Welcome to this practice,
Connecting with your calm in the storm.
These words in this practice are for you,
And there are many of us out there.
We all need a little self-nurturing,
Especially when times are tough,
Caught within that storm within us.
Rest in this moment.
Settle into this moment.
Get comfortable.
And as you do this,
Notice yourself settling.
Many animals have a sense that alerts them to oncoming storms.
This is so they can escape danger in time by leaving or taking shelter until a storm has passed.
When there is a hurricane,
Some migrating birds actually migrate sooner than they usually would.
Especially if a large storm is approaching.
Others get caught up in the outer edge of a hurricane.
They are let down far away from where they were before.
And then there are the other ones.
These birds actually take a ride inside the eye of the hurricane.
This is the calm within the storm.
Surrounded by high speed winds and rain,
These birds fly calmly under the blue sky in the eye of the hurricane.
Others have actually caught them in action,
Flying calmly inside this calm in the storm.
They continue flying around in this space of calm surrounded by a wall of turbulence which gently encapsulates them in the center.
Maybe you can picture this in your mind's eye right now.
If so,
See if you can visualize the birds flying calmly in the center,
The blue sky above them and despite the turbulence all around them,
Get a sense of what that calm feels like.
And so,
Here's that gentle reminder,
Something that deep within you already know and yet sometimes when we're going through a struggle we can forget.
The breath.
The rhythm.
The movement.
19,
000 breaths a day and yet rarely do we give attention to them.
Now let's get into this.
Simply by taking attention,
Applying a gentle focus upon your out-breath.
Just the out-breath,
Tracking that gentle movement,
How it speeds up,
Slows down and comes to a pause.
Stay connected to this so as to be more centered,
Grounded,
Rational and expanded.
Noticing your out-breath in detail,
Extreme detail,
But not with effort.
It needs to be effortless,
A gentle focusing of attention and noticing the subtleties of this gentle flow,
How it speeds up,
Slows down and comes to a pause.
Stay with this.
Gently focusing on the out-breath as everything else happens around you.
Sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts coming and going like birds in the sky whilst you are connected to your out-breath.
Feeling just a touch of softness to your out-breath in this moment.
Every time this soften takes place.
Whilst you connect to the breath,
This rhythm in its perfection,
This is your point of calm amongst everything all around you.
Feeling your body gently held in this position and recognizing that right here and now this is an act of self-kindness.
It doesn't matter how many times you may have been distracted or what your thoughts have said.
Your actions speak louder than those words in your head.
The only thing on the agenda right now is this breath,
This connection,
This calm.
There's nothing else to do.
As we are at the end of this practice,
Forming the gentlest of half-smiles.
Nothing forced,
Just like the Mona Lisa.
Giving thanks for this point of connection,
This anchor,
This calm in the storm.
