Hello friend.
I'm so happy that you're here.
Let's make our way into our comfortable seat for today,
Really tuning into your body and finding a place that feels good.
A place where you can fully relax and find some stillness.
Maybe you take a moment here to literally shake off the day thus far.
Find some movement in your body.
Shake your hands.
Wiggle your hips.
Sway your spine.
Just letting go of the day thus far.
Letting go of the day that will resume after this.
And really allowing yourself to settle in to this space,
To this moment,
To your practice.
The hardest part is over.
You have shown up.
You are here and you're doing it.
You're amazing.
All that's left now is to give yourself permission to rest.
Close your eyes if you'd like and start to tune in to your breath.
Turning down the volume on the world around you and tuning in to your inner song.
To the song that is so beautifully and so uniquely you.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
As you start to settle in,
Allow your body to be soft.
Scanning your body,
Noticing any tight or tender spaces.
Maybe sending some breath to those spaces.
Your hands resting easy in your lap.
Your shoulders melting away from your ears.
Your limbs growing heavy,
Surrendering toward the earth.
The muscles of your face and jaw relaxed.
Your belly soft.
Nice and easy,
Noticing how your breath moves you.
Notice how your body becomes more still with each passing moment.
Surrendering more and more to the earth beneath you.
Allowing yourself to be held here.
As thoughts arise,
Allow them to float in and out of your awareness.
Observing and returning to presence.
Your breath guiding the way.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Take a moment now to visualize a beach.
Allow all the fine details to come together in your mind's eye.
Imagine the sounds,
The smells,
The feeling of the mist in the breeze,
The sand on your toes.
The vast ocean lies before you.
Expansive.
Powerful.
Mysterious.
Imagine that you walk toward the shoreline.
You take a seat in the wet sand.
The tide comes in and out,
Kissing your skin.
Imagine the tide rolling in as you inhale.
Imagine the ocean moving in sync with you.
Harmonizing with your inner song.
Now imagine that on your back you are carrying a bag full of stones.
These stones represent things that weigh you down.
Things that hold you back.
Fears.
Stories told to you by your mind.
As you sit in the sand,
You open this bag and one by one,
You begin to remove the stones.
You take all of your stones of worry and you place them on the sand beside you.
As you inhale,
The tide comes in,
Surrounding your worries.
As you exhale,
The tide carries your worries out to sea.
Next,
You take all of your insecurities and you place them gently in the sand.
Inhaling,
The tide rolls in.
Exhaling,
The tide washes all of these insecurities away.
One by one,
You continue to remove these stones,
These obstacles from your bag,
And you place them in the sand.
Your fears,
Your doubts,
Your limiting beliefs.
Each time the tide rolls in,
Surrounding the stones,
And each time the tide rolls out,
Washing it all away.
Leaving an empty beach.
Free of worry.
Absent of doubt.
It's just you and your breath.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
I started early,
Took my dog,
And visited the sea.
The mermaids in the basement came out to look at me.
And frigates in the upper floor extended hempen hands,
Presuming me to be a mouse aground upon the sands.
But no man moved me till the tide went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too,
And made as he would eat me up,
As wholly as it do upon a dandelion's sleeve.
And then I started to,
And he,
He followed close behind.
I felt his silver heel upon my ankle.
Then my shoes would overflow with pearl.
Until we met the solid town.
No one he seemed to know,
And bowing with a mighty look at me,
The sea withdrew.
I started early,
Took my dog,
By Emily Dickinson.
Slowly bring your hands together at your heart.
Maybe your palms kiss together.
Maybe you bring your palms to your chest.
Taking a final moment with yourself here.
Thanking yourself for showing up.
I am so honored to be your guide and to be still with you.
Until next time,
Take care.
