By just closing the eyes,
Feeling the feet on the floor,
And consciously unhooking from whatever thoughts are there right now,
Whatever the stream of dialogue in the mind is,
And bringing your attention down from the head into the body.
So literally feeling your attention just pouring down from the head below the neck,
Feeling the body filling up,
Filling out with your attention,
Feeling the weight and the presence of the body.
And noticing where your sitz bones are reaching the chair.
Notice what your back is touching.
Sense what your hands are touching.
Notice the temperature and the quality of the air passing your skin.
And notice the sounds that are reaching your ears inside the room,
Outside the room.
And notice the body breathing itself.
And now more specifically bring your attention into your jaw.
So invite your jaw to relax.
Allow your jaw to hang loose.
Feel the muscles around your temples and in your cheeks softening,
Unraveling.
Invite the muscles in and around your eyes to relax,
Soften.
Letting go of the game face,
The public face.
Allow your face to find a position of ease,
No effort.
And then moving your attention slowly down into the shoulders and upper back,
Allowing the shoulders and upper back to soften,
Relax.
Might feel a dropping down and back just slightly.
Feeling a softening between the shoulder blades.
Feeling more space in the upper back.
Letting go,
Letting whatever the shoulders are carrying just melt.
Just for now not having to carry it.
And then slowly gliding your attention down the front body into the mothership of stress,
The belly,
The abdomen.
And inviting the belly to relax.
Letting go of any holding in,
Holding on,
Any constriction.
Allowing the belly to pooch out or do whatever allows it to feel ease,
Comfortable.
And now sweeping through and inviting the whole body to relax.
Letting go of the armor we carry,
The protection.
Giving the body permission to unravel,
To not have to be any body,
Any particular way,
Just for now to be as it is.
And allow yourself to connect with whatever is appearing in your field of awareness.
Might be a sensation,
It might be a sound,
Might be an energy flow.
Just to sense what it's like to be alive in this moment.
Refrain from attaching any storyline,
From even naming what the experience is.
Just experience now through your senses,
Not your mind.
So nothing to change,
Nothing to control,
Nothing to do.
Just noticing being alive.
If a thought comes in,
No big deal.
Just refrain from engaging and let it pass.
Coming back to the body.
Wherever your attention wants to go,
That's okay.
You might imagine these as the last few minutes of this embodied life,
This you in form.
So no future,
No past,
Nothing left to figure out,
No better version of you to become.
Nothing left on the to-do list.
There's just this moment now.
Nowhere to get to.
So allow this now to be this now.
Now we'll finish with a little metta,
Loving kindness.
So one hand on the heart,
One hand on the belly.
May I feel safe from internal and external harm.
May I feel happy and joyful,
Free from suffering and fear.
May I feel a gratitude for life regardless of the contents of my life.
And finally,
May I know a peace,
A serenity that surpasses all the mind's understanding.
And so allow that prayer into your body,
Your mind,
Your spirit.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
