Okay.
All right,
Well,
Let's just come into this space together and take your seat.
You can be seated on a cushion with your legs crossed loosely in front of you and your hands resting gently on your thighs,
Or you can be seated on a chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground,
Resting your hands on your thighs.
Really,
We're just looking for a seat where you feel comfortable and one that you respect.
Just start to bring your attention inwards,
Noticing what's happening within the body right now,
Checking in with yourself a little bit.
What mood are you in right now?
In whatever mood you're in,
Just see if you can allow that mood to be here,
Welcoming whatever is here today,
And bringing your attention to the top of the head,
Seeing if we can soften the top of the head.
Smoothing out the eyebrows,
Relaxing the forehead,
Letting the eyes be heavy,
Seeing if we can let go of the jaw a little bit,
Maybe putting a slight smile to the mouth,
Relaxing the ears,
Softening the neck,
Relaxing the muscles around the throat,
And maybe tucking the chin slightly,
Just feeling the stretch in the back of the neck as well,
Letting the shoulders relax back and down,
Almost as if they're melting down the back,
Feeling the weight of the hands,
Letting them be heavy,
Softening in the chest,
And seeing if you can just let the belly go,
Just let it hang out,
Think of it as a soft belly,
And relaxing the muscles in the legs,
Noticing the feet,
Seeing if you can soften the toes,
Noticing the whole body,
Sensations within,
Not judging or evaluating anything that's here,
Seeing if we can allow whatever sensations are coming up,
Maybe there's tingling,
Throbbing,
Stabbing pains,
Whatever's here,
And seeing if just for this moment,
We can allow it,
Starting to notice the breath,
Maybe it's at the nostrils,
Maybe noticing it at the chest or the belly,
Again,
We're just observing our breath and noticing,
Following it all the way up to the inhale,
And following it all the way out on the exhale,
Seeing if we can receive the breath in a soft belly,
And we'll spread,
And if the mind starts to wander,
That's okay,
Just notice where your attention is,
If your attention is drifted,
And it's caught in a story or a thought,
And just say thank you for sharing,
Thinking,
And gently return to the breath,
Just re-engaging with this moment here,
Softening the belly again,
Seeing about receiving the breath in a softening belly,
It doesn't matter how many times you may need to refocus,
This is really the practice beginning again,
Noticing we're caught up,
And gently guiding ourselves back to this moment now,
The in-breath and the out-breath,
And if any strong emotions start to arise,
You can turn your attention towards them,
Just starting to notice what happens when you bring your attention towards maybe discomfort or strong sensation or emotion,
Not pushing any of it away,
Just nurturing it almost like you would a little puppy,
And when the emotion is no longer as strong,
You can see about returning your attention back to the breath,
And a day like this for the next five minutes,
And I'll keep track of the time,
Noticing that the attention is drifted,
And if it has,
Just re-engaging with the breath,
Any emotion,
And beginning to notice now if there's any places within that may need your attention,
And you can gently bring your hand to your heart,
Turning towards yourself,
Wherever you may need your attention right now,
And just offering a gentle wish or thoughts or a caring phrase to yourself right now,
And bringing this now outward into your community,
Into the world at large,
Just sending a wish,
Or a nurturing phrase,
Or a caring thought,
And you can return the hand back down,
Taking the attention off of the breath,
Off of any words,
And sitting here in the stillness,
Your attention isn't on anything,
You're just here,
Begin to notice the sounds around you,
And start to take some deeper breaths,
Circling the wrist,
Rolling the shoulders,
Circling the head,
Stretching out the space,
And slowly bringing the eyes open,
Just noticing the shapes and the colors,
Coming back.
I hope that was comfortable,
And this practice today was really so that we can start to notice our distractions,
Bring ourselves back into the present moment,
And just knowing that we can always access the present moment through sensation,
Through our breath,
Even in challenging situations,
We can find our breath,
We can find our feet,
We can find our hands,
We can find our belly,
So I just encourage you today to pay attention to in your conversations,
When you're finding yourself scattered or distracted or caught,
Just notice that you're caught and see if you can gently bring yourself back into the present moment so that you can begin again.
So,
All right,
Thank you for being here.
