And take a moment to set up and make yourself comfortable.
Adjust the body into a relaxed position.
Allow your eyes to soften closed.
Take a deep inhale.
And as you exhale,
Feel yourself settling into stillness.
Another big inhale.
And exhale.
Feel your whole body relax.
Continue to breathe,
Calm and slow.
And we'll open this practice with the following intention.
You can repeat silently to yourself after the voice.
I am calm,
Centered and balanced within myself.
I am in peace and harmony with the world around me.
And take a moment to feel into and embody that intention.
Hidden beneath the surface of life's busyness,
Noise and chaos,
There's a calm,
Peaceful stillness.
Stillness is the underlying riverbed upon which the river of life flows.
In the exterior of a tornado,
There's chaos and catastrophe.
Yet in its center,
The eye of the storm,
There's stillness.
The surface of a pond is at the will of the weather and rain above.
Yet at its depths,
The pond remains calm and still.
A tree blows wildly with the wind and yet,
At its roots,
Remains firm and perfectly still.
This same calm,
Peace and stillness lives in the very center,
The middle of you.
Life may be filled with busyness and chaos and it's easy to get pulled out into the storm.
But if you can go within and anchor into your center,
You can navigate the winds and waves of life from a calm,
Clear,
Centered place within you.
So let's practice now,
Bringing our attention from the noise of the outside world and into the deep stillness that lives within you.
So now,
Start to notice all the sounds that surround you.
Bring your attention from sound to sound.
No need to judge or analyze the sounds.
Simply notice them,
One by one.
And now,
Bring your awareness closer to yourself,
To your entire physical body,
Seated or lying down.
Become aware of the points of contact between your body and the surface beneath you.
Feel the sensations on the skin,
The temperature of the air,
Feel the touch of your clothes.
Now,
Bring your awareness inside yourself.
Start to notice the natural rise and fall of your breathing.
Feel the belly rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale.
Continue to watch the rise and fall of your breathing.
Start to notice the stillness between the breaths.
Without holding or straining,
Feel the natural pause at the top of the inhale and the natural pause at the bottom of the exhale.
Continue to focus on these moments of stillness between the breaths.
And now,
Bring your awareness to the space between the eyebrows.
Focus on this space.
Allow whatever arises in your mind,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Ideas or memories.
Allow them to come and allow them to go.
No need to judge or change your thoughts.
Simply watch them.
Continue to focus on the space between the eyebrows.
And start to notice the silence that exists between the thoughts.
The silence from where all thoughts arise.
Continue to focus on the silence between and beneath the thoughts.
Each time you notice your mind wrapped up into a thought or a memory,
Simply notice that and bring your attention back to the space between the eyebrows.
Coming back to the inner stillness.
Notice the silence between and beneath the thoughts.
Now,
Take a deep breath.
And remember that this peace and calm,
This stillness and silence exist in you.
Even when your mind gets noisy and life gets busy,
This calming stillness lives in the middle of you as a portable paradise that you bring with you wherever you go.
May you bring this awareness,
This peace and calm with you into the rest of your day.
Namaste.
