Find a seated position if that's comfortable for you,
Not rigid,
But strong back,
Soft belly,
Perhaps closing your eyes and resting your hands in an easy way,
Effortless Both feet on the floor Taking a few moments to scan through your body Inviting a release,
A letting go of obvious areas of physical tension The eyes,
The jaw,
Shoulders,
Legs,
Wherever you hold tension,
Belly Scanning around and allowing yourself in this moment to let go,
Let go It's safe to do so Practice of coming home can be supported by establishing what home is in this moment And in this practice I'm going to invite you to come home to sensations in the body when your mind wanders as it will,
As it does There might be tingling,
Gurgling,
Throbbing,
Some aches and pains,
A sense of ease,
Some digestive things going on There might be different things at different moments,
In different places And this is something that you can then do in daily life at any time you need to come home to yourself What do the feet feel like right now?
You might feel something,
You might not feel anything at all Does one foot feel differently from the other?
And what about the lower legs?
Can you feel anything there?
The knees?
The upper legs?
If you are sitting down,
What's the feeling like where the legs are supported on the chair,
Sofa,
Whatever you're sitting on?
Is there a heaviness,
A pressure?
Can you let go a little bit more and allow yourself to sink a little bit more,
To be supported in this moment?
What about the pelvis,
Lower back?
Twinges,
Tingling,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
Aches,
Throbbing?
What can you feel?
And when your mind goes,
Coming back to sensations,
To what you can feel in your own body And accepting,
Being open to what you feel It won't all be good and pleasurable,
It just is what it is in this moment But the body is not singular,
It's made up of many parts and all have different things going on in them at different times Let's be curious and find out what's happening in our belly right now Are you hungry?
Are you full?
Are you quite comfortable?
Moving up to the chest Can you invite an openness,
A bit more ease?
And can you sense the breath as it moves in and out?
Sign of life What about the neck?
Shoulders,
Feeling into the shoulders Many of us carry a lot of tension in the shoulders And what can you sense in your shoulders?
And the wonderful teacher Tara Brach taught me that you can sense the shoulders as blocks of ice Ice melting to water And then vaporising as gas,
To encourage a letting go in practice And your arms You might feel a temperature Wear clothes,
Touch your arms You might sense a heaviness One arm might feel differently from the other Allow the arms to hang heavy and just see what you feel Oh and the hands,
Rest easy dear hands So many nerve endings What's going on in your hands?
When the mind wanders Gently bringing it back What's happening in the fingertips?
You might not sense anything at all,
You might sense something And the thumbs,
What's happening in the thumbs?
Moving the attention,
The awareness up to the head The face What can you sense in your mouth?
Tongue against teeth perhaps What sensations are there?
A moistness,
A tingling And the lips We don't often take our awareness,
Our attention to our lips and feel inside them Can you feel anything in your lips?
Your nose,
Perhaps cool air coming in and warmer air leaving Perhaps moving the attention,
The awareness to the ears Allowing sounds to come and go How do your ears feel?
Can you feel anything at all?
Forehead inside your head Perhaps aching,
Throbbing Perhaps there's a sense of peace and comfort So much goes on there Can you feel any of it?
Sounds like such an odd question,
But can you?
You're alive And to come into your body And to experience the different sensations in the different parts of your body And to be open to that Is an act of mindfulness,
Of coming home,
Coming home to you And it won't always be pleasant But it's home Open,
Aware Accepting Home Alive My dear friend,
May you be well May you live with ease And may you know that you are loved May you be well May you live with ease And may you know that you are loved And thank you so,
So much for practicing with me today
