This is a brief practice you can return to any time you notice your thoughts or your emotion or even your energy starting to spiral.
It is an intentional pause.
A way to step out of autopilot,
Out of fight or flight and reconnect with the present moment to ground yourself instead.
To begin,
I invite you to gently adjust your posture.
You can do this sitting or standing.
Either way,
Just have your spine upright but not rigid.
So alert but relaxed.
Just allow your body to express a sense of being here,
Being awake,
Being present.
If it feels comfortable,
You are allowed to close your eyes.
And the first step is to simply become aware.
So bring your attention to your inner experience just as it is right now.
No need to change anything.
There's no need to fix how you're feeling.
No need to judge or label anything.
Just notice what's moving through your mind and body.
What thoughts are there?
See if you can simply acknowledge them as mental activity and events.
Just notice them without following them.
You can label it thought and then sort of allow them to float away.
Now shift your awareness to your emotional landscape.
What feelings are present?
Especially if there's discomfort,
Heaviness,
Unease,
Just gently turn toward it.
Rather than pushing these sensations away,
Silently acknowledge them.
Just acknowledge what's here and allow it to be.
You might say to yourself,
Ah,
This is how it is right now.
This is how I'm feeling.
Now notice the body.
What sensations are present?
Perhaps there's areas of tension,
Holding.
Simply note whatever feels in your body right now,
Whatever it is.
Just allow it to be.
No need to judge it.
If you come across tightness or pressure,
Maybe in your shoulders,
In your jaw,
Just gently release it a little bit.
Now step two,
Gather the mind.
So now that you've checked in with yourself,
With your experience,
Gently collect your awareness.
So bring your full attention to a single anchor.
This might be the breath or even a sensation in your body that feels relatively comfortable or neutral,
Like some pressure.
Just allow your attention to settle on that.
If it's the breath,
Just notice the natural rise and fall of your abdomen as you breathe in and out.
And stay close to the physical sensation of breathing or whatever pressure you chose to focus on.
Really stay with it.
Notice when the breath is moving in.
Notice when the breath is moving out.
And if your mind wanders,
Which it inevitably will,
Just escort it back very gently.
Just remind yourself to pay attention to your breathing,
To this moment,
And allow the breath to be this anchor into the present moment.
Now,
Step three is to expand this awareness.
So just allow awareness to widen.
So let the breath continue in the background as you draw your attention to include your entire body and sense the body from head to toe.
And just expand your awareness to your whole physical manifestation,
Your posture,
Sensations,
Areas of tightness you've come across,
And just hold everything in a more spacious field of awareness.
And you continue to breathe.
You don't have to pay attention to that.
That vital function is just executing all on its own.
But use the breath again and again as an anchor to allow you to just be in this moment and accept this moment as it is.
And when you're ready,
You can gently come back to yourself,
Open your eyes,
And carry the sensation of presence with you as you move into the next moments of your day.
