Good evening.
Here we are at the end of another day,
And an opportunity to pause,
Reflect,
Reset and relax.
Intentional well-lived days really begin with an intentional evening the night before,
But at the end of a busy day,
We can often feel mentally,
Emotionally and physically exhausted and scattered.
It's easy at this point to default to habits which might provide immediate comfort and escape,
But perhaps don't serve us well in the long term.
Perhaps they're not the kind of choices that the person we want to be would make.
So if we want to live tomorrow well,
This is our moment to recalibrate,
To remember our values and aspirations,
And begin a nourishing evening that will set us up for an aligned intentional day ahead.
So let's begin by adopting a comfortable,
Stable position,
Either seated or lying down.
Just making sure our spine is aligned,
And our posture is one of grace and ease.
And inviting you to close the eyes if that feels comfortable,
Or perhaps simply lowering the gaze.
Taking a slow,
Deep breath in,
Really allowing the lungs and belly to fill with nourishing air,
And then slowly releasing it.
And we'll repeat that again,
Taking a nice deep breath in,
And as we release it slowly,
Seeing if it's possible to exhale some of the tension or effort of the day,
Releasing it into the evening.
And let's take one final deep breath in,
Holding for a moment,
And as we release it slowly,
Having a sense of coming home to the body,
To the present moment,
Putting aside the cares of the day,
The to-dos,
The items left undone,
Even just for a few minutes,
We can always come back to them later.
For now,
This is our moment to come home to the present moment,
To ourselves,
Nowhere else to be,
Nothing else to do,
But just to be,
To pause,
To recalibrate.
Allowing the breath to find its own natural rhythm now,
Allowing it to breathe us,
Just tuning in to the rhythmic sensations of the breath as it ebbs and flows like waves on a beach,
And checking in now with the body,
Perhaps doing a little mental scan of the body and noticing any areas of tension or tightness,
And checking in with the facial muscles,
The brow,
The temple,
The muscles around the eyes and the jaw,
Inviting a sense of softening and release,
And checking in with the shoulders,
Is it possible to allow the shoulder blades to slide down the back even just a centimetre more,
And checking in with the abdomen,
Is there any tension or holding in the stomach area that can be invited to release,
And having a sense now of any contact points of the body with the surface that is supporting you,
Be that a chair,
Cushion,
Bed or the floor,
Feeling into sensations of being supported,
Grounded and connected to earth,
Allowing the weight and efforts of the body to simply surrender to gravity,
And checking in now with how we are feeling mentally and emotionally,
Are there one or two words that can describe that?
Can we just notice these feelings without judgement,
Allowing them to be present just as they are,
Whether they are welcome or unwelcome,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
Can we give them permission to just be,
And inviting you now to visualise a large open book in front of you,
This book is a book charting your day,
On the spread that is open before you,
You see written down some notable events and choices from today,
Perhaps places you've been,
Tasks you've accomplished,
Interactions you've had with others,
Perhaps some we're proud of or grateful for,
And taking a moment to really digest these,
To savour and appreciate them,
Perhaps some we're not so proud of,
Or some might have been stressful,
Unpleasant,
Or just not the choices or actions we would have liked to have made,
Can we just note them without judgement,
Recognising them as past events,
They are what they are,
And now inviting you to turn the page of the book,
Feeling the texture and weight of the page as you turn it over onto a fresh new blank spread,
This is the next chapter of your day,
Of your evening,
A new beginning for you to write how you wish your evening to unfold,
And let's start that new chapter by visualising writing some affirmations at the top of the first page,
You might like to repeat these affirmations to yourself aloud,
Or silently in your mind,
I am the architect of my life,
Every moment is a fresh start,
A new beginning,
This is a new beginning,
Today is the only day I have to live,
I choose to live it well,
At the end of the day I honour,
Cherish and nourish myself,
I am kind to my future self,
And now perhaps in your imagination,
Writing on this page how you would like to live this evening,
What intentional choices will you make,
What will best serve you and your future self,
What will it feel like to go to sleep this evening,
Having fulfilled those intentions,
Really bringing those feelings to life,
Sensing them in the body and in the heart,
What will it feel like to wake up in the morning,
Having lived your evening intentionally,
Aligned with your aspirations and values,
And now as this practice draws towards a close,
Bringing the attention back to the breath,
Allowing the breath to reconnect us to the breath and to the body,
And now perhaps in your imagination,
Writing on this page how you would like to live this evening,
Allowing the breath to reconnect us with the present moment,
This new beginning,
The start of the next chapter of your evening,
Of your life,
And when you're ready,
Allowing the eyes to gently open if they've been closed,
And taking whatever movements feel appropriate,
I wish you a nourishing and intentional evening,
And thank you for sharing yours with me.
Good night.
