Let's take a few deep breaths together.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling out of the mouth.
Settling into our bodies,
Allowing our breath to return to a natural rhythm.
Becoming present to the sensation of the breath as it enters our nose,
The breath on our upper lip,
Our inner nostrils.
Becoming curious to the quality of the breath,
Noticing if it's moist or dry,
Shallow or deep.
Now draw the breath in further into your throat,
Noticing how the air fills your mouth and your lungs as it moves further down into your chest.
Become present to where you feel the breath the strongest.
This may be the rise and fall of your chest.
You may notice it in your belly,
Your abdomen as you draw it deeper into your pelvic area.
Now use each breath to relax yourself into being here now,
Releasing any tension that you feel,
Settling into whatever position you chose.
If you need to shift your posture,
Go ahead and do so,
So that you're comfortable and you're present to your breath.
Now we'll sit in silence for a few minutes,
And as you notice thoughts arise,
Label the thoughts as positive,
Neutral,
Or negative,
And just release that thought and return back to the breath.
Again,
Noticing which thoughts you're clinging to,
Thoughts that arise that you are indifferent to,
And those thoughts that you're turning away from,
Each time returning back to the breath.
As thoughts arise,
Gently return to the breath.
After noticing the quality of that thought,
Gently turn your focus back to where you feel the breath the strongest in your body.
Now gently open your eyes softly,
So that your gaze is held at a low position,
About 45 degrees,
With a soft gaze.
View your gaze in a panoramic way,
So that you see all aspects of the room in which you are,
That 45 degrees,
Taking it in softly,
While remaining present with the breath.
Noticing again where you feel the breath most strongly and centered in your body,
While keeping your vision soft.
Notice if you're telling yourself a story about what you're seeing.
Consider again labeling it neutral,
Positive,
Negative,
Clinging and turning away,
Or indifferent,
And return to the breath.
Now raise your view straight ahead of you,
Keeping your gaze soft,
And again allowing anything that's in your field of view to enter without holding story or attachment to what you see.
Remaining present to the sensation of the breath in your body,
Returning to the quality of the breath,
Becoming curious to the breath,
While staying soft to what's surrounding you in your visual field.
Now extend your gaze upward and farther out,
So that you're bringing in what's at the far most corners of your room,
At a higher level into your room,
Into your view,
Still remaining present to the sensation of the breath.
Allowing what's in the periphery of your vision to enter,
Placing judgment on what you're seeing,
On the thoughts that arise,
But returning back gently to the breath.
Grounding yourself in a calm,
Centered awareness that's rooted in the breath,
That's entering deeply into your chest,
Into your belly.
Again,
As thoughts arise,
Gently returning to the centering of your breath.
Now gently close your eyes.
Notice how the quality of the breath feels now with your eyes closed.
In our final minutes,
Let's take a moment to offer some gratitude for showing up,
Coming to this practice space together as a community.
Notice any warmth that you feel as you generate gratitude,
Perhaps in your face,
Or your eyes,
Or your hands.
Relaxing the muscles of your face,
Noticing warmth as it enters,
Some self-compassion for yourself for coming to take this time to be together in practice.
When you hear the bell,
I encourage you to stay seated with your eyes closed for a moment or two until you're ready to return to the space.
