Begin by bringing your attention to this moment,
This body.
Sitting upright,
With your hands resting in the mudra of equanimity,
Palms turned upward with the left hand resting on the right,
Thumbs touching,
Spine straight,
Chin slightly tucked,
Lengthening the back of the neck with the head in alignment with the spine.
And start by simply connecting with your intention to come home to your inner presence.
And let your attitude be friendly and relaxed.
We'll begin by taking three conscious breaths.
Gently inhale slowly and completely through the nose.
And exhale slowly,
Letting go of any tension in your body and mind.
And again,
Inhale deeply,
Filling the body and the lungs.
And slowly and consciously exhale,
Letting any tension and tightness flow down into the earth.
And once more,
A nice full in-breath,
Holding the breath for a moment once you're full,
And feeling the stretch of the chest.
And then a gentle out-breath,
Letting go completely.
And allowing the breath to go back to its natural rhythm,
With each out-breath releasing a little bit more,
Releasing effort,
And letting it flow downward into the earth.
Giving yourself permission to let go of doing anything.
And bringing your attention to the face,
With each out-breath releasing any tension,
Widening the space between the eyebrows,
Softening the jaw,
Softening the tongue,
And allowing a small half-smile to arise,
Like the Buddha.
And bringing a long deep breath to the neck and the shoulders.
As you breathe in,
Feeling the fresh energy coming in.
And as you breathe out,
Letting go,
Softening,
Releasing any tightness and tension.
And as you release,
You may have a sense of the shoulders falling away from the neck.
And bringing the breath down the arms to the hands.
As you breathe in,
Feeling the aliveness in the hands.
As you breathe out,
Softening,
Letting go,
Relaxing the arms and the hands.
Breathing into the hands,
Noticing the position of the hands and the fingers.
Sensation of pressure where your hands are resting.
Noticing the temperature of your hands.
Fingers where they're warmer or cooler,
Just being aware of what you actually feel there.
Bringing the breath back to the upper back and the chest.
Feeling the expansion on the in-breath,
Bringing in energy and aliveness.
Feeling the release on the exhale,
Letting go of tightness and tension in the upper back and chest.
Seeing your attention to the lower back and the belly.
Feeling the movement of the breath in the belly,
The softness of the belly.
Softening even more with each out-breath.
And with each in-breath,
Feeling the openness and expansion in the belly.
And with each exhale,
Releasing any tightness and tension from the lower back.
Breathing in and out from the pelvic region,
With each in-breath receiving energy and aliveness.
And releasing,
Relaxing,
Softening with the out-breath.
Continuing to scan down the body,
Feeling the hips,
The buttocks,
The legs.
Just noticing and releasing any muscles that are tight.
And breathing all the way down to the feet,
Noticing any sensations that arise there.
And now inviting your awareness to feel your whole body,
Imagining your physical form as a field of sensations.
Releasing,
Relaxing,
Softening with the out-breath.
And with the in-breath receiving energy and aliveness.
Feeling the whole body breathing,
Energy moving in and out through every pore,
Every cell with the breath.
Sensing the rhythm of the breath.
Breathing on the in-breath,
And releasing on the out-breath.
Feeling into the stillness of the body.
Even though there's movement and sound within and around you,
It's like waves on the surface of a deep ocean.
Being aware of the stillness deep within you.
Rest here.
Letting go of effort.
Just being.
