Welcome,
Wherever you are,
However the morning has begun.
Take a moment to arrive here.
There is nothing to prepare for and nothing to get right.
This is simply a few minutes to remember something that was already here before the day started.
Let your body find a comfortable position.
Sitting,
Lying down or even standing at the window with a cup of tea.
Let your shoulders drop a little.
Let your jaw soften.
Settle into this moment.
Take a slow breath in and let it go with a gentle sigh.
Again,
In through the nose.
And out with a little sound of relief if you like.
Ugh.
Now let your breathing find its own rhythm.
You do not have to control it.
It has been breathing you all night.
Without any instructions from you.
Notice the air moving in.
And the air moving out.
Notice the small paws at the bottom of the breath.
Where nothing needs to happen.
Feel the weight of your body being held.
The bed,
The chair,
The floor beneath you.
Something is supporting you completely.
And you do not have to do a thing to earn it.
As you settle.
You might notice the mind already reaching forward into the day.
The list.
The meetings,
The messages waiting.
That is perfectly fine.
Thoughts are just passing through,
Like weather.
Let them come.
And let them go.
You do not need to follow any of them out of the door this morning.
When you notice you have wandered off into the day ahead.
Simply come back.
To the feeling of your breath.
Back to the sound of my voice.
Back to right now.
That is all.
Let me offer you something to consider as we spend this time together.
Before the first thought of the day arrives.
Before you remembered who you were supposed to be.
What you had to do or how you felt about it.
There was a moment.
Of simply being awake.
Quiet.
Clear.
Untroubled.
That quiet has not gone anywhere.
It is not something you have to create this morning.
It is the ground that the whole day will appear on.
Calm is not an achievement you have to work towards.
It is what is here when the noise settles.
The truth is that your true nature.
Is clarity.
And calm.
And love.
It's not something you find at the end of a good morning routine.
It's what's left and you stop looking for it somewhere else.
Take another breath.
And let it be a breath of appreciation.
Not for anything in particular.
Just a feeling of thank you,
Softly rising.
Thank you for this breath.
Thank you for this body that carried you through the night.
Thank you for the light finding its way into the morning.
Notice how appreciation feels in the body.
There may be a little warmth in the chest,
A little lift.
That feeling is not something you have to manufacture.
It's a natural response when the mind is quiet enough to notice what is already good.
The feeling of your day is not decided by what is waiting for you.
It is created from the inside out,
Moment by moment.
Through thought.
When your thinking is quiet and light.
The day looks bright.
When your thinking is busy and heavy.
The very same day looks heavy.
Nothing about the day has changed.
Only the thought passing through.
So there is no need to fix your mood before you begin.
There is no need to get your head in the right place.
You can simply notice.
That the calm underneath is available now.
Before anything has happened.
And let the day come to you from there.
Take a breath and feel the presence of this moment.
Your feet.
Your hands.
The temperature of the air on your skin.
The only place life ever happens is here.
The day will arrive one moment at a time.
And you will only ever meet it now.
Let yourself allow this moment to be exactly as it is.
If there's a little tiredness,
Allow it.
If there's a little excitement,
Allow that too.
Nothing is in the wrong place.
When we stop arguing with how we feel,
The feeling moves through all on its own.
The way a cloud crosses the sky.
Imagine if you like that this morning you are simply tuning into yourself.
The way you might tune a radio.
Not by pushing or straining.
Is by letting the static settle until the clear signal is heard.
It was always playing.
You only had to become quiet enough to hear it.
Feel the lightness that comes when you stop trying to make anything happen.
A feeling of ease.
A feeling of being in flow with life rather than pushing against it.
This feeling is your natural state.
It is closer than you think.
Take a gentle breath in and as you breathe out,
Let go of any sense that you have to be somewhere else or someone else this morning.
Now let the day open in your mind.
Without planning it.
Just let it be there in the background.
Notice that from this quiet place everything looks a little simpler.
The decisions feel less heavy.
The people feel less like problems.
There is more space around everything.
That is not because you have done anything clever.
It is because you have remembered.
Where you are looking from.
As we come towards the end.
Take a few more breaths in your own time.
Feel your body.
Feel the breath.
Feel the quiet that is still here even as I speak.
When you are ready.
Begin to move your fingers and toes.
Perhaps a little gentle stretch.
When you open your eyes,
Let your gaze be soft.
As you step into the morning,
Remember that you can return to this feeling at any moment of the day.
All it takes is a breath.
A moment of presence and a little appreciation for what is already here.
The calm is with you.
It always has been.
A beautiful morning.
