Being aware of any tensions or tightness in the body.
And finding ease.
Connecting with your breath,
Taking about three deep breaths at your own pace.
Noticing the inhale and the exhale.
And as you breathe connecting with that natural rhythm within your body.
Feeling the gentle expansion and contraction of your breath.
Perhaps noticing its wave-like motion.
That motion like a wave,
Just like the ocean.
Crusting and falling.
Ebbing and flowing.
Always moving,
Always shifting.
And always constant.
Just like your breath.
Noticing that rise and fall of your chest.
And if you'd like,
I'd like to invite you to place a hand softly on the belly.
Feeling the movement of your breath there.
How it's softening the belly.
You might notice these are the deepest breaths you've taken all day.
Bringing the awareness in your breath to the muscles of your face.
You might feel your scalp ease.
Perhaps even sense the weight of your hair.
Perhaps feeling the forehead melt.
And the brow smooth.
And the brow smooth.
You might notice what's happening with your eyes.
Perhaps imagining quiet eyes.
Imagine your eyes floating gently in a pool of water.
Softening the gaze.
The eyes loosen their sockets.
And resting with those quiet eyes,
You might feel the skin around them.
Resting with those quiet eyes,
You might feel the skin around them soften.
Sensing the muscles of the face relax.
The jaw ease.
And bringing the awareness into your shoulders.
What would it be like to breathe into them from the inside out?
You might notice some tiny movements of the muscles.
You might feel the tenseness ease.
You might notice that you didn't have to do anything,
But gently place your awareness there.
And you feel a natural loosening.
An untangling.
And as your shoulders relax,
You might feel them drop away from your ears.
Knees away from your neck.
You might be noticing how tense you've been there.
And feeling that grip relax.
And bringing the awareness in your breath deep within each arm,
All the way down into your fingertips.
You might sense the weight of gravity upon your arms.
You might become aware of the fabric against your skin.
You might even sense the space beneath your arms.
And you might feel the light of the sun.
As you allow your arms to be loose and heavy by your sides.
And bringing your awareness into your hands.
Noticing how they open.
Perhaps sensing the air around you.
Perhaps sensing the air upon the open palms of your hands.
Notice what it's like to sense the space beneath your arms.
Notice what it's like to sense the spaces between your fingers.
You might feel your hands open and the fingers uncurl.
The fists drop.
The fists drop.
That grip released.
You might be noticing tingling or vibrations or sensations.
You might even sense the very edges of your skin there.
Feeling the connection of your breath with your body.
You might sense this oneness.
Of your body mind.
You might feel the air around you.
Feeling free to move and find ease in your body.
This is your time.
You've already made the decision just by walking through this door.
The decision to meet yourself.
To greet yourself and allow everything just as it is.
Notice as you bring your awareness and your breath deep within your body.
You might feel your breath opening your back.
Or perhaps sense how every muscle along the spine is releasing.
You might sense a lengthening there.
An opening.
Perhaps you might feel your ribs gently moving as you breathe.
You might even sense your heartbeat.
And perhaps you're feeling how your breath is softening your belly.
Perhaps you might be noticing thoughts arising.
What would it be like to simply watch them?
Not following the story.
Not judging them.
And not judging yourself for having thoughts.
In mindfulness we don't need to empty the mind of thoughts.
They can all be there.
We can be with them,
Watching.
Witnessing as they arise.
And perhaps drift away.
You can allow your thoughts to be like clouds in the sky drifting by.
Or even like words like a ticker tape at the bottom of a TV screen.
Just words.
Perhaps images.
The mind can be open and spacious like the sky.
Allowing it all to be there.
And allowing it to be there.
And allowing it to be there.
Allowing it all to be there.
What would it be like to feel the ease of that?
And the relief of not having to do anything at all.
Perhaps you might be noticing sounds.
Perhaps you might be noticing sounds.
Like the sound of the air.
Or the clock ticking.
Or the sound of traffic.
You might be aware of these words.
The sound of settling in the room.
Or you might be aware of your own breathing.
Or in this quiet you might even hear your heart beating.
What would it be like to rest within that sound?
To ride those vibrational waves.
To feel how they travel through your body.
To rest inside the sound.
You might notice that there are spaces between these sounds.
There are spaces between your thoughts.
Spaces between these words.
Spaces between your breaths.
Spaces between your heartbeats.
What would it be like to rest in those spaces?
It might be like seeing blue sky peeking out between the clouds.
And as you rest within that blue,
Feeling that opening.
Sensing a widening.
The bandwidth increasing.
As you rest in that space.
Resting in that space.
Riding the wave of that sound.
Feeling how it moves throughout your body.
You can allow it.
That sense of letting go.
Checking in with yourself.
Noticing what's there for you right now.
Noticing how your body is speaking to you.
Every thought,
Every feeling,
Emotion.
As a physiological sensation associated with it.
What might your body be saying to you right now?
And as you rest with it,
How does your body feel as you listen?
There's no right or wrong way to do this.
We're simply breathing here.
Opening to our experience.
Experiencing ourselves from moment to moment.
Unfolding at will.
Allowing yourself to be with the thoughts,
To be with the sounds.
To be with the sensations.
Not judging anything.
We can be with it all.
Just like that.
Bringing the breath and the awareness to the area of your heart.
Notice what's there for you right now.
And if you like,
I invite you to gently place a hand on your heart.
And notice the felt sense of it.
Notice what just happened there.
All of your awareness right at the chest.
You might even feel the movements as you breathe.
The gentle pulsating of your heart.
Notice what else is there.
Perhaps it feels heavy or light.
Open or closed.
Maybe it feels warm or cool.
Raw or tender.
Maybe it feels soft underneath the touch of your hand.
What would it be like to say yes to whatever is there?
To say yes just as it is.
To say yes in not trying to change anything,
But opening to yourself just as you are.
What would it be like to say yes to the totality of this experience?
Notice what it feels like in your body as you say yes.
As you open to yourself.
As you embrace yourself just as you're holding your heart.
As you open to yourself.
Perhaps it feels like ease.
Or perhaps it feels difficult.
Just notice what you're feeling.
Breathe into it.
You might see how it shifts and changes.
Checking in with yourself.
Noticing what's there for you right now.
As we open all of our senses,
Open them wide.
It brings us right here into the present moment.
Lifts us out of past and future.
And there's only now.
Now with infinite possibilities.
Now with no old stories.
Now with the freedom to choose.
Notice that you don't have to do anything.
You don't have to be anything.
You don't have to try anything.
We're just breathing.
We're just breathing and being.
And being completely open to what's arising.
Breathing here,
Resting here.
Bringing your awareness to your heart again.
Imagine your breath emanating from your heart.
Notice what it would feel like to breathe through your heart.
And what would it be like to imagine the image of a smile at your heart?
Not to change anything.
Not to cover over anything.
But to communicate that openness,
That sky-like spaciousness.
That can fill your mind,
Fill your body.
And open your heart,
Soften your heart.
Smiling into your heart space is the ultimate gift of kindness and compassion.
As you welcome everything that's there.
As you welcome yourself like a friend.
As you welcome yourself.
Breathing deep within your heart with each heartbeat,
Filling your lungs.
Holding your heart,
Massaging it.
Bathing the body on a cellular level with ease and this kindness of a smile.
What would it feel like to feel a smile in every cell of your body?
Would it be possible to give yourself the gift of that ease?
To allow yourself to let go just a little bit more.
Noticing the air at your nostrils.
And as you breathe in,
Feeling that wave-like motion of your breath.
As it allows your chest to gently rise and fall.
As you feel your breath softening your belly.
Gently bringing some movement to your fingers.
And some gentle movement to your toes.
If you're lying down,
Rolling over to one side.
Using your arms as a cushion.
Breathing deeply into your back,
Feeling it open.
And that one last release.
Notice how the ground supports you.
Gently sitting up at your own pace.
Allowing some light into your eyes.
And breathing in,
Drinking in this experience that you just had.
Understanding that this is the experience of being you.
Always changing.
Always fresh and new.
This place comes and it goes with you.
And in your own time when you're ready.
Fully opening your eyes.
And I'd like to invite you to greet each other.
