Take a moment to allow your body to soften a little bit into the chair or wherever it is that you're seated.
See if you can be held by the furniture.
And throughout the practice you can let the eyes remain closed or you can open them but trying to look down,
Not looking at anything in particular,
Decreasing a little bit of the stimulation coming in through the eyes.
And as you take the next few breaths,
I invite you to drop your awareness down into your feet.
It's helpful if your feet are already in contact with the floor,
So if that feels comfortable for you,
You can let your feet touch the ground,
Maybe scooting a little further in the chair to do so.
Or if you'd like to leave your feet without touching the ground,
That's okay too.
And as you take the next few breaths,
Let your mind reach for sensations you may sense in your feet.
If it's hard to access your feet,
You can either apply a gentle pressure through the bottoms of the feet for a moment,
No unnecessary tension,
Or you can let your mind reach for a few breaths.
Or you can intentionally move your toes in a slow and gradual motion.
And then settle your feet,
Seeing if you can sense them without moving them anymore.
And the anchor we will be using is the And the anchor we will be using for the rest of our practice today is the And the anchor we will be using for the rest of our practice today will be the left big toe.
Of course,
If that particular part of your body has a great deal of discomfort,
Please feel free to find another anchor.
It could be the other toe,
Or some other part of your foot.
So over the span of the next few moments,
You may observe thoughts coming in and out of your mind.
And when you notice you get caught by a particular thought,
Without any judgment that that's happened,
See if you can just gently invite yourself.
I'm going to find my left big toe.
Notice if you can feel it right now.
And sometimes just as soon as we brought our mind somewhere,
It's off somewhere else again.
And when you notice that that's happened,
Take a breath.
And on the next breath in,
See if you can say to yourself,
Can I feel my left big toe?
Noticing whatever you may sense there.
Perhaps what temperature it is.
Maybe there's a tingling or pulsing.
Maybe your left toe feels very far from you.
All of that is okay.
Can I feel my left big toe?
Now notice if you're pressing or putting any particular strain into that part of the body,
Allow it to be loose,
But you're still creating a mental pathway like you're trying to call your left big toe.
You may notice there's distractions in the body,
A sense of restlessness,
Or things that might be distracting outside in your surroundings.
Letting whatever is happening happen.
And you just gently invite yourself,
Can I feel my left big toe?
And as we come to a pause in a moment here with this practice,
Allowing yourself to just notice what it feels like for you to try to anchor in this way.
Thinking about perhaps a moment in your upcoming day where things might feel really busy.
You might be stressors,
You're on hold,
You're waiting somewhere,
Stuck in traffic.
You're awaiting something to happen.
And how this might just create a gentle invitation to come back into the present moment through your body,
Through your left big toe.
And perhaps also consider how can you remind yourself of this practice?
How can you remember to come back?
I look forward to hearing your reflections,
But for now allow yourself to just take three more complete breaths and join them fully.
And when you feel complete,
Bringing your awareness back.
