Expand Inner Calm | Breathing & Meditation | 20-Mins

So I'm assuming you have arrived in the perfect position for your practice today.

Start by allowing the physical form,

Your body,

To settle and land.

Notice if there's any parts of your body that are finding it hard to arrive and simply allow softness to take its place.

Noticing the hips starting to gravitate a little bit more.

Noticing the feet,

The legs,

The hands,

The shoulders,

The jaw.

Settling and softening with each moment that passes now.

If you are seated today,

Allowing a lovely length to generate up through the length of the spine without creating too much tightness,

Allowing spaciousness to take its place through the length of the spine.

If you are seated,

There's a slight tuck of the jaw to feel openness through the back of the neck.

And even if you're lying down,

You could experience that too.

A slight tuck of the jaw toward the chest so you can feel that openness in the back of the neck.

Now that you feel your physical body starting to arrive,

Why not allow the physical body some deep,

Supportive breaths in through the nose and you might wash out the breath through the mouth today.

Take two more of those arrival breaths just for you.

And as you do so,

Honouring this time for your well-being.

Honouring this time for an expanded sense of calm from deep within.

Knowing that it is possible to alter your inner world through these inner practices.

And before we journey inward even more,

Allowing the lips to seal if you haven't already.

And simply breathing now through the nose.

As you breathe in and out through the nose,

Simply become aware of the breath that is here.

And then if there's a paciness or an edginess to the breath,

Can you slowly start to alter that so that it's more round,

Slow and smooth?

How would it feel to breathe in a calm way?

Noticing the breath entering through the nose,

Expanding the ribs,

Maybe even the stomach.

And then releasing the same way,

With every breath allowing calm to be present.

Letting any worries,

Fears,

Pressures,

Doubts that might have been with you over the last day or week to just be put on pause.

They're not needed here.

Tuning into your breath is nothing else that matters than tuning into your breath right now.

And from here we're going to find a breathing pattern together.

This breathing pattern is simply breathing in for a count of four,

And breathing out for a count of four.

Equal,

Measured breath,

Balanced and stable.

This is the practice for the next few moments.

Can you be with it and can you fully explore how it can support you by being present to the breath?

In for four and out for four.

Nothing more,

Nothing less.

Just 60 more seconds of our equal breath.

In and out.

Try not to overcomplicate it for the last 60 seconds.

Simply let the breath move through you.

And then in the next few moments,

Allowing yourself to return to a natural breath.

Easy and fluid.

Free and easy.

And as you do so,

We're going to start to awaken some of our senses.

And when we do this,

I invite you to simply observe without judgment,

Without bias,

If it's good or if it's bad.

See if you can simply observe and notice.

Notice what happens when you give yourself permission to do that.

To step out of the judgment space and into the role of observer.

Let's begin with the sense of sound.

Can you find the furthest sound away from you?

Maybe it's out of the room or the building.

And then can you locate a sound in your space?

Maybe there's a few that are coming through.

Just become aware of them.

And then can you become aware of a sound within yourself?

Maybe that's the sound of your breath.

Maybe it's a sound of your heart beating.

Observe.

And now what would happen if you take in the whole of your soundscape as one?

Collective background track.

Just listening in as if the track had been pre-recorded,

Pre-ordained.

You're simply listening in.

Nicely done.

If you haven't already today,

Perhaps thanking your sense of sound for all the sounds that it brings into your world,

Into your life,

Into your experience.

And then we let that dissolve.

And we tune in to the sense of sight,

Even with the eyes closed.

What do you see?

Any shapes,

Any colours,

Patterns?

For the next few moments,

Simply observe.

And then allowing yourself to feel a seed of gratitude for your sense of sight.

For all that your eyes and your vision brings into your life.

Everything that you've seen and are to see through these two vessels are eyes.

And allowing that to dissolve.

Awakening now your sense of taste.

Without judgement,

You might feel like swallowing or sensing your tongue or your mouth.

And noticing if there is any taste present.

Perhaps there's not so much a taste,

But maybe you feel a sense of colour or a texture.

And again,

Taking a moment to appreciate your taste buds.

All the tastes you have experienced and are still to experience.

Through our sense of taste.

And if you have ever lost your sense of taste,

Thanking your taste for returning.

And then letting that dissolve.

Go ahead and take an inhale through the nose and awaken your sense of smell.

Any aroma in the air,

On you,

That you can sense.

Again,

No judgement.

All is welcome.

As an observer,

All is welcome.

Allowing your breath to be smooth and steady as you acknowledge your sense of smell.

And acknowledging the gift of smell.

All of those scents that you have experienced and are yet to experience.

If you've ever lost your sense of smell,

Even more expanded gratitude for having it now.

And then letting that dissolve.

And finally,

Our sense of touch is awakened.

Through the surface of your skin,

You simply become aware of the atmosphere around you.

Perhaps of the clothes that are ordained on the body.

And I ask you to also notice the parts of your body that are touching one another.

It might only be very subtle,

Between fingers or between underarm,

Toes.

Just notice the parts of you that are in contact.

And you might choose to illuminate those parts visually with a colour.

And thanking the sense of touch.

To feel the embrace of a loved one.

To sense the coolness or warmth of the air,

The breeze.

The feeling of the water against your skin when you go for a swim or a shower.

Thank you,

Sense of touch,

For all that you have given me and all that is to come.

And then allow that sense to be put back into the background.

I now invite you to awaken all of your senses together.

Sound,

Sight,

Taste,

Smell.

How does it feel to be tuned into all of your senses at the same time?

To observe what it's like to be here and now through these senses.

Observe.

And as you observe your senses,

You take a nod of gratitude once again.

For your human experience.

That you get to enjoy life through these senses.

As this human sitting or lying here right now.

On this big floating planet.

We get to enjoy that today.

In all its tones and textures.

Our humanity is what makes us real.

Connected.

Present.

And with that gratitude swelling in the chest and that perspective starting to smile upon the horizon.

Start to deepen your breath once again.

And for the last 60 seconds of practice,

I invite you to either do a gentle body scan through your body.

Or simply stay with the presence of your breath.

Self-guided for the next 60 seconds.

See how you go.

Nicely done.

Start to deepen the breath even more from here.

And as you breathe in,

You bring a sense of vitality in through the body.

And as you breathe out,

Calmness imbues your center.

The deepest part of you.

Breathing in,

Vitality moves through you.

Breathing out,

Calmness imbues you.

And when the time is right for you,

You might start to bring a little bit of gentle movement into the toes,

Into the fingers.

Maybe the neck rolls if you're lying down.

It might feel good to take a full body stretch.

And when you're ready,

The eyes can start to open.