Welcome back.
I'm honored and humbled to come together as a community.
Glad we're here together to share this practice.
I'll be inviting you to find a posture that best supports you at this time to find ease and comfort that may be seated on the floor,
A bed,
A chair,
The couch,
Or if you prefer,
You can stand up or lay down.
And at any time you're welcome to move and change positions to continue to support yourself during this few minutes that we'll spend together.
I'll demonstrate a letting go breath and then we'll practice three of them.
A letting go breath is an inhale through either the nose or the mouth.
And then an exhale through the nose or the mouth letting the breath go.
So let's begin.
Take a soft breath in.
Without force,
Exhale with a deep sigh.
And let's do that again.
Soft breath in.
Letting go.
One more time.
Soft breath in.
Letting it all go.
And now come into stillness.
Invite your eyes to be open with a soft gaze at something that isn't moving or closed if that feels okay for you.
Begin to invite the natural breath,
Whatever that may be,
Without fixing or changing anything.
Orient to the surrounding environment,
Giving all of our nervous systems a chance to calibrate.
And notice something that you hear.
Traffic passing by,
A dog bark,
A child laughing,
The furnace bringing your attention to something that you hear.
Now make a mental note of where you are.
In my living room,
My office,
Outside in the backyard.
And if you'd like,
You can also note it's Saturday morning or Monday evening.
Have a soft awareness of a physical sensation.
Your feet on the ground,
Your back body on the blanket,
Hands resting in your lap.
If you notice your mind wandering,
Gently bring it back.
There's nothing you need to change or fix.
Simply notice what's happening.
There's nothing to get right.
You are already doing it right.
Surrender the weight of your body,
Feeling supported and held wherever it is that you're sitting,
Standing or laying down.
Notice where you feel the breath and bring your awareness to the gentle rise and fall of the belly with each breath in and each breath out.
See if you can feel one breath from the beginning through the middle to the end.
If sounds,
Images or sensations arise,
Allow them to come and go as you gently call yourself back.
Some may be welcome or unwelcome.
Again,
Simply notice them.
If you have to let go and begin again a thousand times,
It's fine.
That's what this practice is,
To gently let go and simply return.
Forgive yourself for wandering and with great tenderness and kindness to yourself,
Begin again.
When you notice your mind wandered or is wandering,
Come back to the sound of my voice or the sounds you hear around you.
Create a vast sense of space with the rise and fall of the belly with each breath in and each breath out.
If you want to make a mental note,
In,
Out,
In,
Out,
In,
Out,
Here,
Now.
Feel a sense of peace and contentment in your heart,
A sense of stillness in your body or mind.
In a few moments,
I'll invite you to shift and begin to come back.
Slowly begin to deepen your breath.
Invite soft movement into your hands or feet or some part of your body.
Tune into your surroundings,
Noticing sounds around you and sounds within you.
As you feel ready,
If your eyes were closed,
You can open them or bring your gaze back to the horizon and feel yourself returning here.
Feel a connection of our hearts to one another as we take this practice into our day.
