As a way of collecting and gathering yourself, you might take a few full deep breaths, inhaling

and filling the lungs.

And exhaling slowly, sense of letting go, letting go, again inhaling deeply, filling

the lungs, and exhaling gently, releasing, letting go.

And once more, let's inhale together, filling the lungs, hold for a moment when the breath

is full, feel the sensations of fullness and slowly exhale, letting the breath be natural,

relaxing with the breath.

The most direct gateway to presence is through being awake in this body.

You might begin by just relaxing in a very conscious way, softening the eyes, perhaps feeling

a smile at the eyes.

That smile at the mouth, this half smile of the Buddha, that connects us with a sense of

ease, our whole nervous system is free to relax.

Smile at the heart, not to cover over anything, but to create the space for what's here.

And as if that smile could ripple and spread through the body, sense the shoulders, free

to relax back and down.

Feel the hands, let them be soft and easy, resting in an effortless way, feeling them from

the inside out, the tingling, the vibrating, the life that's there.

Chest is open and belly soft, letting the breath be received very deeply in the torso.

And letting the relaxation spread through the hips and the legs, the feet.

So that if you widen the lens, you could feel this whole body as a field of sensation, discovering

in the midst of this field of sensation, the flow of the breath, the inflow and outflow.

Losing the possibility of relaxing as the breath comes in and letting go, relaxing with

...