Hello everyone and welcome to this mindful moment.
I invite you to find a comfortable seat,
Gather yourself and adjust as needed.
Beginning to become aware of the breath and not changing it but just noticing and see if you can become 5% more comfortable in your position of choice.
Let the shoulders drop,
Let your brow soften,
Relax the jaw and then allow your exhale to release.
In this moment begin to feel into your body,
Noticing what is present.
Sensations,
Temperature,
Tension,
Pain.
Come aware of places that might be asking for a little more attention.
As we breathe we will invite the breath to move in those areas and on each exhale see if we can lovingly ask those places to soften,
Release,
Release.
Allowing the breath to be rhythmic,
Your rhythm.
Notice the temperature of the air as it enters through your nose.
Notice how as you exhale the body naturally responds to the air leaving the body and inviting a softness to the exhale.
Sinking further into yourself and this moment as it presents.
On your inhale noticing what expands,
What lifts like a wave coming onto the shore and then going back into the ocean.
There is a rise and a fall.
Continue to keep the jaw and the tongue soft,
Relaxing the eyes,
Allowing your teeth to separate.
Allow your hair,
Your hair,
Each follicle to relax.
Let your scalp be soft.
Notice that as your body continues to relax that you are also being held by your strong structure in your spine and your bones.
Being held on the surface of which you are sitting or lying down.
Being held by the earth.
Sometimes we are so strong,
Protected and even forceful or rigid in our daily lives from our busy schedules and the tension that is often created from challenging circumstances with the people in our lives,
Our jobs,
Or inner struggles that we might be facing.
We tend to hold this tension in our bodies and it becomes our normal state.
But as we soften,
We are still strong.
But our strength comes from our ability to soften rather than tense.
To feel into our bodies rather than resist what we're feeling.
We invite an inner calm,
Even if it's only for one breath.
Finding our center as best we can in those challenging moments.
That one breath can become a gateway to noticing the trigger,
The tension,
Rigidity,
And pressure that we may feel.
The breath gives us a place of observation,
Noticing what is happening in our internal world based off of external circumstances.
We might begin to notice that the tension is not who we are,
It's what we're experiencing.
If we can separate just by one breath the experience,
It might lead us to a second breath and a third,
A pause,
A softening.
In that softening,
We realize our inner strength,
Our inner courage.
Through this,
Often our inner wisdom,
Our intuition,
Has an opening to speak to us.
We might in that moment,
If we can breathe and soften,
Hear the voice without the resistance to it.
We practice this now as best we can in this moment.
We practice what it feels like to soften,
To trust.
For some of us,
It takes courage to even sit for these few moments at an attempt to feel into our bodies that might be so often triggered.
It is a practice,
Moment per moment,
Breath per breath.
Breathe in,
Exhale and soften.
Know that you are safe.
Remind yourself it's okay to soften the body and to realize your inner courage that is there.
The jaw is soft,
The tongue detaching from the roof of the mouth and the teeth dropping down just a bit.
Keeping the brow soft,
Let your ears relax and see if you can notice the sounds that are around you,
The sounds that are close,
The sounds that are just a bit further away and the sounds in the distance.
I am safe.
I can be soft in my body and find my inner strength.
I trust in myself.
I trust in the wisdom of my body.
I allow myself to be breathed.
When the thoughts come in,
We notice them and we let them go.
When the body becomes tense and we notice that we're tensing,
We let it go.
With each breath,
We continue the practice of dropping into softness and stillness.
We invite an accumulation of inner strength and it might take time and that's okay.
I am soft and I am strong.
I connect to my inner strength.
I connect to this breath.
Let's take one more inhale together,
Breathing in and an audible exhale.
I invite you to slowly open the eyes but as you do so,
Be gentle.
Don't look out into the world.
Let the world slowly come to you.
Allow yourself to adjust,
Continuing to be soft in the body,
Continuing to practice releasing,
Letting go of tension breath by breath.
Notice the softness in your body as you begin to slowly engage with your external world still connected to your breath.
Let's take one more inhale,
A smile on your lips and letting go.
Thank you for practicing and reminding yourself it's okay to be soft.
You have your inner strength always with you.
As you move throughout your day,
Remind yourself ever so gently,
I am safe,
I am safe,
I allow myself to soften and I encourage my inner strength.
Until the next time.
