Welcome.
Start by settling into a comfortable seat.
Giving yourself permission to make any shifting or movements that you need to be more comfortable.
As you settle in,
Become aware of your breath.
The flow of air into the body on inhale.
The flow of air out of the body on exhale.
As you become aware of the breath,
Without efforting too much,
Let's start to even the breath out.
Sama Vritti Pranayama.
So if you inhale for a certain number of counts,
Allow yourself to exhale for an equal number of counts.
The length of the inhale is equal to the length of your exhale and vice versa.
And allow whatever length of breath you choose to be something manageable,
Something easy.
This is not your fullest breath.
Equal inhale,
Equal exhale.
Just a couple more rounds of this even breathing.
And then allow yourself to become aware of sounds.
Starting with sounds furthest away from you.
Sounds outside of the room that you're in,
Maybe outside of the building that you're in.
Now you don't have to spend time identifying what the sound is.
Just be aware of the fact that you do hear it.
Holding the sound in your awareness.
Then become aware of sounds closer by.
Sounds within the room that you are seated in,
The space that you're in.
You may even be able to hear your own breathing.
Again we're not identifying what the sounds are.
We're just holding them in our awareness.
So there's an idea that everything in the universe wants to be acknowledged.
With that in mind,
Having acknowledged sound,
We can now turn our awareness away from sound and it's less inclined to be a distraction to us.
So going further inward,
Become aware of the points of contact your body makes with the ground or chair.
Then become aware of the points of contact your body is making with clothing.
Then become aware of the points of contact your body is making with other body parts.
The toes touching,
Your hands resting on your thighs,
The underarm resting against the sides of your body,
Where the lips meet,
The tongue resting in your mouth,
And the eyelids coming together.
Then become aware of the temperature of the air on the exposed surfaces of your skin.
Then become aware of the diffused light coming in through your eyelids.
Become aware of sight.
And then bring your awareness to your sense of smell.
Even if you're not picking up on anything,
Be aware of smell.
And then please become aware of your sense of taste.
And then become aware of the flutter of the breath at the base of your nostrils.
Inhale and exhale.
And then become aware the sensation of the breath within your nostrils.
You may notice that there's a difference in sensation between the inhale and the exhale.
You may also notice that one nostril is more open or closed than the other,
And that's fine.
And then become aware of the sensation of your breath at your throat.
Again,
That sensation might change between the inhale and exhale.
Simply be aware of it.
And then become aware of the breath manifesting within your body,
Feeling the lungs fill as you inhale,
The rib cage expanding,
And feeling the lungs empty with your exhale,
The rib cage contracting.
The body filling with air on inhale,
The body emptying on exhale.
And then with your next inhale,
See if you can invite into the body 10% more air.
Just expanding your capacity a little bit,
And allowing your exhale to match that.
Just allowing in a deeper,
Fuller breath.
And then with your next inhale,
See if you can invite into the body 10% more air.
Just expanding your capacity a little bit,
And allowing in a deeper,
Fuller breath.
Please hear your name in your head,
And bring your awareness to that point at the center of your brain.
And from there,
Begin to be aware of your thoughts as if they were on a movie screen,
And you were simply watching them.
Allowing yourself to be curious and open to whatever might come across your mind.
Be aware of your thoughts.
If you find yourself trying to change a thought,
Or if you find yourself being critical of a thought,
Just sit back and allow yourself just to simply be curious about what's there without having to change it or judge it.
Some points of curiosity for you.
Do my thoughts move quickly or slowly?
Do themes seem to repeat themselves,
Or are the thoughts more novel?
Do the thoughts seem linear,
Or more random?
Watching the thoughts.
Again,
If you find yourself getting involved with a thought,
Just sit back and just watch.
If you find yourself getting taken away by a thought,
Again,
Just sit back and just watch it.
As if your thoughts were on a movie screen,
You're simply observing.
And then become aware of the one who is watching your thoughts.
A part of you that is able to simply observe and witness your consciousness without judging it.
If anything,
It's compassionate.
It's also calm.
Become aware of your witnessing consciousness.
A part of you that's able to witness the landscape of your mind from a grounded place of equanimity,
Compassion,
Calmness.
From a place that only knows peace.
No matter how much things might shift and change in the world,
This part of you stays steady.
The witnessing self.
And from this witnessing self,
Please bring to mind something that you are grateful for.
It can be anything.
And usually the first thing that pops into your mind is the right one for today's practice.
And then once you have it,
Allow yourself to feel grateful for it.
And more than that,
Where do you feel that gratitude in your body?
See if you can locate it.
And then feeling that gratitude for that one thing,
So grateful,
So thankful that it exists,
That's there for us.
Allow the feeling of gratitude to expand within you like light from that source point.
Allow that light to permeate into your internal organs,
Your muscles,
Your bones,
Tendons,
Into every cell of your body until you are a light with this feeling of gratitude.
Feeling the gratitude expand within you.
And at the heart of that feeling,
You sense a grounded peace.
Calm,
Centered,
Unshakable peace.
And staying connected to that feeling within you,
Feel the breath moving in your body again.
And then as you're ready,
Take a deeper,
Fuller breath.
And then take your time to slowly bring yourself back to the space around you.
And take your time,
Especially as you reintegrate into your world.
Thank you for practicing today.
Namaste.
