This is for you if you are feeling restless or tired or wired or somewhere in between.
And there is nothing that you need to change.
Just arriving here is enough.
And hopefully you found a position that feels manageable today.
That could be lying down,
You could lie on your side,
You could be seated with support.
You could be standing,
There is no ideal position,
Only what works for you right now.
And a reminder here that you are free to move at any time,
Shift position,
Stretch or adjust.
And you can also listen without doing anything at all.
And any suggestion that I make,
You are free to ignore.
And if it feels better to keep your eyes open,
You can let them rest softly on one point in the room where you are.
If you feel comfortable,
You can certainly keep the eyes closed or close them.
You can also find something in between.
So this is a practice for days when not much is needed.
You don't have to feel a particular way,
You don't have to feel calm,
You don't have to feel peaceful.
Just being here is enough.
And you might begin by sensing the edges of your body,
Where your body meets the space around you.
And next,
Let's gently orient to the present moment,
Noticing the room around you,
The light or the darkness.
The temperature of the air on your skin.
And maybe let a few sounds come and go.
There's no need to tune anything out.
You can let a sound come to you and then fade.
Now noticing the surface beneath you.
Whether that's the floor,
A chair,
A bed.
Notice how that surface is already supporting you.
Sensing where your body makes contact.
Sensing points of pressure or support.
That surface beneath you is doing the work.
Nothing you need to hold up.
And perhaps you can pause and notice the weight of your body being received.
And know that you're not resting alone.
And if it feels supportive,
You might let it go.
You might invite a simple intention,
Not a goal,
Just a quiet orientation.
It could be a word,
A phrase,
Or a felt sense.
If it's a phrase,
It can be something like,
I can rest without forcing it.
Or nothing needs to change right now.
And if no words come,
That's also fine.
Completely fine.
The next we'll move gently our awareness through the body.
We're not going to stay long anywhere.
We're just noticing and moving on.
Just noticing from your body and not getting pulled into it.
And you can always shift your attention if something feels too intense.
Beginning with the right hand,
The palm,
The fingers,
The back of the hand,
The right wrist,
The forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm and the shoulder.
Switching over to the left with the left hand.
The palm,
The fingers,
The back of the hand,
The left wrist,
The forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm and shoulder.
Moving on to the right leg,
The thigh,
The knee,
The lower leg and the foot.
Left leg,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg and foot.
Back of the body,
Head,
Shoulder and hips.
The face,
The jaw,
The eyes and the forehead.
Down to the torso,
Around the chest and the belly.
The whole body.
Noticing the body as a whole.
Noticing whether it's pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral.
And you can let the breath stay in the background.
There's no need to change it.
The breath is just moving on its own.
Even shallow or uneven breath is welcome.
And you might notice a small pause after the breath out.
And if that noticing of the breath feels uncomfortable,
You can return to the feeling of the support beneath you.
Or the feeling of sensations in your body.
Or simply noticing things around you.
And if it feels supportive,
We're going to explore the breath.
And we're going to explore a few contrasts.
You can imagine them,
Sense them lightly or skip any part.
First we'll contrast doing and being.
You might recall the feeling of a busy moment.
All the doing,
The effort involved,
Movement.
And now sensing the difference of not doing.
Just being here without a task.
Notice the contrast without needing to choose.
And next the difference between noise and quiet.
Imagining for a minute a louder environment.
Layers of sound,
Activity.
And then focusing on the quality of quiet.
Fewer sounds or softer sounds.
Space between the sounds.
And then the difference between effort and support.
Sensing first the idea of effort in the body.
Holding,
Doing,
Managing.
And then noticing support like the surface beneath you.
Gravity,
The feeling of being.
Gravity doing the work.
Support can be subtle.
And next the difference between important and enough.
You might notice the feeling of needing to matter.
To do something worthwhile.
And in contrast,
Sensing enough.
Nothing to prove.
Nothing to do.
And maybe allow now the contrasts to fade.
Returning to the simple sense of being supported.
Resting in simple awareness.
Aware of the body being supported.
Aware of the room around you.
Nothing needing to change.
And you may notice breath in the background.
Or the quiet weight of your body.
Or simply the sense of being here.
And if thoughts come and go,
That's part of resting too.
And this isn't a deep rest that you have to fall into.
It's gentle resting with experience.
Still awake.
Still present.
Nothing required.
And quiet doesn't ask much of us.
And we don't need to ask much of it.
Resting here.
Just as you are.
And if you'd like to stay here,
Feel free to do so.
Otherwise you may begin to notice the room again.
The space around you.
And gently inviting small movements.
Taking your time.
Maybe stretching,
Wiggling toes and fingers.
Maybe opening the eyes if they were closed.
Rest doesn't always feel easy.
Sometimes it looks like staying present.
Staying present without forcing change.
And you can always return to the feeling of being supported.
Even if it's just for a moment.
And if anything at all during this practice felt unsettling to you,
Please reach out to a trusted person or do something that feels grounding for you.
And I'd like to thank you for taking the time to take care of yourself today.
Namaste.
