Welcome.
Find a comfortable position.
Seated in a chair with your feet flat on the floor or cross-legged on the ground or lying down if that feels right for you.
Let your hands rest easily in your lap or at your sides.
Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze downward toward the floor.
Take a slow,
Easy breath in and let it go.
There's nothing you need to do right now.
Nowhere to be,
Nothing to fix or figure out.
This next 10 minutes belongs entirely to you.
Begin by noticing your body.
Feel the weight of it,
The way you are held and supported right now by the chair,
The floor,
The ground beneath you.
You don't have to hold yourself up.
You can let go of that effort.
Let your shoulders drop.
Soften your jaw.
Unclench anything you've been holding without realizing it.
Your hands,
Your belly,
The space between your eyebrows.
Take another deep breath in.
Hold it gently at the top and release.
With each exhale,
Let yourself arrive a little more fully into this moment.
In a moment,
You'll choose an anchor,
Something in your present experience to return to whenever your mind begins to wander.
There's no right or wrong choice.
Trust what feels natural to you today.
Your anchor might be your breath,
The gentle rise and fall of your chest or belly,
Or the sensation of air moving in and out through your nose.
It might be sound.
Whatever sounds are present in this room or beyond it,
Received without judgment,
Just as they are.
It might be physical sensation,
The warmth of your hands,
The feeling of fabric against your skin,
Your feet making contact with the floor.
Or it might be something else entirely,
A word,
A feeling of stillness,
Or simply the sense of being here.
Choose your anchor now.
You don't need to announce it or decide it perfectly.
Just let your attention settle there gently,
Like a hand resting on a still surface.
Rest your awareness with your anchor.
You don't need to concentrate intensely.
Just notice.
Let your attention be soft,
Curious,
Kind.
If your anchor is breath,
Feel it fully.
The slight pause at the top of the inhale,
The slow release of the exhale,
The moment of stillness before the next breath arrives.
If your anchor is sound,
Open your ears without reaching.
Let sounds come to you.
Near sounds,
Distant sounds,
The quiet between them.
If your anchor is sensation,
Explore it gently.
Temperature,
Pressure,
Texture,
The aliveness of simply being in a body.
Whenever your mind drifts,
And it will,
Because that's what minds do,
Simply notice that it has wandered and bring your attention back.
No frustration needed.
That moment of returning is a practice itself.
You are doing it perfectly.
Now I'd like to invite you to imagine a wide open sky.
Picture a blue sky,
The kind that stretches endlessly in every direction.
Clear,
Spacious,
Vast.
This is the sky of your awareness.
Always present,
Always open.
Now notice.
Clouds are beginning to drift across the sky.
Slowly,
Unhurried,
Each one carried on a gentle breeze.
These clouds are your thoughts,
Your worries,
Your to-do lists,
Memories,
Plans,
Feelings,
Words,
Images.
Each one appearing as a cloud drifting through.
See if you can simply watch them.
You don't need to chase the clouds or push them away.
You don't need to climb aboard them and follow where they lead.
You can just watch.
A thought about something you need to do.
There it is.
A cloud drifting by.
You see it.
You don't reach for it.
It continues on.
A feeling,
A worry,
A flicker of emotion.
Another cloud moving through.
You notice it with curiosity and compassion.
It doesn't need to be fixed.
It just needs to be seen.
And here's the thing to remember.
No matter how many clouds appear,
The sky is never threatened by them.
The sky doesn't become a cloud.
The sky holds them all,
Gently,
Effortlessly,
And remains exactly as it is.
You are the sky.
Your awareness is the open,
Spacious ground through which all of this passes.
Return your attention to your anchor for a moment.
Breath,
Sound,
Sensation.
Let it ground you here in this wide,
Clear present.
Clouds continue to drift.
You continue to watch at ease.
Allow yourself to settle even more deeply now.
Let your breath be completely natural,
Not controlled,
Just observed.
Feel the quality of this moment.
The quiet,
The stillness,
The simple fact of being here,
Awake,
Present.
You don't have to think about anything.
You don't have to become anything.
Right now,
In this moment,
You're already whole and complete.
We'll begin to come back now,
Gently,
Without rushing.
Become aware of your body once more.
The weight of it,
The warmth of it,
The gentle rhythm of your breathing.
Begin to deepen your breath slowly.
Let a little more air fill your lungs on the inhale.
Wiggle your fingers,
Your toes.
Let a gentle movement return to your body at its own pace.
When you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes,
Letting the light in softly,
Without hurry.
Take a moment before you move.
Notice how you feel.
The quality of your mind,
The stillness in your body.
Carry this spaciousness with you.
The sky is always there.
The anchor is always available.
And this breath,
This one right here,
Is always present.
Thank you for taking this time for yourself.
Be well.
