Get yourself into a nice comfortable seat.
You know how we start here.
Begin to settle in.
Close those eyes and breathe in through the nostrils and breathe out through those nostrils.
I want you just to get used to being nice and still.
As you do,
I'm just going to explain today's session in a bit more detail.
Sometimes to move forward,
We actually need to stop.
We need to regather ourselves.
When I did gymnastics,
Our coach used to say,
Practice doesn't make perfect.
Perfect practice makes perfect.
So we were encouraged always to take breaks during a session and in between sessions and in between practices,
In between moves.
It worked a treat,
By the way.
I,
Before that,
Used to just muscle something,
Just try it over and over again until my hands were bleeding,
Until my muscles were sore and the form got worse and worse.
When I tried this new technique,
Each time I tried the move,
My body was in a prime position.
My mind was rested.
I was clear.
I was focused.
But I couldn't have done this if I didn't take breaks.
We can often get tricked into thinking that more is always better.
But quite often,
Quality is what you want,
Not quantity.
So how do we take such a break?
How do we give ourselves the rest we deserve?
Well,
We have to shift from thinking about what we need to be doing to what we are actually doing.
Right here and right now.
And right now,
You are simply sitting and breathing.
Indulge in this process.
Try focus on just that.
Try resist the urge to have to be somewhere else in your mind.
Now,
It's very natural,
As we do this,
Our mind starts to say,
No,
No,
No,
No,
We need to be getting on with this.
And how about that deadline?
And I need this project and that invoice.
I want you to stamp your foot down and say,
No,
Right now,
I am sitting and I am breathing.
I want you to say to yourself,
I have nowhere to be and nothing to do.
This is my time,
Time to sit and breathe.
Now,
When this does become hard,
Which it inevitably will,
We can make life easier by digging a little bit deeper into what we are going through.
Seeing if we are optimally breathing and optimally sitting.
So,
Let's do that now.
Check in with your body and make sure it's nice and relaxed.
Is your face relaxed?
Are your shoulders relaxed?
Are your arms relaxed?
Are your hands relaxed?
Is your spine long and strong?
Is your entire weight being let into the seat below you?
Are your legs relaxed?
Is your bum relaxed?
Are your feet relaxed?
Are you sitting in the best seat you could?
Great work.
We are optimally sitting.
Now,
Let's switch gears to our breathing.
Noticing if that breath is still coming in and out smoothly through the nostrils.
Is that breath nice and calm?
Is it as deep as we would like it to be?
Are we using our diaphragm to pull that air in as we expand?
And we're letting that air escape on that exhale.
Always check in if we're optimally sitting.
And optimally breathing.
No more.
No less.
All other thoughts are banished.
This is your time to sit and breathe.
Feels good,
Right?
Practicing the art.
Being okay with where we are.
Noticing if other thoughts come in.
And when they do,
Allowing them to just exit stage left.
As we come back to optimal breathing and optimal sitting.
Stay here for as long as you need.
Or come back and see me whenever you're ready.
Just remember,
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is nothing.
