This is your retreat.
Right here,
Right now.
A few minutes to step away from the noise and come home to your breath.
Letting this be your permission to pause,
To come off the hamster wheel,
To let whatever you've been carrying go.
Letting the breath lead you off the surface of life,
Guiding you deeper within.
And so,
Starting by finding a comfortable position.
You can be sitting or lying down.
Somewhere where you can allow yourself to feel held for a little while.
Letting your hands soften into the support beneath them.
Closing your eyes if that feels okay.
And starting to feel the shape of your body.
Noticing the points of contact between you and the surface you're on.
And as you do,
Letting yourself relax into that support a little more.
Letting gravity hold you.
You don't need to hold yourself up right now.
Taking a gentle breath in through your nose,
And exhaling through the mouth.
Letting the breath be soft.
Letting it open up space inside you.
Inhaling gently.
Exhaling fully.
And this breath isn't about doing,
But undoing.
Letting each inhale create more and more space within you.
Letting each exhale soften the muscles that are still trying to hold it all together.
Breathing like time doesn't matter.
Letting the breath stretch you inwards.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to figure out.
Just you being right here.
And that's enough.
And then gently starting to put a rhythm to this breath.
Inhaling for four,
One,
Four.
Exhaling for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two.
That's it.
In for four,
And out for six.
Letting this rhythm rock you like a tide.
Like something ancient that lives within you.
Each breath unfolding you into a new way of being.
As you gently come home to yourself.
And the longer you breathe this way,
The more the body says,
Yes,
We're safe now.
Letting the nervous system rest.
Allowing more gap to rise between thoughts.
Letting your breath gather all the parts of you that feel scattered.
Returning them home.
This is your pause.
Your century.
Nothing is required of you here.
Just you and your breath.
As it guides you home to yourself.
Experiencing that breath rippling through you.
Washing over you.
Creating more and more space within you.
Soothing any tightness around your ribs.
Just a few more breaths now.
Soft,
Slow,
And low.
Each inhale going deep down into your system.
Each exhale just letting go.
And feeling the shift.
The spaciousness.
Simplicity of just being.
And just resting right here.
Staying here for as long as you feel to.
Only when you're ready.
Starting to make some gentle movements with your body.
Before returning to the space you're in.
Bringing with you this breath based rest.
Knowing that you can return to this inner retreat at any time.
Your breath will always welcome.