Welcome.
I'm so glad you've joined me.
Make yourself comfortable.
Whether you're lying down or seated,
Eyes open or closed,
Just pull in a deep breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth as though you were exhaling through a straw.
Let's repeat that two more times,
Pulling the breath in through the nose and exhaling gently through a straw.
Last one,
Breathing in and release the breath through the mouth.
Allow your eyes to soften and if possible,
Let them gently close and relax the space between your eyebrows.
Let's take this time just to be present with the pause.
There's a pause that lies between words.
You can observe that.
I'd like to focus on the pause that lies between our breath.
Let's begin to breathe in and out through the nose with awareness.
After you've completed your breath in,
Hold the breath for a couple of seconds and then release it.
Breathing in pausing.
Just observe and release.
Continue this breathing in softly,
Breathe in gently and once you've reached the peak of your in-breath without force,
Soften in to this pause and release the breath.
Each time you breathe in,
Maybe a little more gentle and as you reach the peak see what you may soften.
Once again,
The space between the eyes.
Maybe you soften your jaw and then you release the breath.
Just taking time to observe the pause that lies between the in-breath and the out-breath.
And in that space,
That sacred pause,
Do your best to soften into it.
And maybe you can begin to elongate your pause without force,
Without discomfort.
By just gently allowing the pause to exist and soften what you can during it.
And then you release the breath.
It's a simple yet sincere practice of being present,
Observing your pause.
Taking this time to just be with those few seconds of softening in between the space.
And allow the observation of the pause to be enough.
Allow this to be your practice and allow it to be enough.
And now just let go of that practice of the pause.
It may take a few rounds for you to let that go.
I'd like to offer this practice not to be your formal practice,
Or it could be,
But to be an opportunity to understand that during your day,
Anytime you can practice the pause,
Even if it's for three or four rounds of breath,
Just by taking time to pause and observe you're actually doing yourself a great service.
So the next time that you feel your shoulders up to your ears or your jaw is clenched or you feel like you want to burst out into an expression that may not be the right time,
I invite you to remember you have the ability to sit with your pause.
It's always available to you.
No matter what you are enduring,
You have the ability to slow down your breath and to be at peace with the pause between the in-breath and the out-breath.
And that practice is enough.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
I wish you well.
