Let yourself arrive.
No pressure.
No expectations.
Just simply landing in this space.
And let the drum hold you like a pulse beneath the earth.
And let your body begin to slow down and soften.
There is nothing to fix here.
Only a space to connect to your breath and to let the body soften.
Place one hand on your heart and another on your belly.
Feeling the warmth of your own touch.
Feeling the rhythm of your own body,
Your heartbeat,
Your breath.
This is your anchor.
And your breath moves beneath your hands like a gentle wave.
Just being present with your body,
Honoring your body,
Feeling your body.
And tuning in to the gentle rhythmic beats of your heart underneath your hand.
Let the natural rhythms of your body ground you in.
And begin to soften your body,
Your breath,
Your being.
Now take a breath in through your nose and exhale through the mouth with a gentle sigh.
And again,
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth with a gentle sigh.
Just connecting more deeply to the natural rhythm of your breath on the inhale and the exhale.
Now gently beginning to let your exhale lengthen,
Giving your body permission to soften and relax with every out-breath.
Now I invite you to take a breath in through the nose,
Deep into the belly,
And release it with a slow extended exhale through the mouth.
Inhaling through the nose and into the belly,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhaling through the mouth,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And carrying on with this breath cycle,
Breathing into the belly and letting the exhale melt tension as you breathe out long and slow.
Let the rhythm of this breath,
Your breath,
Guide you.
And let the drum remind your body it is safe to slow down.
Now bring attention to the sensations in your body.
Just noticing where your body is speaking to you.
Do you have a tight jaw,
Heavy limbs,
A heaviness in your chest,
A flutter in your belly?
You're not here to fix anything,
Just notice.
Just noticing the sensations in your body without judgment.
And as you continue to breathe,
Just letting your breath move into these places of tension.
Let the breath loosen what's tight,
Soften what's held.
Just being with what is here.
Not to change it,
But to simply honor the body,
To honor these sensations.
Letting the body communicate with you.
This is how we come home to the body,
One sensation at a time.
This is how you begin to learn its language through presence and deep listening.
The body speaks in heat and tightness and shivers and sighs.
It tells us how we are really feeling.
We just need to unravel its messages.
Now picture yourself in a golden field at dusk.
You are barefoot,
The earth is warm beneath your feet.
And there's a gentle breeze caressing your skin.
And you can hear the sounds of birds twittering somewhere far off.
And ahead of you,
You see a magnificent tree.
And you walk towards it.
And the tree feels so familiar.
Like you've been here before.
And when you reach the tree,
You can't help but lean into its trunk.
And this beautiful tree meets your spine with support,
With calm,
With tenderness.
You feel held.
And you breathe here.
Breathing into your belly.
And exhaling through your mouth.
Breathing in through your nose.
And long exhales out.
And you stay here.
Being held by this tree.
Feeling rooted.
Feeling connected.
And now let your breath become even slower.
No more effort.
Just allowing.
Feeling the presence of the tree behind you.
And letting the heartbeat of the drum echo the heartbeat of the earth.
And remind you that you belong.
That you are held.
And it's safe to soften.
And just continuing to breathe in your own rhythm.
Just being present with yourself.
And let the image of the tree begin to fade.
But keep the feeling of being held by this tree with you.
The grounded steadiness.
The quiet support.
The deep presence.
And now gently bring your awareness back into your physical body.
Back into the room you're in.
And back to the rise and fall of your own breath.
And place your hands again,
If they're not there already.
One on your heart and one on your belly.
And just noticing what has shifted.
Just noticing the stillness within.
And if there's still any tension left,
Just breathe in.
Breathing in softly.
And letting your exhale release anything that still feels ready to go.
There's no need to rush.
You simply need to be present.
And gently beginning to wake up the body.
Wiggling your fingers,
Rolling your shoulders.
Maybe bringing some gentle movement to the spine.
Or stretching the body.
And whispering a thank you to your body for all that it carries.
All that it feels.
And all that it does for you every single day.
Let the stillness stay with you.
Let it ripple throughout your day.
And know that you can come back here anytime.
