Where are you rushing to?
Our time on earth is very brief.
Don't rush.
Try and experience,
Savour,
Notice as much as you can.
Stop and smell the roses.
Give people your full attention.
But let's start by giving you your full attention.
So settle in your space,
But let's start with the eyes open and just notice.
How do you feel right now?
Gently scan around the body.
How do you feel physically?
Just notice.
How do you feel emotionally?
Just notice.
For the next few minutes,
There's nothing else you need to do and no one who needs you.
With your eyes open,
Start to notice the things around you.
So let's use the five senses.
What can you see in the space around you?
Just noticing.
And what can you smell?
You might smell lotion.
You might smell wood,
Cleaning products.
You might smell nothing at all or something entirely different.
But just noticing and seeing if there's anything,
Even something very subtle that you can smell.
Now notice what you can hear.
Allowing sounds to come and go.
Just noticing.
Near sounds,
Sounds way off in the distance.
What can you taste?
Just noticing.
And what can you touch?
Perhaps the surface that you're resting on,
Feeling the weight of the body there.
Perhaps your hands on your lap.
Just noticing.
And now that you've fully arrived,
When you're ready,
Gently close your eyes or adopt a soft gaze and take some slow,
Deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
These are slow,
Deep,
Deliberate breaths.
Really fill the belly with air as you breathe in and then breathe out slowly through the mouth.
You might like to lengthen your out-breath.
So perhaps breathe in through the nose to the count of four and then out through the mouth to the count of six or whatever works for you.
But by sitting down and noticing your environment,
You've slowed down your physical movements.
And with this breathing technique,
Lengthening the out-breath,
You slow down your heart rate and activate your rest and reset parasympathetic nervous system.
So just a couple more deep breaths now.
In through the nose and then out slowly through the mouth.
Lengthening the out-breath if that feels comfortable.
Slowing down.
Gently just allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
No effort required.
Bring the attention inside the body,
Inside yourself.
Just notice what's going on inside you and if thoughts and feelings arise,
Just notice them.
You might say,
Oh there's a thought.
Oh okay,
There's a feeling.
And then just settle the mind again inside the body.
Slowing down.
Noticing when the mind has wandered.
Gently bringing it back to the body.
Being curious about what's going on inside you right now.
Noticing what comes up,
Not trying to change it.
You might notice pulsing,
Numbness,
Warmth or tingling.
There's no right or wrong.
It is what it is.
Being curious about the breath now,
At its natural rhythm.
Following it as it moves in and out of the body.
For now there's nothing else to do and there's nowhere else for you to be.
So you can keep being right here,
Right now,
With yourself.
And as we start to bring this practice to a close,
Remember your time on earth is brief.
Don't rush.
