Go ahead and take a seat or lie down and get comfortable.
And we're going to start by just watching our breath.
And as you inhale,
Feel the air as it comes up against your nose.
And as you exhale,
Feel the breath as it leaves your body.
And to begin,
We'll go ahead and take one deep breath in.
And let it all out.
Again,
Take a nice deep,
Deep inhale in.
And let it out.
We're going to go ahead and follow our breath.
And so as you inhale,
Feel the air against your nostrils.
And feel the air as it leaves your nostrils.
And sinking a little farther back,
Feel the air as it comes through your throat.
And when it leaves your throat.
Sinking deeper,
Notice as the air fills your lungs.
And notice it leave your lungs.
Sinking a little bit deeper,
Feel the air as it fills your belly.
Feel your belly expand.
Feel your belly contract.
And watch as the breath moves in and out of the belly.
And we're going to go ahead and shift our focus to the very top of your head.
And notice your brow,
Your eyes,
Your eyelids.
And allow each of those muscles to relax.
And as you breathe in,
Allow your nose,
Your nostrils,
And your lips to relax.
Allow your lips to part.
Your jaw to relax.
And your tongue to relax.
And let your throat relax.
Moving our focus to our shoulders.
Allow them to fall down.
Allow your upper arms and biceps to relax.
Your forearms,
Your hands,
And each finger.
And follow your breath as it helps each piece of you to just relax into this moment.
And as your chest expands on your next inhale,
Allow the muscles in your chest to just feel the drop and relax.
Notice your belly just relaxing.
And notice the top of your back,
The middle,
And the lower back as the air fills each space along your spine.
Feeling your hips and your thighs,
Feeling each of those muscles just sink deeper into the breath.
Your knees,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
And your feet just sinking deeper into the breath.
Go ahead and visualize yourself taking a walk through a grassy area.
Notice the air against your skin.
Notice your feet against the ground.
And the noise as each foot connects with the earth.
Notice what's growing around you.
Off in the distance you'll see a river.
Go ahead and walk towards it.
Taking a seat just by the river,
Go ahead and watch the water.
Watch the little waves as they come past you.
Notice how the water lifts and falls.
Listen to the water.
Feel the air as it dances across the water and against your skin.
Go ahead and reach to your left,
Grabbing a small pebble next to you.
Notice how it feels in your hands.
As you exhale,
Breathe into the pebble and go ahead and drop it into the water,
Watching the ripples form.
Go ahead and watch the ripples as they continue to crawl across the water.
And watch the water as it moves with each ripple.
See if you can follow the ripple until it is no longer moving in the water and it's just flat.
Can you see the area where you first dropped the pebble?
Are there still ripples?
As thoughts come and go throughout this practice,
Reach over and grab a pebble.
Take a breath into it and when you drop it in the water,
Follow the ripples and see if you can stay with them until the water is flat again.
As you sit here,
Notice how you feel physically.
Notice each piece of your body and what it feels like.
Notice your legs against the ground,
Against the grass.
Notice your belly and your chest as you continue to breathe.
Notice the muscles in your face.
Allow each and every piece of you to be present here.
And ask each and every piece of you to be present here.
You are exactly where you need to be.
All of you is right here,
Right now.
And as thoughts come through your mind,
Simply reach for a pebble and as it drops into the water,
Watch the ripples.
Watch them as they fade into stillness.
Allow yourself to fade into stillness.
Feel each breath as it comes into the nostrils.
And feel each breath as it leaves the nostrils.
Feel the breath against the throat.
Notice as your lungs fill with breath.
And notice as your belly rises and falls.
Take a look out across the river and watch the water.
And notice if there are waves,
If it's still.
Go ahead and reach your hands into the water,
Feeling the temperature.
And wash your hands with that water.
Now slowly slip your feet into that water and allow the water to wash over them,
Feeling the temperature.
And as you pull your feet out,
Feel the air against them now.
Slowly getting up,
Continue to walk through the field along the side of the river.
And as you walk along side of it,
Notice what's growing around you.
Notice the feel of the ground against your feet and the sound of each of your steps.
And notice your breath as it comes in through the nose and fills your lungs.
And as you walk,
Slowly feel as the land slopes downward as you walk down the hill.
As you come to the bottom of this hill,
You'll notice a grouping of trees to your left.
Go ahead and walk towards them.
As you walk around the trees,
Look up to see their leaves against the sky.
Allow your hands to rest on their trunks.
Allow your breath to be filled with their wisdom.
And go ahead and find the tree that you'd like to sit with for a moment.
As you get comfortable at its roots,
Feel the trunk against your back.
Feel your hands resting on the roots.
And breathe into that tree and that stillness.
Take a moment to feel the dirt against your legs,
The tree against your back,
The air within your lungs.
Take a moment to notice you.
Notice what your feet feel like in this moment.
Your ankles,
Your knees and your thighs.
Feel your hips and your belly,
Your spine and your back.
Breathing into your chest and your shoulders.
Feeling it against your throat and your nose.
And any subtle sensations in the crown of your head.
As you slowly stand up,
Go ahead and walk out of the area with the trees.
And slowly walk back up the hill,
Noticing the river to your side.
Before we leave this area,
Go ahead and grab one more pebble and take a deep breath in and exhale everything into that pebble.
Go ahead and throw it into the water,
Watching each and every ripple.
Following them as they turn into stillness.
Slowly breathe back into the body in this room.
Slowly feeling our legs and our hips,
Our stomach and our chest.
Wiggling our toes and our ankles,
Our fingers and our wrists.
And shifting our head from side to side.
Slowly flutter your eyes open.
And remember this stillness after the ripples end.
