We'll begin by finding the body in whatever position that you're entering into this practice.
You could be seated,
Standing,
Or lying down.
Closing the eyes if you choose to do so.
Noticing the sense of stress or strain or anxiety,
Clutteredness,
Scatteredness that may be coming into this practice with you.
It could be restlessness,
Not wanting to close your eyes,
Wanting to move the body,
Itching,
Racing thoughts.
We're gonna make space for those things.
We're going to bring some strategies,
Some tools,
Some practices right next to these experiences of discomfort.
Beginning with the sense,
The sensation of touch.
Feeling the physical body pressing against whatever seat or surface where there's contact.
This could be the feet pressing into the floor,
It could be the palms of the hands pressing onto the thighs,
The back resting against a chair.
If you find any points of contact that feel soothing,
You may want to play around with the pressure,
Such as pushing your back deeper into the chair momentarily,
Pressing your palms into your thighs,
Also lightening the touch.
We're going to bring awareness to the sense of smell.
Just breathing simply in and out through the nose,
Noticing if you have any sense of smell,
Picking up any particular odors in the air.
If there's anything unpleasant here,
Can take note of this as well.
This is making the practice uncomfortable,
And that may be the case.
It could also be the case that you notice something pleasant with your sense of smell.
And if that is the case,
You can notice how it's experienced in the body,
Where it might bring relaxation or ease.
Similarly,
We'll explore the sense of taste,
Noticing in the mouth if there's any tastes,
Taste sensations that are contributing to this moment,
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
When we notice the unpleasant,
We can make note of how it's affecting us,
And also if there's something that we might want to do about it in an act of kindness toward ourselves and our nervous system.
I recommend waiting until this practice is over to address anything that you're seeing in the practice,
Cultivating watchfulness and patience.
Now we'll move to the sense of hearing,
Allowing your ears to become aware of what they're in the environment.
White noise,
The sound of my voice,
Voices from outside the room,
Machinery,
Bringing your sense of hearing into alignment with the present moment.
Knowing that hearing is happening,
That your ears are picking up sound,
Having an impact on the body.
Finally,
If your eyes were closed,
I invite you to slowly open them,
Just crack them gently,
Letting light in,
Allowing the eyes to take in light,
Visual information.
This is seeing,
Seeing is happening.
There's a range of pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And neutral experiences with seeing.
If you have pain around your eyes or distress with eyesight,
You can play around with closing the eyes back when you feel like you need to.
Taking a deep breath now.
Knowing I am inhabiting this body.
This body has senses.
I am immersed in a sensory experience.
I am here in this present moment.
