This practice as a gentle invitation to come back to yourself.
When you feel overwhelmed or anxious,
Taking a few moments to check in,
Find a quiet place in your mind,
Can help everything feel a little more still.
By focusing on a peaceful scene and noticing how it feels in your body,
You can move away from that heavy or frantic feeling and toward a sense of calm.
Find a position that feels supportive.
Let your body choose what feels most comfortable to you.
Close your eyes or let your gaze rest softly.
Before we move into the breath,
Simply bring your awareness to your body.
Notice where you might be holding on to something.
You may feel a tightness or a heaviness.
Just notice where the feeling lives in your body.
Observe the sensation and the emotion that might be resting beneath it.
Allow it to be exactly as it is.
Now we invite the breath to move through your body.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Follow the cool air as it travels down into your chest and your abdomen.
Hold it for a brief moment.
Now exhale slowly through your mouth.
Imagine the breath leaving your body and taking a layer of the tension with it.
Take another deep breath.
Follow the path of the air as it weaves down your spine and expands your ribs.
As you exhale,
Let your shoulders drop.
Feel yourself settling deeper into the surface beneath you.
Take one more deep breath.
Fill your lungs completely,
Feeling the life in your body.
As you let this breath go,
Feel the stillness of the room around you.
With your body settled,
Imagine you are sitting on a thick,
Soft blanket in the middle of a wide open field at night.
There are no city lights here.
Only the vast open dark.
The air is cool and perfectly still.
Catching the clean scent of frost and the quiet sleeping earth.
Reach out and feel the soft,
Heavy fabric of the quilt beneath your hands.
Grounding you as you look upward.
As you look up,
You see a sky filled with thousands of brilliant stars.
Scattered like diamonds on black velvet.
Notice the moon.
A sliver of soft silver light that outlines the distant hills.
Everything is wrapped in a deep,
Heavy silence.
A silence so profound it feels like a physical presence protecting you in this wide dark space.
As you watch the stars,
The sky begins to transform.
A faint ghostly brushstroke of pale green appears on the horizon,
Then begins to grow.
Soft ribbons of emerald and violet light start to dance across the darkness.
These are the Northern Lights.
They move slowly and gracefully,
Shifting and folding like silk in a gentle breeze.
They don't just move,
They flow,
Stretching across the entire arc of the world above you.
Feel the sharp,
Cool air on your face while the rest of your body stays tucked and warm on the blanket.
It's a perfect balance of cold and heat.
Watch the way the colors glow and then fade,
Pulses of light moving in time with your own heartbeat.
Imagine you can hear the light.
Gentle high-frequency hum that vibrates in the very air around you.
There is nothing you need to do and nowhere you need to go.
You are a witness to the Universe,
Safe and still.
Notice the feeling that lives in this vast place.
Allow it to wash over you,
Descending from the sky like the light from above.
Find the exact spot in your body where that feeling lives.
Perhaps it is a cool light in your mind or a warm glow in your chest.
Let it expand with every breath until you feel as vast and as beautiful as the dancing sky itself.
As you stay with this feeling,
Allow a color to come to mind that represents it.
There is no right or wrong choice.
Just notice the first color that feels right to you.
Imagine this color beginning to glow within the scene.
See it moving through the air and then gently filling your own body.
Watch as it travels through your chest and down to your fingertips until you are completely bathed in this light.
Let the color and the feeling become one.
To keep this feeling with you,
Choose a physical anchor.
You might gently press your fingers together or place a hand over your heart.
Feel that physical touch.
Remind your body that this stillness is a part of you.
Take a moment to check back in with the area where you felt tension earlier.
Notice if the sensation or the emotion has shifted.
Even a tiny softening is enough.
As you prepare to return to your day.
Remember that this place is always here.
If you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed or anxious.
You can return to this quiet.
Take just a minute or two to find your breath,
Use your anchor,
And come back to the stillness of the night.
When you are ready,
Gently wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes.
