Namaste.
So just finding that place in your own body where you can settle.
Finding the touch points,
The backs of your thighs,
Sit bones,
Spine,
And your back.
Even noticing where your hands are touching.
Whether clasped,
Interlocked,
Or just resting on your lap.
Seeing how your tongue is placed in your mouth,
Jaw,
Lips,
Eyes,
And holding just enough energy in the body to stay attentive and alert,
But softening everything else.
Softening everything else so you can breathe and the mind can settle.
Sensing into that place where you feel your breath most obviously.
Perhaps it's your belly,
Chest,
Or the nostrils.
Acquainting yourself with the experience of breathing.
Slow.
Wherever you'd like to rest your awareness,
You gently let your attention meet experience,
Whether it's the breath or the body,
Or whispering a phrase or a mantra.
If you'd like to whisper the following statement,
Just softly in your mind,
May I meet this moment fully,
May I meet it as a friend.
Choose that place that works most naturally for you and try to stay there.
Come back when the mind wanders as it will,
Gently and persistently,
And with kindness.
Let's sit for a few minutes together in silence.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Noticing if there's any tension in the body.
Maybe the jaw,
Throat,
Shoulders,
Belly or chest.
See if you can soften that area,
Releasing any tightness or constriction that you can,
Softening your entire body with the help of your breath.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Feel the relaxation that is arising in the body,
Heart and the mind.
Letting that ease,
Letting that stillness be in the forefront.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Letting it support you without making too much effort,
Without striving for any outcome,
But just a meeting and allowing for whatever is here and allowing that stillness and ease to support you,
Letting it permeate over your entire being.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest.
Now,
Drawing the awareness into your heart center,
The area in the center of the chest and the upper back,
Sensing into the state of your heart,
Meeting it just as it is,
Allowing it to belong.
Have the heart be just the heart as we quiet the mind.
Oftentimes,
The heart softens a little bit,
Shows up a little more,
Becomes a little more spacious,
And we'll move this practice into the heart's breath,
If you'd like,
If this is your choice.
And then,
As you inhale,
Drawing in a fresh,
Nurturing breath and energy from every direction,
Drawing it into the heart space.
And if you feel a compulsion to place your hand on your chest or heart,
You can do that if you like.
And allow the felt sense of this heartfelt practice of this heart space really wash all over you.
Breathing in this nurturing breath and energy.
As you exhale back out,
Feel your heart soften,
Become a little more spacious,
Maybe energized.
Just focusing on the cycle of your breath,
Breathing in and out of this heart,
The heart's breath for a few seconds.
May your heart be a fertile place that grows kindness.
Namaste.
