I know you spend a lot of time in your head thinking,
Fantasizing,
Ruminating and catastrophizing.
I know you can go through whole days performing all the necessary tasks and functions on autopilot without ever coming out of your head and into the moment.
I know that sometimes you eat,
Talk,
Work and make love without ever coming to the here and now.
You get to your destination,
To the end of the day and you're not sure how you got there.
It is perfectly natural,
It's normal for our minds to wander,
To get lost in the weeds,
In the tangle of spaghetti that is our thoughts.
I know this can offer a beautiful escape.
When you fantasize about more money,
When you fantasize about more love,
You are transported from the mundane to the ideal and it can offer you such sweet relief.
But I also know that getting lost in your thoughts can be sad and stressful,
Terrifying at times,
As you remember what has happened,
As you think about what could happen,
As you get caught in circles and cycles of fear and anxiety.
I know that this is particularly hard at night,
When your body is tired and your spirit is weary,
When you really need the sweet blessing of sleep to restore and revive you,
But your thoughts continue to surface and swirl,
Insisting that you pay attention,
Robbing you of rest.
I want you to remember that there is another way.
There is an ancient wisdom for you to reclaim,
To dedicate yourself to.
It is natural,
It is healthy and it is restorative.
It is the art of bringing yourself back to the now,
To grounding yourself.
It is noticing the feeling of your bare feet on the floor.
It is sitting and noticing the breath as it moves in and out of your body.
It is feeling the coolness and crispness of water against the warmth of your hands.
It is noticing a loved one's smile.
It's taking the time to notice how the different parts of your body feel at this present moment.
When you bring yourself back to the present,
To your body,
You give your mind a rest.
You press pause on the traffic in your head and gain clarity,
Perspective.
Over time and with practice,
You will find yourself noticing when you're lost in thought and you will learn how to bring yourself back.
Over time and with practice,
You will feel calmer and more alive.
Now gently close your eyes.
Allow yourself to gently sink into the surface that you're resting on.
When you feel ready,
Take your attention to your feet.
Take your time.
Be curious.
Notice how they feel.
Just notice.
Do they feel the same or does one feel different from the other?
Slowly bring your attention up to your lower legs.
How do they feel?
You might feel throbbing,
Tingling or you might feel nothing at all.
Again,
Just notice.
Now bring your attention up your legs to the knees and then the thighs.
How do they feel?
What do you notice about your knees and thighs in this present moment?
Can you allow both legs and feet to relax and let go,
To become heavy just in this moment?
Slowly bring your attention up to your pelvis and the area below your belly button.
How does this area feel?
If there is tension and tightness,
Can you let go a little bit with each out-breath?
Bring your attention,
Your focus up to your stomach.
What can you sense here?
You can store emotion and anxiety in this area,
So if there's anything you feel needs to be let go of,
Please do this now,
Just by allowing the area to relax with each out-breath.
Notice now the chest area,
The rise and fall,
Expansion and contraction with each breath.
What sensations are there here?
You don't need to do anything at all,
Just notice.
But as you focus on your chest area,
You might find yourself relaxing more and more.
Just allow.
As you move your awareness,
Your attention up to the shoulders now,
Sense how they feel and sense if they can relax,
Drop down a little more.
It might help to imagine any tension in your shoulders as blocks of ice slowly melting to water and then evaporating into the air around you.
Moving down the arms now,
Can you let the arms drop,
Hang heavy,
Just notice how they feel.
Take your attention into the hands,
The fingers and fingertips alive with nerve endings.
What can you feel?
Slowly move your awareness back up the arms and into the neck.
How does the neck feel right now?
Just notice.
Now moving your attention into the face,
Can you soften your jaw,
Releasing any tension?
How do your tongue and lips feel?
What can you sense here?
Up towards the eyes now,
How do the muscles around your eyes feel?
Finally,
Bring your awareness back to your whole body,
Feel your living,
Breathing energy body,
Feel the aliveness.
Just rest here for a moment with your whole body,
Before slowly opening your eyes when you are ready.
