Hi and welcome to today's practice.
So find a comfortable posture and get as comfortable as you can in this moment.
And I invite you to either close your eyes or you can have a soft fixed gaze at a point in front of you.
And start by becoming aware of how your body is feeling.
Noticing how your body has shown up in this moment.
Is it relaxed?
Tense?
Is it soft?
Alert?
And just notice that.
Not changing anything,
Not pushing anything away.
Just checking in with the body,
Noticing how it's feeling.
And then becoming aware of any sensations you might feel in the body.
Becoming aware of any tingling,
Aliveness,
Energy.
Noticing if the sensations are hanging around or if they pop up and disappear.
And equally if you don't feel any sensations,
That's absolutely fine.
We're just building up a picture of our body's experience in this moment.
And then noticing any emotions that might be there.
Are you feeling a bit stressed,
Happy,
Neutral,
Frustrated,
Anxious,
Worn out?
Everything is welcome.
We're learning not to criticize what we find,
Judging it,
Pushing it away.
We're just becoming a little more curious of what's there.
And then noticing the quality of your mind at the minute.
Is it busy chattering away to you about stuff that happened in the past,
The future?
Or is it quite still,
Flowing,
Relaxed?
And then becoming aware that you are breathing.
Not with a strict,
Firm focus.
Just watching the natural coming and going of the breath.
I invite you to really soften the belly as you breathe.
Allowing it to relax.
Allowing any tension to soften.
Starting to breathe a little more deeply than you normally would.
Noticing how it feels like a balloon as you inhale.
Gently stretching.
And then as you exhale,
Noticing how the belly gently moves back towards the body.
And as well as starting to deepen that inhale,
Start to also lengthen the exhale.
And we're not using any force to do either of these.
But you'll start to notice that as each round of breathing gently rolls on,
You'll be able to inhale a little more deeply.
And you'll also be able to lengthen the exhale without much effort at all.
And that's all we're going to do.
Breathing deeply in,
And slowly out.
We're just starting to breathe more consciously.
And if you feel comfortable to do so,
You can start to make the inhale a little deeper again.
And extend the exhale even further.
No force,
Just finding a rhythm and pace that work for you within this technique.
As you start to take a gentle control over your breath.
Deeply in,
Slowly out.
And what we're doing here is calming the mind and letting the body know it can relax as much as it can in this moment.
That it's safe.
That it doesn't have to be anywhere else.
It doesn't have to be doing anything else.
We're learning that in this busy world it's okay to take a moment whenever you need to check in with how you're actually doing.
And offer yourself some space.
Deeply in,
Slowly out.
And if the mind wanders off at any point,
That's absolutely fine.
Just acknowledge that it's happened and return back to the breath.
And then just letting the technique go.
Just breathe and be still.
Becoming aware of the contact you're making with whatever is supporting you.
Noticing the sensations of touch.
Feeling of weight pressing down.
Noticing any sounds you can hear around you.
Noticing the temperature of the space that you're in.
Starting to get a sense of that space once again.
And when you're ready you can open the eyes or lift your gaze.
And without moving,
Just take a moment to notice what you can see in front of you.
This could be colours,
Shapes,
Textures,
Shadow.
And welcome back.
So thank you for joining me and I look forward to sitting with you next time.
