Hi and welcome to today's practice.
So finding a comfortable position for yourself,
Have a fidget,
Have a stretch,
Roll your neck,
Roll your shoulders.
And when you're ready,
Close your eyes or you can lower your gaze to a fixed point in front of you.
And begin this practice by taking some deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
As you inhale,
Feeling the belly,
Allowing it to soften.
And as you exhale,
Getting a sense of letting go,
Of release.
And if you haven't already,
Just allowing your breath to return to a natural rhythm,
In and out through the nose.
And becoming aware of the contact you're making with whatever is supporting your body.
Notice the sensations of contact with the support.
The back of your legs and your back against that support.
Your feet connecting with the floor,
Hands in your lap.
Noticing the sensations of touch.
Becoming aware of any sounds you can hear around you now.
Close by,
In the building,
Or further away.
The traffic,
Birds,
The world being busy.
Just notice how the sounds are appearing and sharing this moment with you.
And now becoming aware of how your body is feeling.
Any sensations that might be there today.
Coming,
Going,
In one particular part of the body or maybe noticing the whole field of sensation.
And staying with your body,
Move your awareness to your face.
And soften all the different parts of it,
All the different muscles.
Your forehead,
The eyes,
The jaw.
Allow your exhale to soften any tension that might be there,
As much as is possible for you in this moment.
Letting the shoulders drop,
Allowing the arms to become heavy.
Breathing into a soft belly,
Allowing the hips to soften,
The legs to be heavy and supported.
And relaxing your feet.
And with the next exhale,
Softening again into that support beneath you,
Just a little bit more if possible.
And now becoming aware of your breathing.
And in particular the movement and sensations of the air as it moves in and out of the nose.
Think of this location as your home base.
This is where you're going to rest your attention for this practice.
Noticing the inhale and how the air that moves in is quite cool.
Becoming aware of the start and the end of the inhale.
And now becoming aware of the exhale,
Noticing how the air that moves out of the nose is much warmer.
Becoming aware of the start and the end of the exhale.
Becoming aware of the pause after the exhale,
Before the process gently starts again.
And now becoming aware of the whole process of breathing,
From start to finish.
And if you become distracted,
If the mind starts to wander,
Just acknowledge that it's happened with kindness.
And just keep returning to that home base.
The movement and sensations of the breath as it comes and goes.
And now letting the technique go.
Let the attention on the breath just soften and just be still for a moment.
Becoming aware of the contact with the support beneath you once again.
Noticing sounds around you.
Noticing how your body is feeling.
And bringing in some gentle movement to your fingers and your toes.
Before opening the eyes or lifting your gaze.
And just taking in your surroundings before moving.
Taking a moment to notice your own stillness within the space.
Understanding that whatever your experience of this practice today,
That was simply your experience today.
There's no good,
No bad practice.
You simply showed up and offered yourself some space and kindness.
So thank you for joining me and I look forward to sitting with you next time.
