Taking your seat,
This could mean with your legs crossed in a campfire style or with your feet on the floor,
Sitting on a chair.
This could also mean lying down and allowing your body to completely rest.
As you settle into your posture,
Let's begin to come into your space,
Noticing your surroundings.
And I'm going to ask you,
Regardless of where your body is positioned,
To just turn your head to the right and having your eyes open,
Notice what is behind you,
Who is behind you,
Noticing any windows or doors,
And then coming back to center with your head.
And then go ahead and look over your other shoulder,
Nothing straining or difficult,
Just turning your head and noticing any doors,
Any windows,
Who is behind you,
Or the space that is around you.
Really taking that in and then coming back to center.
And then taking a full inhale and exhaling the breath.
You can exhale through your mouth,
Sighing out,
Letting the breath go.
Do that again,
Breathe in fully,
Filling up the lungs,
Relaxing the abdomen,
And then exhaling,
Completely letting the breath go and feeling softness in the shoulders,
The hands,
The feet.
You're welcome to keep your eyes open,
Or you may close your eyes for this practice,
Depending on what you feel the most comfortable with.
Knowing your surroundings,
Having a sense of safety now,
Who and where is around you,
And no one's going to disturb you right now because you have taken this time for yourself to fully relax,
Allow your body and your nervous system to be calm and let go.
And the breath has a natural rhythm,
So we can bring our awareness to,
Let's go to the tips of the nostrils,
The upper lip,
And noticing the flow of breath in and out through the nose.
And you may notice cool air coming in through the nose and warm air as it leaves.
See if this is true.
Be curious,
Is this what's happening?
And if it's not,
That's okay.
Just investigating the breath at the tips of the nostrils,
Upper lip,
And we're going to let go of the concentration there,
And we'll move down to the feet.
And just noticing where your feet are in relation to the floor,
Where your feet are in relationship to your body,
If it's horizontal or sitting.
And am I wearing socks,
Shoes,
Or can I feel the air on the skin of my feet?
Really noticing,
Is there any sensation?
Does that mean,
Is there a tingle or an itch,
Or is it purely neutral?
Just awareness on the feet,
Maybe where the feet have contact to any of its surroundings.
And then we'll move up to the legs and noticing the lower limbs of the legs below the knee,
The knee to the ankle.
And what is that like for you?
Any presence of feeling or no feeling?
No feeling,
It doesn't have to be any deep investigation.
It's just my legs,
Knee to the ankle,
The contact,
Surroundings,
Clothing,
Air on the skin.
Maybe you can feel the hair on the skin,
Or lack of hair,
Anything that arises with that investigation.
Really staying curious and open throughout this process,
And breathing,
Relaxing in this time.
And moving up to the thighs and the buttocks,
And feeling the contact of these large bones in the body,
The largest bones of the body in your thighs,
And the sit bones,
How they make contact with whatever you are resting on,
Or supporting yourself with.
And just feeling the surroundings there,
And moving up to the lower back,
Spine.
We can go all the way up to the back of the head here,
So your entire spine,
The breath that moves through the spine,
The energy,
Noticing the ribs as they breathe,
Connecting to the spine,
This natural inhale and exhale.
The contact of the shoulder blades,
The shoulder blades,
They're lying down,
Or it's this openness across the chest,
Maybe readjusting your seat,
Noticing your posture,
The effort it takes for the spine and the muscles to be upright.
And can we maintain this upright,
Rather noble positioning of the body that you learned when you're about six months old,
How to sit up?
And can there be some ease in it,
Some relaxation to the shoulders,
Down through the arms and the hands,
Really tune in to the right side,
Your right shoulder,
The neck,
Right side of the neck,
Shoulder down the right arm,
The hand,
The hand,
And as if there's a gentle hand in your mind's eye,
A friend's hand touching your shoulder,
It's going to be okay.
Or maybe you have a favorite pet that sits on your shoulder or rests near you there,
That feeling of warmth and unconditional love to yourself right now,
Relaxing the shoulders over to the left side,
Down the neck,
Shoulder blade,
The arm,
The hand,
Just really focusing on releasing any tension and staying curious with sensation.
There's a release,
Oh,
I'm feeling a knot.
Can I breathe with it without asking what that knot is about?
Just be with the sensations and notice as they come and they will go.
And then we'll bring awareness to our face,
Softening the cheeks,
The jaw,
The space between the top jaw and the bottom jaw,
And really relaxing across the eyebrows and softening behind the third eye,
And really letting your head rest and the whole body rest.
The breath is natural.
You are safe.
We'll just stay here for another minute or so in silence,
In silence,
Resting until you hear the bell.
Begin to come back into the room,
Deepening your breath,
Begin to flutter the eyes open,
Feeling your body now.
Does it feel like after this rest,
Maybe the corners of the mouth turn up slightly as you breathe in and take in gratitude for your practice and stillness.
