So to begin with having a sense of arrival,
Noting the points of contact that you're making with the earth and gently scanning the body from head to toe,
Just checking in with yourself.
How are you?
How is it to be you in your body in this moment,
Exploring the felt sensations,
The aches,
The neutral sensations,
The pleasant sensations,
The unpleasant sensations,
Without judgment noting what's there in your body and perhaps relaxing any tension if you do find any.
And now narrowing your attention to the breath,
Simply breathing in and breathing out without changing the rhythm of the breath,
Noting what is present for you,
Maybe noticing the pauses,
Maybe some point of the breath is more vivid than other bits,
Perhaps exploring that area more than the breath as a whole,
With curiosity and childlike interest.
Even if you've done this exercise many times,
No breath is the same like snowflakes.
And from the breath I now invite you to narrow your attention to the gut area and the heart space.
So you may find it helpful to place one hand on the heart and one hand on the gut.
And narrowing the spotlight of your attention to those areas and noting what you experience here,
Movements,
Pulsing,
Throbbing,
Colours,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
What's present for you here in this moment.
I'm going to talk through a few scenarios and I invite you to bring your attention to these areas and notice what comes up,
Sensations,
Emotions,
Stepping away from the story and exploring your reaction within your body.
You're feeling down because you've had a quarrel with a colleague at work.
Shortly afterwards you see another colleague in the general office and they rush off quickly,
Saying they couldn't stop.
What's your reaction?
What can you notice?
I invite you to gently return your attention to the breath,
Just for a few breaths,
Maybe three.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And then gently expanding your attention again to include the heart and the gut space.
Exploring what you notice.
I'm going to go to another scenario.
You're feeling happy.
You and a work colleague have just been praised for good work.
Shortly afterwards you see another colleague in the general office and they rush off quickly,
Saying they couldn't stop.
What's your reaction?
What can you notice within your heart and your gut area?
Gently narrowing your attention back to the breath,
The felt sensations of the breath within your body.
And then expanding your attention to include the breath within the body.
Through mindfulness meditation and mindful compassion practices we can train our brains to be more in touch with our gut reactions and the heart space.
This supports us to connect to our felt experiences,
Acknowledging them with kindness and allowing us to improve our well-being.
Practicing in this way allows us to acknowledge when we're feeling unsafe.
Learning the language of our bodies,
Pausing and observing these sensations creates a space to decide how to respond rather than reacting.
So just taking a moment to scan the body and connect to the felt sensation of being you in this space.
Remembering that the breath is always there as an anchor throughout your days.
And as best you can taking this sense of centeredness and connection into whatever you have left to do today.
