Hello and welcome to today's practice.
Taking a moment to get comfortable and tune into the physical sensations present for you now.
Notice the points of contact between you and your bed.
The back of the right shoulder,
The back of the left shoulder,
The back of your head,
Your right buttock,
Your left buttock,
Your heels.
Notice these points of contact getting heavier as you sink deeper into your bed.
Take a few rounds of deep breath now,
In through the nose and out through the mouth,
Letting yourself fully arrive at your practice.
And giving yourself permission to put the thoughts from the day to one side.
Allow yourself to step fully into this moment.
If you would like to set an intention for this practice,
Allow that intention to come to the surface now.
Maybe it's a word,
A short phrase or a sentence.
And if nothing comes to mind and you would like to set one,
Maybe you use this as your intention.
I gently soften into this present moment,
Inviting ease and opening into every breath.
I gently soften into this present moment,
Inviting ease and opening into every breath.
Take a moment to connect with your intention.
Let it plant like a seed within you and guide you throughout this practice.
We're going to take a visual scan of the body.
All you have to do is bring your awareness to each part of the body as I name it,
Inviting in softness and gentleness,
Allowing that part of body to relax completely and then move on to the next part as I name it.
Starting with your right shoulder,
Right upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Right wrist,
Palm,
The back of the hand,
Right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The whole of your right arm softening.
Now your left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm,
The back of the hand,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The whole of your left arm softening.
Bringing your awareness to your throat,
The back of the neck,
Your jaw,
Your lips,
Your tongue,
The bottom row of teeth,
The top row of teeth,
The cheeks,
Nose,
Eyebrows,
Temples,
Your forehead,
The very top of the head,
The back of the head,
The sides of the head,
Your ears.
And everything in your face and head soften completely.
And moving your awareness to the right collarbone,
The front of your right shoulder,
The left collarbone and the front of the left shoulder,
The right side of your chest,
The left side of your chest,
Your right side ribs,
Your left side ribs,
Your upper abdomen,
Your lower abdomen,
Allowing the upper part of the body to soften and relax.
The back of the right shoulder,
The back of the left shoulder,
The whole spine,
The pelvis,
Your right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
The top of the right foot,
The sole of the right foot,
Your right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
The whole of your right leg softening.
Your left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
The top of the left foot,
The sole of the foot,
Your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
The whole of your left leg softening.
Now feeling into the whole of the right side of your body,
The whole of the right side of your body,
Inviting in softness and gentleness.
The back of your body,
The front of your body,
The whole of your body.
Let the whole of your body soften,
Release,
And be at ease.
Tuning back into your breath,
Watching the journey of each smooth,
Easy breath.
Visualize your inhale and exhale moving in and out like waves on the shore.
Imagine your breath moving from the center of your chest to your outer edges on your inhale,
And then releasing back to your center on your exhale.
Moving out and filling you up on your inhale,
Drawing back to your center on your exhale.
Spreading out to your edges on your inhale and drawing back in with your exhale.
Now imagine that as you inhale,
Your breath carries with it a gentleness and a self-kindness.
And as you exhale,
You feel the edges of your body soften towards the center of you.
The solidity of you starts to soften.
Any rigidity in the back of your body,
Your shoulders,
Your face starts to soften and melt away.
Any tension in the mind starts to release and calm.
Any strain or stress in your nervous system starts to soothe as you continue to inhale to your outer edges and soften to your center on your exhale.
How would it feel if you were soft with yourself?
No self-judgment,
No self-imposed limiting stories,
No harsh words from your inner critic.
What if you were completely at ease and gentle with yourself?
What would that feel like?
Where would you feel it in your body?
What if you spoke to yourself like you would a good friend or a loved one?
And if you did that all the time,
How would that change how you think about yourself?
What would your life be like?
Let that idea land in your body.
Let it settle like a seed falling down from a sycamore tree,
Visualizing that recognizable V-shaped seed spiraling down from the highest of branches on a bright,
Clear day and landing within you.
Let it plant in the softness you are creating and take root,
And then promise yourself that you will give it nourishment to grow.
Recall the intention you set at the start of this practice,
Or repeating,
I gently soften into this present moment,
Inviting ease and opening into every breath.
Feel that new promise to yourself take root next to your intention.
Let them guide you forwards.
I gently soften into this present moment,
Inviting ease and opening into every breath.
Coming back to the image of the waves moving on the shore,
Flowing as you inhale and exhale,
As you inhale and as you exhale.
Feel your body and your mind completely at ease,
Your body breathing.
Gently start to bring your awareness back from your breath and into your body as we slowly guide ourselves back towards the day.
Tuning into the physical sensations present for you now.
Noticing the points of contact between you and your bed,
The back of your right shoulder,
The back of your left shoulder,
The back of your head,
Your right buttock,
Your left buttock,
Your heels.
Feel your clothes on your skin and feel them move with your breath.
Maybe starting to take a few small movements into your fingers and toes.
Maybe lifting and lowering the eyebrows a few times or taking some gentle movements with the jaw.
There is no rush.
Keep your sense of newfound softness within you as you start to move your body again.
If it feels good,
Maybe taking a whole body stretch or bringing your knees towards you and rolling onto one side,
Pausing for a moment as you gently start to open your eyes again.
There is no rush.
Take a moment in gratitude to yourself for finding time for you today.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
