.
Finding this moment,
That physical sensation in your palms or your hands as a way to land.
And if palms don't feel accessible for you to focus on,
Perhaps try your feet.
Try your elbows.
Landing in this moment.
When the mind drifts off,
Choose to land back into the present moment.
And let's just take some breaths together.
Breathing in through the nose,
Breathing out through the nose or the mouth.
Try that again.
Deep breath in through the nose,
Letting it go through the mouth.
And see if you can stay with this awareness of the breath here.
Letting your palms relax wherever they find.
Noticing the breath now.
Perhaps just naturally as it travels in and out.
No need to adjust or modify.
Only as you see fit.
And if the breath alone doesn't feel enough to really anchor or land the mind in this moment,
Maybe you use the Thich Nhat Hanh practice.
Breathing in,
I feel my in breath.
Breathing out,
I feel my out breath.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
Just breathing at your own pace.
Breathing in your breath.
Breathing out.
Breathing out.
And if it feels challenging,
Perhaps shifting a perspective.
I like to think of this space as something sacred.
The ability to land.
So when I'm traveling a lot,
When we're able to,
I love the moment that the airplane touches down.
I look out the window.
Still moving.
Still taxing.
And allowing my mind to really land with my body in a new environment or perhaps back home.
Tapping into all the emotions that bubble up within me when I'm traveling.
Noting them.
Welcoming them.
Giving them space for me to fully arrive.
See if you can stick with your breath for just a few more moments.
And if the breath doesn't work for you,
Feel back into the palms or the feet.
African.
So go ahead and bring palms to baby,
To belly.
Maybe just moving the palms around,
Landing with this journey,
Landing with this body,
Calming uncertainty and new adventures.
Go ahead and bring palms to heart center.
And if you can,
Just shimmy your hips back into your seat.
Gently lifting the heart,
Whatever that means for you.
Taking a breath in through our nose and exhale,
Sigh out through the mouth.
And from my heart to yours.
Thanks so much for practicing with me.
