This is the pause,
Notice,
Respond meditation.
Please find a comfortable seated position and let your eyes close either partially or fully.
Taking 3 easy breaths to start.
And now bringing awareness to your body.
Noticing how you feel in your body.
Noticing areas that feel tense.
Which areas are those?
Noticing any areas that feel neutral.
Maybe a lot of your body feels neutral.
Just noticing.
And then finally noticing the areas in your body that feel easeful.
Maybe it's hard to find any easeful areas right now but if you do find some just continuing to notice,
Notice where they are.
Now see if you can offer kindness,
Soothing to those areas where you found discomfort.
Not trying to change these feelings but just sending kindness.
Perhaps imagine that you're breathing kindness and soothing into these areas,
Sending your breath to these areas.
And now seeing if you can offer gratitude for the areas in your body that feel neutral,
For the pain and tension that you don't have in those areas.
And again not trying to change how you feel or make yourself feel something.
Just making your best guess about how to meet those areas with kindness.
Sending gratitude,
Maybe experimenting by imagining that you're breathing into those areas.
Sending your breath to those areas where you don't feel tension and you don't feel pain.
And now shifting focus,
Seeing if you can offer appreciation for any areas of your body that feel easeful this time.
Not trying to amplify these feelings and make yourself feel even better but just making your best guess again about how to meet these parts of yourself.
Sending appreciation,
Imagining perhaps that you're breathing appreciation into those areas,
Whatever that looks like for you,
Sending your breath to those areas.
And then noticing are there any areas that need a little more attention?
And if so,
Give them that attention for a few breaths.
And then for now letting go of this focus on your body sensations and just noticing how you feel overall.
As best you can,
Allowing yourself to feel however you feel and to be exactly the way that you are.
And then as you feel ready,
Gently opening your eyes.
