Come into a comfortable seat,
Either on the edge of a chair with your feet firmly rooted on the ground,
Or a comfortable cross-legged position,
Maybe sitting on a little bit of height,
A folder blanket,
A pillow,
A bolster,
Or a block.
Lift the skin out from under your sit bones,
Feel your sit bones rooting down.
You can even imagine if you'd like that there are roots plugging you into the earth,
Feeling your full weight being supported,
Being held.
In contrast to the heaviness through the lower half of your body,
Now draw the crown of your head toward the ceiling.
Feel length and lightness through the spine.
Allow your palms to rest on your legs,
Palms face up if you feel like you could use some more energy,
Palms face down if you feel like you could use more grounding or stability.
And then gently close the eyes or lower your gaze.
Take a deep inhale in through the nose,
Exhale out through the mouth.
One more deep inhale,
And exhale.
Begin by tuning into your physical body.
Just notice how your body feels.
Notice if there are any spaces of tension or holding.
Allow there to be a space between the top and bottom rows of teeth.
Relax your tongue.
Unfurl the brows.
Become aware of the feeling of air on your skin,
The feeling of your clothes on your skin.
And then keeping your eyes closed,
Begin to sense the space around you,
Sensing your relationship to the floor,
To the ceiling,
To the walls.
Sense your relationship to any doors or windows in the space you're in,
Your relationship to any furniture.
And then begin to sense the space outside the room that you're in,
Opening up your awareness to include more space around you.
And then become aware of any sounds around you in this space.
Instead of trying to block the sound out or push the sounds away,
Welcome every sound in as part of your practice.
You sound as an anchor to ground you in the present moment.
If your mind starts to wander elsewhere,
Just bring it back to what you hear.
And now,
Without trying to change the breath in any way,
See if you can hear your breath in your body.
So begin to shift that outward listening to an inward listening of what's happening in your body right now.
Notice the length of your breath,
The depth,
Whether it feels shallow or deep,
The texture,
And now see if you can pinpoint the origin of the breath.
So where you feel that spark of inhalation in your body.
Where does that seem to live for you?
Begin to notice as you inhale the breath expand and take up space through your body.
And as you exhale,
Feel your breath return to that starting place.
And notice if just by bringing your awareness to the breath,
Notice if it's made the breath longer or smoother.
Join both palms together at heart center,
Anjali Mudra,
Prayer position.
Take three more deep breaths.
As you inhale,
Filling up.
And as you exhale,
Emptying out.
Take a moment to notice how you feel.
Thank you for breathing with me today.
Namaste.
