Hi,
This is Aurora Hutchinson of the Mindfulness Center.
Thanks for joining me today.
So I'd like to invite you to make yourselves comfortable,
Whether it's sitting down or lying down.
It's important to find a sense of ease within your body.
So making yourself comfortable,
Making any slight movements or adjustments and feeling free to move throughout this practice.
Taking about three deep breaths at your own pace.
Notice that with the inhale and the exhale,
The body is letting go.
Connect with the natural rhythm of your breath,
Feeling it roll throughout your body.
Noticing the inhale and the exhale,
Allowing your body to settle in.
Bringing the breath and the awareness to the muscles of your face.
Perhaps feeling your forehead melt,
The brow smooth,
The skin around your eyes soften.
And breathing there,
You might feel your teeth unclench and the jaw relax.
You might feel your tongue ease down the root.
Drawing your breath and the awareness into the shoulders,
Perhaps feeling them drop away from your ears and melt down the back.
Imagine drawing your breath through each of your arms,
Through the upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms and your wrists.
You might feel your arms loosen heavy by your sides.
You might even sense the space beneath your arms.
Perhaps you might feel the fabric against your skin.
And bringing your awareness into your hands,
Perhaps feeling the spaces between your fingers.
Drawing your breath into your fingertips.
What would it be like to feel the air on the palms of your hands?
To sense the very weight of it.
Perhaps you might be noticing tingling or sensations as you bring your awareness there.
Feeling your breath connecting with your body,
Your awareness of your mind.
Sensing the gentle movement of your ribs as you breathe.
Perhaps feeling your breath in a softening belly.
Drawing your awareness and your breath deep into the lower part of your body,
All the way down to your feet.
You might sense where your heels meet the ground.
Perhaps you might feel the air upon the feet.
What would it be like to draw your breath into each pore on the soles of your feet?
Or to breathe into the spaces between your toes?
Notice what it feels like to breathe through your entire body.
The movement of your breath throughout your entire body.
Calming the nervous system.
Feeling ease.
Perhaps allowing yourself to relax just a little bit deeper.
Perhaps you might be noticing thoughts arising.
What would it be like to imagine them like clouds in the sky gently drifting by?
Perhaps you might be noticing sounds.
The sound of the air settling in the room.
Perhaps the ticking of a clock.
You might hear traffic going by.
Perhaps you might be aware of these words.
Or you might be aware of your own breathing and the sound of your heartbeat.
What would it be like to notice the space between your thoughts?
The space between the sounds.
The space between your breaths.
The space between these words.
The space between your heart beating.
Where are you resting in that space?
It's like imagining blue sky picking between clouds.
We often think of the sky as up there.
But it really extends all the way down to the ground.
The sky is open and spacious,
Yielding.
Simply allowing everything to be there.
Clouds.
Storms.
Airplanes.
Trees and buildings.
We even walk through it.
Drive through it.
What would it be like to have your mind open and spacious like the sky?
Imagine that sky-like spaciousness filling the mind,
Filling the body,
Opening the heart.
What would it be like to rest within that openness,
That spaciousness?
Resting there.
Breathing there.
What do you notice in your body right now?
Checking in with your breath.
Perhaps noticing how it opens and broadens your back.
Noticing every gentle movement of your ribs as you breathe.
Drawing your breath and the awareness deep within your body.
Feeling perhaps the way it lengthens you,
Grounding you in your space.
Resting there.
Breathing there.
Simply being a body,
Breathing.
Breathing here in this moment.
There's nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
No right or wrong way to do this.
Simply witnessing and watching this experience as it unfolds from moment to moment.
Breathing here,
Relaxing.
Simply being a body,
Breathing.
A body breathing.
Resting here.
What would it be like to allow yourself to drop in just a little bit deeper?
To open a little bit more.
Thankfully,
I've been able to do it for the past couple of days.
It feels very comfortable you
