Let's make ourselves comfortable and take a few deeper breaths as we position our body.
Somewhere our body can be comfortable and undisturbed.
Our feet may be flat on the floor and our knees and our hips in a neutral position.
Next time we inhale let's take a deeper breath.
Let our spine straighten a little,
Get a little bit taller.
And when we're ready to exhale we're going to soften our shoulders and soften into our seat a little bit.
So we're alert and we're still comfortable,
A little bit of both.
That's the attitude we'd like to bring.
And when our body is at rest,
Softened a little,
We can take our attention to our breath.
Just noticing what the breath is doing.
Noticing what the breath tells us about our current state.
Are we anxious or are we relaxed already?
Just allowing whatever we notice to be as it is.
If it feels comfortable we can guide the breath to be ever so slightly deeper and slower but we're not forcing anything.
Using a light touch.
So to settle in and allow our consciousness to become quiet,
To allow our mind to settle,
We're going to count our breaths.
So the purpose of this is not to know how many breaths we've taken,
The purpose is to give our mind a job to do while the rest of us becomes quiet.
So we breathe in for one,
Out for two.
As we breathe in for the next time that's number three.
Four as we exhale.
Five is our next in breath.
Six as we exhale and then we return to one.
So we're going to do that for a couple of minutes.
We're going to keep our focus on that count as best we can and use it as a tool to become quiet and focused as best we can.
Let the breath be comfortable.
And if you'll find you're wandering off beyond six just notice and return.
No criticism.
If you find your mind is wandering a lot the more you can be okay with what's going on the more relaxed you will become.
If you're fighting it and criticising you're going to keep the resistance and the scattered going.
Six as we exhale.
Again continuing to focus on the counting for another few moments.
And practicing being okay with whatever wandering happens,
Just notice and return.
With a smile if possible.
Soft,
Comfortable breath.
Soft,
Comfortable breath.
So let's release that practice.
And observe how we find ourselves now.
Probably a bit calm and quieter.
But whatever we find,
Let's aspire,
Aim and intend that we are in peace wherever we find ourselves.
It's nothing we would add or take away.
Probably just here.
We're going to take our attention to the centre of our chest.
The centre of our whole being.
Can we rest here?
Nothing to achieve.
Nowhere else to go.
Experiencing ourselves.
However we are in this moment.
If we notice a tendency to want to change it,
But this isn't right,
This is not good enough,
Can we allow that in to be part of us,
Part of our experience?
Embrace it.
It's all you.
And in doing so let it dissolve into the peace.
Let it dissolve into the peace.
Let it dissolve into the peace.
A quiet breathing being.
Each time we surrender to a distraction rather than agreeing with it,
Rather than identifying with it,
We allow it to be part of the experience.
Bring it into the fold and let it go.
Over and over again.
Just like this.
I am at peace just like this.
There's still nonsense and jobs to do,
We're just allowing them to be there.
Allowing it all to be just as it is.
Let's notice now what it's like here.
How we feel here.
How our body feels.
How our mind feels.
What emotions we have.
Our intensity.
We're going to gradually return to our regular waking state but there's no hurry.
And the peace is always there underneath the chatter.
So we'll take a few deeper energizing breaths.
We can visualize that energy running into our body as we inhale.
Running into our arms and legs.
We're going to start to move our body very gently.
Wiggling our fingers and our toes.
Our arms and our legs.
Doing a little stretch wherever we would like to.
When you're ready you can come back into that outside world.
Thank you for practicing with me.
