Find a way to sit that's comfortable and allow yourself to take a few full breaths as you arrive in this moment.
Maybe place your hands on your belly or your heart or both anywhere that feels comfortable or comforting.
As you take those full breaths,
See if on each exhale anything can soften or melt.
You might notice if your thoughts can melt,
Your emotions or any body sensations.
Give yourself plenty of time and space to allow the mind to settle.
No need to make it do anything in particular.
Simply creating space to connect with yourself,
To be listening,
With some kindness and care if possible.
After you've taken those first full breaths,
You can allow your breath to be natural.
Focus your mind first on the simple rhythm of your breath.
Observing each inhale and exhale,
Notice where you feel each inhale and exhale in your body the most and rest your attention there.
You'll notice the mind comes in and has a whole bunch of thoughts that's totally normal,
That's what it does.
When you notice that's a moment of mindfulness,
Simply redirect your awareness to experience your breath once again.
You can even say silently to yourself,
In with each inhale and out with each exhale as you feel the body expand and contract.
Many of us have minds that right away go towards fixing,
Figuring out,
Noticing what's wrong.
So it can be helpful to include in your awareness a few places in the body that feel supported,
Comfortable or even just okay.
So maybe take some time to scan through your body and see if there's anything that you can connect with that feels more pleasant.
And for some of us,
When we get in touch with things in our experience that feel more pleasant,
It can feel a little bit overwhelming or foreign,
Maybe a little bit like sticking our finger into a light socket.
We have to learn over time,
Little by little,
To begin to let this in,
To tolerate it.
So know that it's no small feat,
Just letting yourself bit by bit say hello to whatever's here.
No need to judge it.
No need to try to change it.
Just see what you can let in.
And that's enough for now.
And you may notice a place in your body,
Your heart,
Your mind that doesn't feel so comfortable,
Maybe feels unpleasant.
You can bring your hands to a place in your body where you can feel that experience.
For some people,
It can really help to imagine the hands or the hands of a supportive part of you,
A supportive being.
It could even be an imagined dear friend or grandmother or grandfather,
Even a pet.
Bring those hands infused with that kind of care and compassion to the place in your body.
And imagine the hands are just listening,
They're just resting there on the body,
Saying hello,
Not trying to manipulate the experience or change it.
Just bringing some extra support.
And as this support is here,
All sorts of responses can arrive mentally,
Physically,
Physically,
Whatever here is welcome.
Breathing with it,
Being willing to sit with it,
Unmoved.
This is presence.
This is care.
This is kindness.
And if you notice you want to reach out,
To move away from any discomfort,
You can label it,
You can label it jumping out.
Anytime you want to jump out of what's happening in the present moment and reach for something that's more comfortable,
This mindfulness is to name jumping out.
Then you're aware of what's happening,
You can redirect your mind back towards anything that feels comfortable or supportive,
Maybe those hands or other sensations in your body.
With each exhale,
You can see if anything would like to be softened,
Any tension that's crept up.
You can create time and space now for it to melt.
Keeping your hands with yourself as long as it feels helpful.
Breathing with yourself,
Staying with yourself as long as you like.
When it feels complete,
It could be now,
It could be in several minutes,
Slowly,
Slowly bringing yourself back into your room,
Into your space,
Staying connected to anything at all that feels helpful and moving out into your day.
