Slowing down here,
Finding a comfortable seated posture where your back is straight up and down,
Just as if you were holding a necklace up and down.
The beads would be just like your spine being stacked,
One vertebra on top of another.
Bringing your shoulders back but relaxed,
Sitting tall yet comfortable,
Allowing your eyes to relax,
Allowing your jaw to relax.
And just starting with three slow deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Each of these deep breaths is an opportunity to really settle in,
To feel a sense of ease,
And to slow down.
With your next out breath,
Just noticing how your breath returns to its natural breathing rhythm,
Seeing what that feels like for you.
Understanding how the body feels,
How the mind may feel,
Whether it's busy or empty,
And seeing if you can let go of any sense of panic or frustration or tension with the mind.
Just allow it to be where it is,
As it is,
As you rest firmly dignified in your own subtle content awareness.
Just being still here,
Resting your body and your mind as much as you can.
There's no pressure,
There's no rush,
There's no need to do or to be anything.
Just allow that effortlessness to be as it is.
And now turning your attention to the sounds,
To the noises that you hear,
Whether it's the noises that you hear through this recording,
The sounds and the space that you're in,
Or even sounds that are more distant or far away.
Just gently being the awareness in which these sounds arise and fall.
You are that silence,
That stillness,
In which sounds,
In which noises,
In which movement you can zoom and go.
So just seeing if you can gently notice those sounds without any judgment or need for the sounds to be a certain way.
Just allowing what comes to come and go at its own rate,
At its own pace.
Let things move as they move.
And these thoughts and emotions that arise as well,
Treat them just like you treat the sounds.
Without judgment,
Without the need for the sounds or thoughts or emotions to be different.
They are just as they are.
You're not being apathetic by allowing things to be.
You're simply bringing the light of awareness and acceptance so you can see the world with greater clarity,
Equanimity,
Kindness,
Compassion,
And love.
With this perspective,
You can act from a greater place,
From higher ground,
From a healthier perspective than if you were simply to react.
Now you can respond.
I'm just coming back to the noises that you hear.
Now,
In this moment.
And just resting in this inner stillness now.
Allowing yourself to be as you are in these final moments of this sitting practice.
And as you notice the body and the mind once again.
Just noticing how you feel.
Again,
Without that overt criticism or judgment,
Just noticing gently.
Taking a general pulse on how you feel.
Physically,
Mentally.
Again,
Being gentle and accepting.
And coming back to the body now.
Coming back to the room that you're in.
Watching the air on your skin.
And when you're ready,
Just gently opening the eyes in your own time.
And before you move or get up or do anything in particular,
Say thanks to yourself for practicing today.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
Thank you.
