And so beginning by getting as comfortable as you can.
If you're seated,
Perhaps placing a pillow underneath your hips.
If you're laying down,
Perhaps placing a pillow underneath your knees.
Getting yourself as comfortable and as cozy in your body as you can.
If you're seated,
Imagining that there are sandbags on your thighs and on your hips,
Weighting you down,
Anchoring you down.
And if you're laying down,
Imagining those sandbags on your shoulders,
On your pelvic bones,
Anchoring you to the earth.
Melting into that force of gravity.
Imagine as you continue anchoring and melting down into the earth,
Simultaneously lengthening through your spine.
So there's no need to use a ton of effort to lengthen through your spine.
Almost as if you could use your intention to create just a little more space in between your vertebra.
Imagining that if you had wings,
Your wings would be pinned back and relaxed down your shoulders.
Imagining to draw your attention to your breath.
Drawing your attention the way that you would draw water into a ladle or draw water from a well.
Imagining your intention like a sea that you could just draw back,
Back,
Back into this present moment.
And as you draw your attention,
Placing it on your breath.
So it's very common when you first bring your attention to your breath to have a bit of tension arise in the chest.
So if that's happening for you,
Just know that that's normal.
And trying as best you can to just relax your chest completely.
Imagining that the breath is like a wave in the ocean.
As you inhale,
Your belly expands.
It's like the water swelling and cresting.
And as you exhale,
It's like that wave reaching up onto the shore.
Breathing into that easy rhythm.
And allowing your breath to come from so deep inside your belly.
It's also really common to use the muscles of the abdomen to get a deeper breath.
Actually using those superficial muscles can cause the breath to become a little more superficial.
And so with your next breath,
Rather than making your belly rise,
Letting the breath come from so deep within the belly that the flesh,
The belly and the chest is the last thing to rise.
Feeling relaxed through the belly and through the chest.
And settling into the space of quiet.
Feeling how no matter how much noise is happening without or within,
There's always this space of quiet here.
It is always there.
Settling into the space between your thoughts.
That sweet,
Quiet place.
And as thoughts come in,
As they inevitably will,
Imagining that your thoughts are like a big,
Loving,
Enthusiastic dog.
Sometimes when I'm meditating,
My dog will come over and nudge my hand and lick my hand.
I can let that happen without reaching over to pet or to tend.
And eventually she loses interest and walks away.
And so as your thoughts come in,
Allowing them to give you a little nudge and lick your hand and just watching them.
You don't need to reach out and pet them.
You don't need to pull them onto your lap.
You don't need to let them pull you out of this moment.
You can just watch it and then let it walk away.
Coming back to that space of quiet.
Nothing to control.
Nothing to do.
Just your next slow,
Deep inhale.
And slow,
Deep exhale.
And with your next breath,
Allowing it to become a little more full,
A little more rich.
Imagining that your breath was like a tree.
If your belly is the trunk of the tree and your chest leaves and branches.
Drawing that breath all the way up from the roots,
All the way up the trunk of that tree.
Letting it fill the whole canopy to every leaf tip.
And taking this space of quiet with you,
Knowing it's always here for you to come back to.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
