Begin by finding a posture that feels most comfortable and accessible to you today.
This might mean lying down on your back or arriving into a seated position,
Arranging your legs however feels most easeful for you today.
With the practice of meditation,
There can be a tendency to prescribe shoulds to how the practice should be.
However,
Today what we are practicing is not a matter of shoulds but more of what's going to help you tune into the sensations that come up inside of your physical being today.
The body has a tendency to follow the mind wherever the mind directs it.
And so when the mind is caught up with sensations of worry or fear,
Anticipation,
Preparedness,
The body is responding.
It's loyal to the mind.
The body might respond by tensing up the shoulders or bending forward,
Straining.
And so in these next few moments,
What we're going to do is reverse the leadership so that the mind can learn how to follow the experiences of the body.
Wherever you are,
Begin to bring your attention to the sensation of your shoulders.
You might start by introducing movement into your shoulders,
Rolling your shoulders up to your ears,
And then slowly,
Gently guiding them back down,
Back down your back.
Bring another gentle roll into your shoulders.
And once you feel complete with the placement of your shoulders,
Bring your internal attention to the space between your neck and your shoulders.
Give your neck a little bit of a wiggle.
You might shake your head from side to side,
Draw small circles with the crown of your head.
Do your best to loosen whatever can be loosened there.
You might notice tightness,
And some of this tightness might be released just by these simple exercises,
But if there is tightness that persists,
Don't force it.
Don't force it.
Meet your body with compassion for the place that it is in,
In this particular moment.
There's no need to accelerate change.
And moving through your body,
Start to spiral out any of the wiggles,
Anywhere that you feel energy inside of the body that needs to be released.
Release it now.
Do this before we come into stillness.
As you are ready,
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in through the nose.
Suspend the breath at the top,
Just for a moment to feel the edge of that pause.
And now start to slowly exhale the breath out through the nose.
Breathe in,
Long,
Slow,
And deep.
Draw in as much breath as you can.
And again at the top,
Take a small pause.
Then let it go.
Let it go.
Wherever you are,
Begin to find some alignment between your shoulders and your hips.
Make the adjustments you need to either stack the shoulders over hips,
Or bring the shoulders and hips into one plane.
Gently draw the head back,
Gently tucking the chin,
Relaxing the space between the eyebrows.
Breathe here,
Long,
Slow breath in,
Long,
Slow breath out.
And as you bring the body into stillness,
You might notice that the mind has some things to tell you.
Listen,
What is the mind telling you in this particular moment?
Are they thoughts about planning for the future?
Questions about the intention of this particular moment?
Maybe they're memories.
Practice meeting each thought,
Shaking its hand.
You might thank the thought for arriving,
Thank you for being here,
Thank you for sharing.
And without any need to take action on responding to the thought,
Simply let the thought go for now.
Set it aside.
Know that your thoughts will be here,
They'll come back.
You'll see them again.
And internally tell yourself,
This moment is for my body.
This moment is to listen to my body.
And this moment is for my body.
Use this as your anchor.
This motto,
This moment is to listen to my body.
The body is always telling us something.
Making sounds,
Sensations,
Yearnings from the body.
The yearning to move,
Take action.
Or the yearning to sleep,
Rest,
Lie down.
Take in this information.
What is the body telling you?
What is it saying?
And as you listen to what the body is saying,
Notice when the mind is interrupting.
Is the mind saying,
Oh no,
Now is not the moment to rest?
Is the mind issuing judgments?
Accusations?
Let this be a moment where the body leads.
Body leading mind.
Body expressing tiredness.
Body expressing a crave to move.
Circle through this information so that the mind might receive it.
Oh,
The body is telling me I'm tired.
Hmm,
The body is saying I want to dance.
Tune into the symptoms of the body,
The way it lives in space,
All the ways that it bends,
Picks things up,
Holds loved ones,
Transports you,
Provides you with nourishment,
Keeps you safe.
One by one,
Bring to mind all of the actions of the body.
You might ask yourself,
What did the body do today?
Beginning with the moment that you woke up,
The moment you stretched out your fingers and toes,
Wiggled your hips,
And turned over to greet the day.
What did the body do today?
What did the body do today?
Run this reel through your mind.
Remember all of the functions that the body completed between brushing teeth,
Packing bags,
Pointing,
Directing,
Expressing.
The body wears all of these hats,
Costumes,
Expressions.
What wonderful things our bodies do for us.
Wherever we point them,
That's where they go.
Continue to pass the reel through your day.
Where did the body take you?
How did it get there?
What did it tell you while it was seated?
Where did the body express itself while you were standing?
Begin to complete the reel.
Remembering all the postures the body took right before you took this moment to check in.
And as you return to the body of this particular moment,
See what's coming up right now.
Where are the feelings?
Where is the body alert versus relaxed?
Do what's necessary to bring ease into the body.
Find that ease slowly.
No need to hurry your response.
Slowly respond to what the body is saying.
Again,
As you find the sensations,
You might introduce this noting practice.
Each sensation comes up and you take inventory.
This too,
This too,
And this,
And the body feels this.
There's no limit to what the body can feel.
There is no should about it.
The body feels what it feels.
Continue noting on your own.
Meet both thoughts and sensations with the same motto,
This too,
And this,
This too.
Notice how the body receives silence and pause.
Take note of what effect pause has on the body.
Remember that you are exactly as you should be right this second.
There's no place to go.
No need to hurry.
Ride the stillness of this moment and the next one.
Feel again into the pauses.
Note what comes up for you in stillnesses.
And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was greater than the risk it took to blossom.
