FREEBIE: Calm (10 min)

Jessica guides a 10-minute stillness practice for calm and ease. She instructs to find a comfortable seat, lengthen the spine, and bring awareness to the breath. She suggests gentle movements to release tension in the body. Jessica emphasizes the importance of settling in and allowing the body to be the teacher. She guides deepening the breath and finding expansion in the belly, chest, and throat. She encourages softening the jaw and letting go of distracting thoughts. Jessica invites putting thoughts in an imaginary box and focusing on sensations in the body. She invites ease and calm, acknowledging the impact of the practice. She ends with gratitude and coming back to the room with fresh awareness. Jessica here, guiding you through a 10-minute stillness practice for calm and ease. Begin by finding a comfortable seat, finding length through the spine, send your shoulders up towards your ears and down the back. One more time, bring your shoulders up towards the ears gently and release down the back. One more time with your breath, breathe in, exhale, release. Finding a gentle opening through the chest, lengthen through the crown of your head, allowing the body to be heavy, sinking towards the earth and bring awareness to your breath. Gently seal the lips and breathe in through the nose and out through the nose, noticing the belly as it expands as you inhale and as it contracts on the exhale. Bring awareness to the room, noticing the temperature, anything that you can see, and gently close your eyes if you haven't already or find a point of focus, gently softening your gaze to go inward, breathe in and breathe out, breathe in and breathe out. Noticing any areas of the body that feel tense or tight and inviting a little bit of movement here. Maybe it's bringing space to the throat by sending the back of the head up and back towards the back body. Maybe finding length in the sides of the neck, gently bringing one ear to your shoulder and then repeating on the opposite side. Maybe finding some space in the spine or the belly. Tune in to what the body needs and do that now. There's nowhere to be, nothing else to do, so take your time to settle in. Allow the body to be your teacher. Gently coming back to the breath and when you're ready, settling in, finding stillness here. Again, just ensuring that you have a nice long spine, sending your shoulders back to open up through the chest and allow your palms to face down, resting on your thighs. Begin to deepen the breath as you inhale to your low belly. Feel the belly expand. Exhale slowly through the nose, sending your belly button in towards your spine. Again, breathe in to the low belly. Find expansion here. Exhale, release, bringing the belly button in towards the spine. Breathe in and breathe out. On your next inhale, imagine the low belly expanding, finding an opening through the ribs, the throat, and exhale in. Inhale to the belly, the chest, the throat, and release the breath, exhale. Inhale belly, expand the ribs and the chest area, find space in the throat, and release, exhale. Gently coming back to the rhythm of your breath, softening the jaw, softening through the face. Allow your eyes to melt towards the back of the head and allow gravity to pull you towards the earth. Notice any thoughts that come, bringing awareness to those thoughts and gently letting them go. As you continue to breathe, if you notice any distracting thoughts, agitations, worries, I invite you to put them in an imaginary box, placing each one in as they come, sealing the box and placing them on the shelf, knowing you'll come back to them later. Come back to the body, noticing any sensations, perhaps feeling into the space that you're creating by being here. Take a moment now to invite an ease and calm, telling the body that it is safe to be here. It is safe in this moment to unwind, to just be, and notice what that feels like. Gently beginning to deepen the breath. Notice the power and impact of your stillness practice, maybe sealing it with an intention for the rest of your day. Taking a moment to pause and provide a little bit of gratitude for yourself for joining in taking this time for yourself, for your nervous system, for your mind. Coming back to the space, coming back to the room with fresh awareness, ease and calm. Thank you for being here.