Find a quiet,
Comfortable place to sit or lie down.
Gently close your eyes and take a moment to settle into your body,
Into stillness.
Allow your body to relax and releasing any tension that you may have carried with you today.
Bring your awareness to your natural breath,
Feeling it flow in and out without effort.
Maybe placing your hand on your heart to connect to your heartbeat.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and observe your chest and belly expand.
As you exhale,
Imagine releasing any stress or heaviness,
Any constraint you have noticed in your body.
Repeat this a few times,
Allowing yourself to sink deeper and deeper into a state of calm.
Now open up all your senses and your imagination and bring to your mind's eye a single flower at the center of your chest.
See this flower gently closed,
Its petals soft and resting.
This flower represents your breath,
Your essence,
The rhythm of life flowing through every part of you.
And as you inhale,
Imagine the flower slowly opening,
Its petals unfurling gracefully to absorb the breath of the universe.
And as you exhale,
See the flower softly closing,
Folding inwards with ease,
Conserving and gathering its energy.
Breathe and allow this opening and closing to become a rhythm,
A dance,
A gentle movement into oneness.
Inhaling and the flower opens wide,
Drawing in light,
Air and life force.
As you are exhaling,
The flower closes gently with ease and holding the essence of that breath within.
Continuing to observe and holding curiosity is how this movement feels within your body.
Now expand your awareness to every cell in your body,
Imagining that all is connected and that that flower in your chest is now reaching the entirety of your body,
Expanding as it's opening and closing.
And with each inhalation,
Every cell blooms,
Absorbing oxygen,
Light and vitality.
And with each exhalation,
The cells gently release what they no longer need,
Dissolving into a peaceful rhythm.
Experience this cellular breath as a way flowing through you,
Opening and closing like a gentle tide.
You are breathing not just through your lungs but through every part of your being.
As you breathe,
Begin to sense that this rhythm is not yours alone.
Feel the connection to the world around you.
Imagine the breath of trees,
The swaying,
The plants,
Animals,
All living beings.
They too are opening and closing,
Expanding and contracting in the great rhythm of life.
Imagine yourself as part of a vast field of flowers,
Each one opening and closing,
Breathing together in perfect harmony,
With ease and grace.
The air you exhale becomes the air another inhales.
The boundaries between you and the world dissolves.
Now,
With each breath in,
Feel yourself drawing in the essence of all of life,
All of its vitality,
Its vibrance.
See,
Feel and perceive that coming to you and moving through you.
With each breath out,
Feel yourself giving back to the whole,
Nourishing the web of life.
You are not separate.
You are one with the earth,
The sky,
And every living being.
Your cells are alive with the same energy that pulses through all of creation.
For a few moments,
Rest in this awareness of oneness.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Releasing all effort to visualize or to control your breath.
Simply be,
Feeling the gentle,
Natural rhythm of your breathing and the interconnectedness of all life.
Breathing in and breathing out,
As energy follows intention,
Now bring your awareness from the expansiveness of your breath back closer to your body,
Closer to your energy field.
Placing your hand on your heart,
Now bringing your awareness once more to your breath and noticing the rising and the falling of your breath within your body,
The beating of your heart,
The rhythm of your heart.
Now bringing your awareness back to the here and to the now.
Wriggle your feet and toes and ground yourself in the present moment.
Gently open your eyes and look around the room,
Bringing your awareness back to where you started and carrying with you the awareness of your connection to all of life.
You may take a moment to appreciate the miracle of your breath and the life that exists within every cell.
And it is done.
