The following meditation is led by Tara Brock, meditation teacher, psychologist, and author.

The direct way to wake up presence is through the gateway of the body, letting the awareness

gently scan through the body.

You begin by bringing awareness to the region of the eyes.

I'd like to invite you to soften your eyes.

You might imagine that you could smile into your eyes, let the outer corners lift a bit.

This relaxes the flesh around the eyes, let the brow be smooth.

Then feel the sensations that live in that region, the tingling or vibrating, perhaps the

light and darkness of the room.

In a similar way, you can bring a slight smile to the mouth, that the inside of the mouth

smile, let the tongue fill the lower palate, relaxing to the root of the tongue.

And just receive the sensations and aliveness that live throughout the mouth, the lips, the tongue, the gums.

You can imagine a smile spreading through the whole chest, the heart area,

since the curve of a smile, then feel into the heart, the sensations and aliveness that's there,

very receptive, open attention.

The eyes are smiling, mouth, the heart, allowing the shoulders to fall away from the

ears, let the awareness fill the shoulders so you can feel from the inside out the movement of energy,

and perhaps the places that feel stuck or blocked.

Let whatever feels tight or tense, float in awareness.

Allow the hands to rest in an easy and effortless way, and let the hands fill with awareness so you can feel them from the inside out,

softening the hands, noticing the aliveness that's there.

And sensing that openness in the chest, relaxing down the torso, letting this next breath be received in a softened and belly, this breath,

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