We're going to bring the nervous system down to clear a space for something nurturing.
Find yourself a relaxing and comfortable position.
You may be upright seated.
You may be walking.
You may be lying on your back or stomach.
Whatever allows your body to rest.
Notice where you are right now.
Taking in your surroundings,
What you can see,
What you can smell and hear.
And become aware of your breath.
Keep your eyes open as you do so,
Staying present,
Oriented and secured by your surroundings.
Becoming aware of your breath in its natural rhythm.
Notice how the inhales come in through the nose or mouth.
How the exhales take place.
And now making an effort to just change the pattern of breathing so that you are inhaling evenly through the nose.
And exhaling smoothly out the mouth.
Continuing to breathe in through the nose,
Filling the belly.
Exhaling out of the mouth.
Few more times inhaling through the nose.
Exhaling out the mouth.
And as you continue this breathing pattern,
Make an effort to extend the length of your exhales to be longer than your inhales.
Perhaps breathing in to the count of four and out just to the count of five.
Just slightly elongating the duration of each exhale.
As you breathe,
Notice what thoughts come up in your mind.
Notice what urges present themselves to you.
Perhaps you have the thought of,
I would like to be doing something else.
With the thought of noticing discomfort where you are.
Just notice that thought.
Become aware of your breath.
At this point maybe if it helps to relax the body you may close your eyes.
Continuing to be aware of the breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
As you continue breathing,
Consciously making an effort to extend the exhales.
Maybe now breathing in to a count of four and breathing out to the count of seven.
As best you can,
Continuing to be aware of the duration of each breath in and the extra long breath out.
Inevitably thoughts will come up.
Just simply notice them.
You may notice that you are craving in this moment,
Wanting to be somewhere else or have something else.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
You may notice that you are resisting something,
Resisting something that's coming up in this moment in response to the breath slowing down the nervous system.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
With your eyes closed,
Begin to allow the awareness of the breath to fade out.
Taking one hand to the space of your heart over your chest.
Become aware of your heartbeat and listen to the sound of your heart beating.
Become aware of the feeling of your heartbeat underneath your palm.
The feeling of your heart beating against the front of your chest.
Where else can you notice your heartbeat?
And now visualize the space at the center of your heart.
Notice what feelings come up.
Are they pleasant?
Are they unpleasant?
Or are they neutral?
What feelings come to the center of your heart?
And what is your reaction to each of those feelings?
What is your reaction to labeling a feeling as pleasant or a feeling as unpleasant?
What's your reaction to labeling a feeling as neutral?
Can you observe each of these feelings?
As the feelings come up,
Become aware of your breath.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
As a feeling comes up in the heart space,
Just label it as it is.
This feeling is pleasant.
This feeling is unpleasant.
This feeling is neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Feeling that space at the center of your heart,
Visualize that heart space as your home and each of your feelings as a friend coming to your doorstep.
Your friends come by one by one and as each of them enters they bring with them a gift.
Some of these gifts are pleasant.
Some of them are unpleasant.
Some gifts you have no strong feelings towards either way.
But as each of them hands you a gift,
You thank them for the gift.
See each of these friends coming to your doorstep and thank them as they hand you a gift.
Such is the way that it is with the feelings that touch our heart.
Notice when a feeling comes up,
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale say to your feeling,
Thank you for showing up.
It doesn't matter what the feeling is or what judgments and memories are tied with it.
The gift that it brings is presence.
Presence of this moment along with the present of the gift.
Simply be there for your friends.
Thank them for their gifts and their presence and continue to observe as they show up to your door one by one.
Now take a deep breath in and fully exhale with a smile.
We've just one more thank you to yourself for taking this time and I'd like to extend my thanks to you as well.
Be well.
