So let's just begin to settle in,
Finding a comfortable seat or a laying down position,
Something that brings you into a space of feeling awake,
Alert,
And also at ease.
Why don't we greet ourselves with a full breath in and long breath out?
This phrase is interesting,
Right,
To greet ourselves throughout our days.
I'm certain that we spend moments just checking in with others,
Whether we pass by them or something in technology brings them to us or we reach out to them.
But right now,
It's this way of checking in with you.
So let's just take a few moments in silence where you simply check in with how you are,
Like you were asking someone that you love very much,
How are you?
And maybe as you ask yourself once or twice,
Like,
How are you?
Maybe an answer rises up.
Maybe you notice truly how you are right now.
And in this space of noticing,
There's nothing to change or shift.
Just simply the awareness that rises up from care,
From asking,
How am I?
What might also step into your awareness,
Into this field of awareness is tension or tightness.
And so maybe the body is holding on in the jaw,
In the space in between the eyes.
Maybe you can ease the skin of your forehead,
Lowering the eyebrows.
Is there a way to soften the area of the throat and neck,
The skin of your shoulders?
This releasing of as much tightness or tension that we can is just a way of letting the body know that you're paying attention,
That you're aware that there are places where you might be holding on and that there is something that you can do about that.
Just like we asked ourselves,
How are we?
It's asking the body,
Like,
How are you?
How's the body right now?
Let's begin to notice a little bit more attention and awareness,
Our breathing,
Not having to shift or change the breath.
Just this soft awareness that we're in a body and that body is breathing.
The breath can become the anchor of our awareness,
Our attention.
When this mind wanders,
We know it does.
Coming back moment by moment to the feel,
Maybe even the sound of breath in and breath out.
This awareness and this attention is a way of taking care of ourselves.
This checking in with the mind and the body and the heart just becomes a compassionate way to practice giving ourselves such necessary attention.
So as you notice your breath,
You also can become beautifully aware that this breath is a way to stay right here,
Not lost in the thoughts that might create dis-ease and agitation.
This moment by moment awareness of your breath in and the breath out,
This practice of mindfulness of anchoring,
It brings us back right here.
But if it's not done with compassion,
It's not as fulfilling and easeful as it can be.
So when you drift,
And of course you will,
Return back to this moment with a gentle voice,
Moment by moment,
Softly returning again and again to right here and now.
I'd like to end this time of practice with a poem by Dana Faulds,
Self-Observation Without Judgment.
Release the harsh and pointed inner voice.
It's just a throwback to the past and holds no truth about this moment.
Let go of self-judgment,
The old learned ways of beating yourself up for each imagined inadequacy.
Allow the dialogue within the mind to grow friendlier and quiet.
Shift out of the inner criticism and life suddenly looks very different.
I can only say this because I make the choice a hundred times a day to release the voice that refuses to acknowledge the real me.
What's needed here isn't more prodding toward perfection,
But intimacy,
Seeing clearly and embracing what I see.
Love,
Not judgment,
Sows the seeds of tranquility and change.
In this moment here before we step out of this practice,
Just notice again how it is for you.
Maybe even a soft,
Loving voice that asks,
How are you now?
Together taking a full breath in and a long breath out.
And if the eyes have been closed,
Let them gently open.
