What if your body didn't have to brace for what's next,
Instead you meet the next moment with grace?
Settle into your space,
Inhale softly,
Let an audible sound out.
Inhale again.
Now exhale longer.
Notice where your body is meeting the surface beneath it.
Let yourself sink in a bit deeper.
Feel your weight moving downward.
Can you sense the support beneath you?
If you have back support,
Can you lean back a bit more?
Can you let yourself receive the sense of support that is available right now?
And can you feel the weight of your body against this support?
Now adjust your body in a way that allows you to distribute your weight a bit more evenly on your bum if you're seated and on both of your feet if you're standing.
Bring your attention to the top middle of your head,
Right at the crown.
Imagine there's a string attached there.
And now imagine the small beard comes in and gently pull that string up towards the ceiling.
Not forcing,
Especially if you identify as an overachiever,
Let that be soft and steady.
Let it be subtle.
See if that lift can create length all the way down through your neck,
Down through your upper back,
Your mid back and your lower back.
Can you feel this length?
Now can you relax into it?
Let that pull hold you instead of you trying to hold yourself.
Let your tendency for gripping and trying soften.
Let your system receive support.
Let yourself rest here.
This is what I call the posture of neutrality.
This is where you can access the most I am energy.
Where you don't need to perform or hide.
You let yourself show up as you are.
Take another soft breath in and a long exhale out.
Do that two more times.
And now think about what's coming up next in your day.
Maybe the next task on your to-do list.
Maybe the next meeting.
Maybe the next project.
As you bring next into awareness,
Watch what your spine does.
Do you go into extension like preparing for war?
Rib flaring up,
Chest lifting.
A subtle armor that says I am ready.
Or do you shrink?
Collapsing a little.
Making yourself smaller.
Or maybe something else.
A quiet apology in your spine.
A posture that asks permission to exist.
Whatever shows up,
Let it be an insight for you.
Now gently remember the posture of neutrality that we started from.
And can you return back to that gently and softly?
Can you let the effort soften again?
Now ask yourself,
What would fight without a war look like in my body?
What would it feel like to have strength without bracing?
To have readiness without armor?
To have boundaries without tension?
Now ask,
What would it be like to let myself be?
Without censoring.
Without performing.
Without overcorrecting.
Just letting yourself be.
Exactly as you are right now.
If you notice yourself drifting back into extension,
Straightening up or rounding your posture,
That's okay.
Our posture is meant to travel a range of extension and flexion.
That's how a healthy posture works.
Like a healthy nervous system that gets to activate and soften.
Our posture is not limited to muscles and bones.
It's the story of our lived experience.
It shows how we learned to adapt in order to belong to our family,
To our culture,
To the larger systems we were born into.
So many of us have natural tendencies that we learn from a very young age.
Allow the posture of neutrality to be a place that you get to rest in more often.
Maybe have a reminder on your phone,
Around your home or in your office to remind you to find a posture that allows more ease.
Now take another soft breath in and a relaxed exhale out.
And bring gentle little motions back to your body.
Open your eyes if they were closed and look around the room that you've been in.
Thank you for joining me on the path of unconditioning.
I am Hedi and I'll see you in the next one.
