Hello friend.
Thank you for being here.
Let's take a little time for ourselves together.
Make your way into a comfortable seated or lying down position.
Take your time getting there.
Finding a place where your body can feel supported enough to settle into stillness for a little while.
Allow yourself to orient to the space around you.
Arriving to your practice,
Just as you are.
Whenever you're ready,
Begin to draw your awareness inward.
Turning the volume down on the world around you,
And focusing in on yourself,
Right here,
Right now.
The sounds and sensations of you.
Maybe you close your eyes.
Maybe you deepen your breath.
Just starting to notice how you feel.
In your body,
In your mind.
Notice how stillness feels for you today.
Notice how your breath moves through your body.
Notice the landscape of your mind,
The thoughts passing through.
We're not here to silence them.
We're just observing.
We're just practicing presence,
Just practicing being with what is.
Allowing thought and sensation to come and go.
Allowing our breath to guide us back into the here and now.
Imagine your body growing heavier as you settle in.
Your legs and hips grounding into the earth.
Your arms and hands soft.
The muscles of your face and jaw relax.
Your belly rising and falling with breath.
Your neck long.
Your shoulder blades melting down your back.
Your heart open and slightly lifted toward the sky.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Envision yourself walking into a beautiful green forest.
Allow the colors,
The sounds,
The smells to enter your senses and to paint a picture of ease.
Of sacredness.
It's just you,
But you aren't alone.
No,
You are surrounded by friends.
Tall,
Leafy friends.
Feathered friends with beautiful singing voices.
Friends scurrying through the grass and the branches above.
Friends slithering and crawling through the soil.
Friends big and small,
Near and far.
You feel the energy of the forest seeping into your skin.
Filling your heart.
Soothing your soul.
Reminding you that you are not alone.
You are never alone.
You breathe in the forest,
And the forest breathes in you.
It's all connected.
Can you feel it?
Can you feel the trees wrapping their arms around you?
The animals and birds sharing their space.
The Earth rising up to hold you.
Notice how it feels to rest in presence.
Right here.
Right now.
It's just you,
And your breath,
And countless friends.
Surrounded by life.
Surrounded by love.
Connected.
Supported.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Softly bring your hands to your heart,
Palm to palm or palms to chest.
And take a moment once more to notice how you feel.
And thank yourself for carving out this time and space to spend with your breath and a few of your closest friends.
Let's take one final deep breath in together.
And as you exhale,
Let it all go.
Thank you so much for sharing your time and energy with me.
For allowing me to guide you and for being my friend.
It is such an honor to be still with you.
You are not alone.
At the very least,
You can always find friends in the forest.
And you can always find me here.
Until next time my love.
Take care.
