Let's start with our breathing.
You can either lie down or just sit comfortably.
First,
Let's take a few breaths in and sigh them out.
Close your eyes and begin to notice your breath.
Feel the air as it enters your body on the inhale through your nose or mouth.
Notice where it goes.
Perhaps you can feel your chest,
Your belly or your shoulders rising,
Your diaphragm contracting,
Your ribs lifting.
And on the exhale,
Just feel the air leave your body through your nose or mouth and notice how your chest or belly empties of air,
How your shoulders drop,
How your diaphragm relaxes and how your ribs fall inwards.
Stay here for a few breath cycles,
Just observing the movement of your breath.
As you do that,
Invite your body to relax completely.
As if a silken veil of relaxation is passing through your body now,
Gently caressing you and leaving you completely relaxed.
Starting at the top of your head now,
Your forehead,
Your eyebrows,
The muscles around and behind your eyes,
Your cheekbones,
Temples and ears,
Your jaw,
The muscles around your mouth,
Your whole face now,
Completely relaxed.
And moving down to your neck,
Shoulders,
Arms and hands all the way down to your fingertips.
And from your chest to your belly,
All the way down to your pelvis.
And from the back of your neck now,
Downwards,
Along your spine,
All the way down to your lower back.
And from your hips to your thighs and calves,
To your feet,
All the way down to your toes.
Completely relaxed.
You may notice that as you relax,
Your breathing naturally becomes deeper.
Now place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
Close your mouth and start breathing through your nose.
You want to breathe quietly,
Softly and slowly.
With each inhalation,
You want to feel the hand on your belly gently extend outwards,
While the hand on your chest exerts a slight inward pressure.
Stay here,
Watching your breath,
Becoming your breath.
Breathing quietly,
Softly,
Slowly and deeply.
Well done.
Now let's try and breathe even more lightly and slowly on the inhale and on the exhale.
Simply allow the air to flow out.
Slowly,
Gently and naturally.
Let's inhale through our nose,
Softly and as slowly as we can,
To the point where we feel a slight hunger for air,
But not to the point that it stresses us out.
It's important to remain relaxed.
And on the exhale,
Simply let the air go.
A moment of effortless release.
With each inhale,
Try and breathe a little slower and gentler,
While remaining relaxed.
And with each exhale,
Just let the air flow out.
Gently and slowly,
Like a balloon deflating.
That's it.
Very good.
As you stay with this breath,
Turn your awareness to the sound of my voice,
Because I will guide you to an experiment.
Visualize a majestic grand piano in an empty,
Quiet,
Dark room.
Now imagine yourself,
Your body,
Your whole being,
As if it were one string of that piano.
Stretched out from one end of the soundboard to the other,
In complete stillness.
I will now press a key to create a complete oscillation of that string.
You can coordinate your slow and deep breathing with the oscillation of the note.
Listen.
Breathe in and continue to inhale slowly.
The intensity of the initial keystroke may diminish,
But the sound is still there.
It remains deep,
Calm,
Stoic,
And it stays with you.
Stay with your slow breath and tune in to the sound of the string.
You are that string,
Still vibrating.
Do not allow the sound of your own oscillation to be cut off abruptly.
Do not shorten your breath.
Remain present.
Listen.
The string is still oscillating,
Still making a sound.
Even though it's quieter,
It is alive and powerful.
Just like you.
You breathe,
You think,
You feel,
You listen,
You are aware in the now.
Go deeper and notice the awareness.
Nothing can interrupt your deeper existence.
You are not afraid of your own thoughts and the experiences they are creating.
You have music and continuity.
The sound of the string goes on.
Let's be quiet and listen.
It is still there.
Did you know?
Probably not.
Just as you may not fully be aware of your own resilience when you underestimate your power and endurance.
I promise you,
Your own string will not break if you give it the space and attention it deserves.
All it asks is that you listen to its music.
Let's do another one now,
And I won't speak.
Just stay with the sound of the string and your slow,
Deep breathing.
Now return to your normal breathing.
How often is our inner vibration,
The note of our own existence,
Cut off so abruptly by external stimuli in our frantic daily lives?
Voices,
Noise,
Stress.
But today,
Here,
Now,
In this room,
There is nothing but you and the piano.
No one can stop you from playing your rightful music.
The harmonics of sound are your inner harmony pulsating with the energy of life.
You can start wiggling your fingers and toes now.
Give yourself a good stretch.
Take your space and,
In your own time,
Open your eyes.
You might want to give yourself a good hug with love and care.
As you become aware of your surroundings and prepare to face the external world,
You may want to promise yourself that you will keep some of your attention inwards.
And when you lose it,
You can return.
When you forget,
You can remember.
You can return to this room as often as you like.
Just you,
The piano,
And the expansion of the sound.
Your own melody in life.
