Take some time to rest your weary bones.
Allow yourself to settle.
Allow yourself a moment to pause.
You've spent your day holding it all together.
Pushing it away.
Trying to just get through the next moment.
Allow your breath to come just as it is.
No need to change it.
No need to deepen it.
Just notice.
Feel free to take some time to settle yourself.
To make those little adjustments that allow you to feel settled in this moment.
You might choose to close your eyes or soften your gaze.
You might notice the subtle rise and fall.
Or gentle movements through your body.
Or the sensation of air brushing your nostrils as you breathe in and out.
If breath is something you don't feel comfortable connecting with today,
That's okay too.
You can anchor your awareness in the sounds.
Or the feeling of your body resting and supported.
If it feels okay,
We're going to start to bring awareness to the area in your body where you're holding pain.
You might initially just bring it to the edge of your awareness.
There may be an instinct to pull away,
To wince,
To not fully want to attend to it.
And that's okay too.
You might feel as if it amplifies when you bring your awareness to it.
See if you can play with bringing your attention to the edge of the sensation.
Maybe you notice it has a shape,
Or a color,
Or even an image associated with it.
Imagine it like a shape on the inner landscape.
The sensation is here.
It's real.
But it's not the whole of you.
It's not the whole of your inner landscape.
Imagine it not as a wall,
But as something surrounded by space.
Something surrounded by the rest of the picture of that inner landscape.
Can you imagine like a river flowing around it?
Just gently flowing,
Touching the outer edges of that shape on the landscape.
And the water of your awareness just keeps flowing around it and by it.
If at any point it feels too much,
Bring your attention to a part of your body that feels okay.
Maybe it's a little finger,
Or a big toe,
Or an arm.
And then gently guide your attention back to that river.
The river of your awareness flowing around the shape.
You can gently move your attention back and forth in this way.
From a place that feels okay in your body,
To that image of the awareness like a river flowing around the shape of your pain.
Notice how it feels to do that,
To allow that kind of gentle movement to and from the sensation.
If the sensation is overwhelming,
Gently allow your focus to widen as if the river was bending a bit more broadly.
You can allow your attention to drift towards your hands or the sounds in the room.
And the feeling of your body supported.
You don't necessarily need to go deeper into the pain to heal it.
You get to choose every moment where your attention rests.
You can say to yourself now,
I have the capacity to feel this,
And I am allowed to rest from it too.
I have the capacity to feel this,
And I am allowed to rest from it too.
Now invite your attention gently back to the area of the body where you are feeling pain or discomfort.
Just notice.
You might silently say,
I feel you,
I am listening.
I feel you,
I am listening.
Notice if there is anything your pain would like to say to you.
Does it have something to share?
Does it feel validated by your acknowledgement?
Imagine the outer edges gently softening as if the river was ever so gently smoothing out the edges.
Not with force,
But with time and consistent,
Gentle flow.
There may be tension,
There may be pressure,
You may notice a lot of sensation.
Remember you can gently back away,
Broaden the banks of the river,
Or extend them.
Let your breath meet it,
Not to make it disappear,
But to make space around it.
You might say to yourself now,
I don't need to hold this so tightly.
I can soften,
Even here.
I don't need to hold this so tightly.
I can soften,
Even here.
Notice if anything has shifted even slightly.
Maybe not the pain itself,
But the way you are holding around it.
You might gently speak to yourself now.
This pain is real,
And so is my capacity to meet it with care.
This pain is real,
And so is my capacity to meet it with care.
I can soften,
I can stay,
I can choose to rest from it too.
When you're ready,
Gently wiggle your fingers,
Your toes.
Bring your attention back to this moment,
To your room,
To the support you feel.
Thank yourself for taking the time.
Thank your body for holding it all for you.
And thank you for joining me in this practice today.
Be well.
