Hello everyone and welcome to a time to be still and be loved. My name is

Elisa Keaton. You're going to take some time now to find a quiet space as quiet as you can.

It's okay if it's the best you can do.

The whole point of this time is to gather yourself, gather your thoughts, gather your feelings,

all that is contained within you and to find yourself in a seated position or laying on your back or in a chair. As you settle yourself down into your posture.

Go ahead and begin to rest your lips together

and take a breath in through the nose and exhale out throughailing for the count of four. Exhailing for the count of four.

And as you begin to do that, just take notice of what in your body is tense or tight.

Maybe it's your hands, just relax your grip.

Is it your jaw?

Continue to use the breath as a way to scan the body. as your jaw

way to scan the body, create space with the inhale.

And with every exhale, you're feeling yourself grounded and rooted into the chair or the floor where you are.

Begin to find a felt sense of support of safety, that you are limited, that there is only so much you can hold.

As you inhale, see if you can begin to expand the belly to find the fullest amount of breath you can hold in the belly.

And then exhale. Compress through the belly and see if you can almost compartmentalize

shrink down the stress that you have been feeling or carrying and then as if in your mind

you're pulling that stress that compressed stress out of your body and placing it on the floor at your feet. So go ahead and

continue to breathe in a way that you're sweeping, expanding and cleaning out any anxiousness, worry, fear. And as you exhale,

it's like you're compressing it as if you're crushing a can and then

placing it outside of you at your feet.

So God, we welcome you here.

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