So we're going to set up for our first pose.
Something reclining I would recommend.
Something you feel comfortable supported,
Warm enough or cool enough.
And if there's any adjustments you need to make to your room,
You can do that to the light,
To any sounds,
To the temperature.
You can do exactly what you need to do right now if you want to stay upright to receive some of the sound you're welcome to.
I'm going to guide you through some relaxation to make yourself comfortable so you don't have to move.
You're welcome to close your eyes.
And see that your body is positioned in a way that's symmetrical on both sides.
You're not feeling too impressed in any way.
There's enough space around you.
And let your eyes close.
Allow your lower body to begin to relax a little bit more deeply.
Sense the parts of your lower body touching the floor or the ground or the support underneath you.
See if you can rest the legs a little deeper.
Allow the pelvis to relax.
There's no effort.
Any of the muscles inside the pelvis,
The hips,
Even the thighs relaxed.
Allow the back to settle more deeply into the support behind you.
The back muscles to relax.
Allow the back of the head to rest on whatever support is behind it.
Allow each arm to release more deeply from the socket.
You can see this as a gradual unfolding.
You might find that it's easy for you to relax the whole body.
In which case there's just deeper and deeper layers of relaxation possible.
Settler and settler.
Or you might find that there's still some tension lingering.
Which is okay too.
It's almost like that roomy poem in the guest house.
The idea being there's so many visitors in our experience.
A sadness,
A joy,
A happiness,
A depression.
And maybe in this case a tension or a thought.
And rather than say some visitors are welcome and some are unwelcome.
We just relax and open to everything that comes into our experience.
Which sounds easy.
But that's what we're practicing here.
Noticing the resistance to even tension we may feel.
And giving ourselves an opportunity to just embrace the entirety of what arises.
And then just surrender and let go.
Over and over again.
Maybe you've already started to notice your breath.
You get this gentle little.
.
.
It's like an ocean.
The way the breath works.
In and out.
So we get this gentle little ocean within ourselves to pay attention to.
It's always moving.
And it's not always moving big.
Sometimes waves are relaxed.
So we don't have to try to make the breath anything right now.
Just enjoy noticing your own breath,
Speed,
Rhythm,
Size.
It's really a gift now that we get to just pause and pay attention to the life that's happening within us without any effort.
We don't have to do anything to breathe.
Or for the heart to pump.
For the lungs to work.
Just pause and appreciate and observe all these things working for us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You might notice your breathing again without disturbing the rest of your body.
So you can decide if you'd like to just remain in this position for the next little segment.
If you're comfortable,
There's no need to move.
But if you'd like to take a different shape for the next probably eight minutes or so,
You can use some different support.
Maybe you can do something like putting your legs up the wall or supporting child's pose.
Maybe anything that you feel called to do.
Settle into your new shape.
Notice if there's any places in your body that still need some attention.
Notice if any tension has crept back into your body.
With gentle,
Loving attention,
You can encourage those areas to keep relaxing.
And you can come back to noticing your breathing as well.
It'll give you an opportunity if you want to practice some deeper breathing.
Nothing too intensive,
But we'll do some fuller breaths in a few rounds.
A couple deeper breaths with relaxed breath in between,
So nothing too strenuous.
And I'll give you a little bit of guidance with that.
And if that doesn't appeal to you,
You can just listen and relax.
Just pay attention to your breath again,
That little ocean-like body you have within your body.
You can notice the rising and falling of the breath,
Again,
It's a natural process.
You don't have to make it rise or fall.
And all we're doing is becoming a little better observers of nature,
Actually.
Our breath,
Our bodies,
They're all aligned with similar principles in nature.
Just things you can find in your body,
You can find represented in the natural world.
And by studying the natural world,
You can also study yourself,
Or studying yourself.
Just notice the way the breath rises and falls.
Pay attention to where you feel the breath move.
Is it in the belly,
In the back?
Is it in the rib cage?
Where do you notice it most prominently?
Notice the way inhalations move everything away from the spine.
So it's not just that when you breathe in,
The breath goes in front of you.
The belly moves forward,
The ribs move forward,
The chest move forward.
There's this whole 360 degree expansion happening.
And it all kind of revolves in some ways around the spine.
The back moves away from the spine when you breathe in,
Even if you're just taking natural small breaths.
The sides of the body move away from the spine a little bit as they expand.
So all we're doing is aiding this natural expansion,
Only take some deeper breaths.
The idea is taking a deeper breath does not involve,
Need to involve strain,
Particularly in the face.
Notice if your face is relaxed right now,
Allow your face to continue to relax,
Stay relaxed.
Notice how you're breathing without the assistance of any facial muscles,
Without the assistance of any neck muscles.
Breath is happening deeper in your body.
It's almost like you're breathing in through,
Maybe through the pelvis.
Imagine the air enters in through the pelvis,
Not through the nose.
You don't have to force it.
It just comes and goes from there.
Imagine a deeper breath would start in that entrance through the pelvis and gradually fill up and rise through the belly,
Through the ribcage,
And then back down again.
Notice the way a glass fills with water,
Not from the top down to the bottom,
But starts in the base and then fills upwards.
And if and when you feel like taking maybe two deeper breaths,
If you haven't already,
Let the breath initiate from deep in the body,
Keep the face relaxed.
Let it enter gradually,
Slowly,
More deeply.
And then release.
Make sure to rest with a natural breath in between a few deeper breaths.
And let your breath become natural.
Let it stay natural.
Allow for just a few more minutes of complete surrender and relaxation.
You can let go of any attempt to breathe a certain way,
Even to be a certain way.
Relax completely,
Fully.
Fast.
Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Bong Just very gently place the hands somewhere in the front of your body.
So you can feel your breath moving again.
And your hands.
Bong We are going to start to make our way upright in a few moments,
But we'll do it somewhat gradually.
So you can place your feet on the floor if that is a position you're able to do.
Or you can just turn to one of your sides.
And you can start to press yourself slowly up.
Take your time and if you're really not ready to come up,
If you're just done,
Then you can stay down.
Otherwise you come up to sitting again.
Namaste.
