Hello and welcome to today's breathing practice.
Take a moment to adjust yourself finding a comfortable seat,
Maybe cross-legged or with the feet touching the floor.
And take a moment to arrive.
Let's begin by taking three deep,
Long,
Clearing breaths.
A deep inhale through the nose and out of the mouth.
Again inhaling and out.
One last time,
Inhaling and a heavy exhale out.
With this you can soften down your eyes and allow your body to soften up a little bit more,
Bringing your attention to your toes and to your feet,
Relaxing them as you move your attention to your calves,
Your knees,
Your quads.
The legs are becoming a little bit heavier.
Relax your pelvic floor and the hips are widening a little bit.
The tailbone is pointing to the center of the earth.
The belly is soft and loose,
Let it hang.
Your spine is straight and upright and yet relaxed.
There is space between your shoulders and your ears.
Your arms are heavy,
Your hands effortlessly resting on your knees or on your laps.
Bring your attention to your face now.
Relax your jaw,
Your lips are lightly touching while the tongue is resting on the roof of the mouth.
Your cheeks are soft and the eyelids a little bit heavier,
While you create a sensation of spaciousness in between your eyebrows and in your forehead and as you bring your attention to the top of the head,
You can feel a gentle uplift that helps you to create a little bit more space inside of you.
Today's practice is around the idea of letting go.
Letting go is something that we often think we have to do,
Like a task or a decision.
Okay,
Now I let go,
Now I need to let go of this or let go of that.
But it usually is the same part of us trying to control everything that is doing it.
And so for today's session,
We're not trying to let go,
I invite you to notice how tightly you hold on,
On how the body clenches,
On how the mind wants to decide and predict everything.
Take a deep breath in,
And now bring your attention to your natural breath.
Notice the air coming in and out of your nostrils,
As you begin to listen to it without changing,
Without interfering with the process.
Let it rise,
And let it fall.
Let it rise,
And let it fall.
Thoughts will appear,
And this is normal.
Do not push them away or do not chase them.
You can notice them and gently return to your breath.
Continue to follow your breath,
Noticing where you hold tension or try to control.
And then soften into the breath again,
With a gentle awareness.
Stay with this rhythm,
Allowing the breath to guide you back whenever you notice the grip of your mind.
Life does not always follow our plans.
It moves in its own way,
No matter how much we try to manage it.
It's a bit like holding a rope that keeps pulling.
The burn comes from the grip itself,
Not from the rope.
You do not have to drop it,
You do not have to force anything.
But notice how it feels when your fingers loosen a little bit,
When your breath is steady,
And you stop pulling so hard against what is already moving.
This is the kind of letting go that serves you.
And before you move on,
Take a moment to notice in your life where ever you've been trying to let go,
Are still holding on.
And what would it feel like to soften your grip there,
Even just a little.
So take one last slow breath,
And let the body feel the space you've created by not holding so tightly.
And then,
When you're ready,
Come back.
