Let's begin by finding a comfortable seated position.
Letting your feet rest on the floor.
Let your hands rest in your lap or against your thighs.
Let your spine feel long and spacious but not too rigid.
And then when you feel ready you can let your eyes close or just let your eyes rest on a point out in front of you,
Allowing your gaze to soften.
And we'll begin by just noticing what is going on inside of you.
Just tuning into the state of your heart in this moment.
Sensing into your general mood or emotional state.
And see if you can notice what is going on without needing to change it or judge it.
Just noticing and allowing.
And now begin to lengthen your inhale and lengthen your exhale.
Just gradually letting your breath become more spacious,
More full,
Deep.
With each inhale see if you can direct the breath into the belly,
Letting the belly soften.
And with each exhale see if you can release any tension in the body.
Just sensing if there's any place within you that feels ready to let go,
Relax.
And just continue with your own breathing,
Taking these slow deep breaths.
Letting your chest be open,
Your spine long.
And with each inhale softening and expanding the belly.
And with each exhale softening a little more.
With these deep breaths we're creating space for whatever is here to be here.
Whatever is happening in this present moment,
Whether it's the sounds around us or the energy that we feel within or our thoughts and mind activity,
The breath creates space for it all to be here.
And now you can let go of this controlled deep breathing and just let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
And softening your forehead and your shoulders.
And soften your hands.
And seeing if you can feel into the sensations within the hands,
Maybe tingling,
Warmth or coolness.
And now softening all the way down the legs and into the feet.
Feeling the pressure of the feet against the floor.
And sensing the inner aliveness here in the feet.
Buzzing or tingling.
Are the feet cool or warm?
And now let your awareness come back to the breath.
Maybe resting with the sensations of the breath as it moves in and out of the nose.
Or maybe the rise and fall of the belly or the chest.
And as you let your awareness be here with the breath,
Sense if there's anything that's making it difficult right now for the heart to soften.
Maybe there's fear,
Anger or sadness that's present.
Maybe you're not quite sure what it is but you can feel some sort of tension or armor around the heart.
So just sense into whatever you feel able to right now.
Letting your attention stay with the breath and the sensations in the body.
And just creating space for your experience to be whatever it is.
Feeling into it fully.
And if the experience feels overwhelming,
Then let it go.
Inviting yourself back to the breath.
Letting go of the need to stay present with the emotional experience.
And then if you feel ready you can always come back.
And now just sense if the heart is ready to soften a little more.
And if it's not,
That's okay.
You just come back to allowing.
Come back to creating space for the experience.
Or just coming back to the breath.
You might imagine the breath moving in and out of the heart.
With each exhale you might sense yourself softening,
Relaxing more.
And if not,
Then just being with what's here.
So there's this back and forth between softening and then resting with what's here.
And consistently checking in with yourself.
Do you feel ready to soften more?
Or does it feel better to just allow?
And letting the breath be a guide into your experience.
And letting it be a companion as you sense into whatever you're feeling.
And as we close I'd like to share a poem by Dorothy Hunt.
Do you think peace requires an end to war?
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from your boss?
Your spouse?
Yourself?
Do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than now?
And some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgment.
That is all.
This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking that it should be some other way.
That you should feel some other thing.
That your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgment.
This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome.
