So finding a comfortable position and closing your eyes,
Taking a deep breath,
And just starting to bring to mind whatever challenge or emotion,
Fear,
Discomfort,
Whatever is calling for your love and attention most right now.
Starting to bring to mind,
If you want to imagine a scenario,
Starting to connect viscerally,
As viscerally as possible,
With what's here to be worked with.
You have permission to think.
You have permission to rant,
If you want to,
In your own head,
And complain.
Whatever helps you connect with this feeling.
Sulk.
Whine.
And now starting to come into the body,
Feeling the body sitting here,
Drifting your attention down to your feet,
Feeling your feet,
And just slowly scanning up through the different parts of your body,
Starting to get to know what's happening here,
Feeling your feet,
Calves and shins,
Knees,
Upper legs,
Hips,
Stomach,
And low back.
Stomach and low back,
Upper torso,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Wrists,
Hands,
Feeling the neck and the head,
Face.
And starting to recognize,
Where in the body is my attention needed?
Where is this emotion or challenge showing itself?
And allowing your attention to drift there.
And if it's not immediately clear where to go,
You can just stay with the general sense of the body.
And if something comes up,
Even if you're unsure,
You can shift your attention.
And starting to recognize the sensations that are present in this part of your body.
Bringing in curiosity.
What does this feel like?
And welcoming it.
Allowing whatever is here to be here.
And even if the sensations are a bit uncomfortable,
Unusual,
Reflecting inwardly,
Can I be with this?
Can I just let it be?
Holding your attention with the sensation.
Allowing it to be here.
Noticing what's happening.
Are the sensations static?
Or if you start to pay closer attention,
You might notice there is some movement.
There is some gradient to whatever you're feeling.
Staying here.
If at any point,
The original sensation starts to move,
Please follow to where your body is calling you.
It may take you to a completely different corner of the body.
Moment to moment,
Can I be with this?
Can I be with this?
Moment to moment,
Can I be with this?
Can I just let this be here?
Not trying to change it.
Not trying to force it.
Not trying to fix it.
Not trying to analyze it.
If it's feeling difficult or intense,
Something you can do to support this process is to open your attention a little bit.
So maybe if you have sensation in the chest,
Just starting to widen and feel the space as far as your shoulders,
Even outside of your shoulders.
So still having the sensation in your awareness,
But expanding the scope a little bit to give it some more space.
Letting yourself breathe.
Letting yourself feel.
Maybe even noticing that the charge has started to dissipate as you've given it some space and attention.
Maybe noticing the discomfort,
Tension,
Starting to dissolve a bit.
Maybe not.
Maybe it's still as strong.
Maybe it's stronger.
Whatever's here is right.
Just noticing,
Welcoming,
Allowing,
And we're going to start to move into the I and to investigate.
So reflecting,
Asking inwardly,
What is it that I can do to help?
Asking inwardly,
What's here that's keeping me stuck?
What am I thinking or believing that's keeping me stuck?
And giving some space for thoughts,
A story to arise.
And then dropping back into the body and noticing what's here.
Again,
If the sensations have shifted,
Please feel free to follow them.
If they're in the same place,
Just noticing,
Just allowing.
Reflecting inwardly,
What am I holding on to?
What am I in resistance to?
What am I trying to fix or force that is causing me this suffering?
Noticing what arises,
What intuitions or wisdom from within.
And then coming back to the body,
Noticing what's here.
Finally,
Reflecting,
Who would I be if I let go?
Would I be if I let go of what I'm holding on to?
What I'm trying to resist,
Fix.
Coming back to the body,
Noticing what's here.
And then moving into the N of RAIN,
The nurture.
Starting with an inquiry,
What would be most supportive right now?
What can I offer to myself that would be nourishing to this difficulty?
You can put a hand on your heart or a hand wherever there may be sensations that you're sensations that you're working with.
Actively supporting and nourishing our physiology.
We can create oxytocin within ourselves the same way that a mother's touch offers it to a child.
We can,
Through our own loving touch and loving intention,
Offer that.
So really feeling into the gentle,
Caring nature of your own touch.
Whatever sensations or hurt is still present,
Really breathing deeply and intentionally into that.
Maybe starting to influence and extend ever so subtly the breath and offering some loving words of encouragement to yourself.
Something along the lines of,
It's okay.
It's okay to feel this way.
I know this is hard.
I'm here for you.
We're going to get through this.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Really taking this time to be with yourself.
To offer yourself the love that you desire and deserve.
And now finally opening your attention back to the body sitting here.
And starting to widen the lens of your attention to open up into the space.
Starting to hear sounds.
And connecting with the quiet in between the sounds.
Really feeling the spaciousness as a gateway to resting after the rain.
In awareness itself.
Feeling into the spaciousness of the quiet.
And it's as if your eyes were looking back in on themselves.
Just dropping back into the blankness of your present awareness.
And just resting here,
Allowing sensations to come and go.
And just relaxing.
If you find yourself grabbing onto a thought or a sensation,
Seeing if you can let that go and just back up.
Widen,
Widen,
Widen.
Infinitely widen the lens of your attention.
Just resting in this spaciousness.
Nothing to do.
And now slowly coming back to the room.
Coming back to the body.
Checking in with yourself.
Just noticing whatever shifts may have occurred.
Being okay if there haven't been any shifts.
But taking note if there's maybe a softening.
Feeling more in your body.
Feeling more present.
Just appreciating that.
But most importantly just appreciating your effort and your choice to deepen your connection with yourself.
Even though it can be uncomfortable.
There's a beauty in that.
There's a generosity in that.
For yourself,
As we've discussed,
For your loved ones.
Just smiling.
Also affects your physiology,
Your posture.
Bringing a smile to your face can release a little bit of endorphins.
And as you're ready,
You can slowly but surely open your eyes.
And take a few moments to just look around the room.
And really notice the freshness in your gaze as you arrive back into the space.
Give yourself a nice little stretch or a sip of water.
Pat on the back.
Move slowly.
