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- Hi everyone. 
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

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I'm Adriene and this is Benji
and today we have a beautiful

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meditation for mental 
balance and grounding.

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So grab something 
to sit on if you like.

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Hop into something extra 
comfy and let's get started.

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(bright music)

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Alright, welcome 
my darling friends.

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We're going to begin, surprise,

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our practice today in
a comfortable seat.

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So take your time.

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Just notice if you're kind 
of rushing right now here

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and let's start to slow 
it down as you come into

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a nice cross-legged seat.

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And I will encourage you,
particularly if you're new to

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sitting (chuckles) in a
meditation to lift your hips up

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either on a couch pillow
or if you have a bolster, great.

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You can fold up some blankets

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or some towels 
are just fine too.

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And get to where your hips are

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a little bit higher 
than your knees

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so you can create 
these two slides

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of the thighs down.

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And as you start to 
get settled in here,

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just start to tap into 
that inner smile as

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much as you're willing.

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This is my power tool, my secret
weapon that I often talk about

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so it's not so secret, but just
as you settle in you can start

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to kind of feel the benefits of
this time that you're taking for

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yourself by softening and, yeah,
tapping into that inner smile.

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It can be like, 
"I'm doing this."

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Or, "Oh my god, I need this."

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Whatever it is just tap into

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a little joy that you're taking

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this short but 
valuable time for yourself.

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Benji's relaxed.

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If you're not relaxed, we'll
get you there or we'll try.

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Hopefully by now 
you're in your seat.

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Getting settled in.

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And if you are

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working with your 
back right now,

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we'll say that, feel free 
to sit up against a wall

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or you can even 
do this in a chair.

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You just want to make sure that
your spine is nice and long.

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And on that note, 
let's take a moment here

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to gently tuck the chin.

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And bring more 
awareness to the spine.

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So that could 
be sitting up tall.

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It could just be 
noticing your pattern.

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Again, just gently 
tucking the chin.

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Feeling that length as you do
so through the back of the neck.

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And best you can bringing
more awareness to your spine.

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And if you haven't already,
allow your hands to soften,

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fingertips to soften just
wherever feels good and then as

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I often invite you to do 
in practice same thing here.

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Just notice what 
feels good today.

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Whether you need a
more grounding palm. Right?

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Energetically, I'm here.

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(exhales) "I'm doing this.
I need to breathe.

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"I need this time for myself."

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Or maybe you're feeling 
pretty good and this is more

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preventative care today.

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So open those palms up baby.

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Allow yourself to be a
little more vulnerable, open.

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So, both are vulnerable, 
but you get to decide.

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And really we're connecting
the brain to the body here.

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So there's so much that goes
into these little gestures and

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making decisions for yourself.

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If you know a mudra you
want to take it now, please do.

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And then if you haven't 
already, close your eyes.

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Allow your eyelids 
to get heavy here.

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And if for whatever reason
you're not comfortable with the

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eyelids closed, just soften your
gaze gently down past your nose.

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(light music)

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Alrighty and we've begun.

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Chin slightly tucked.

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Neck long.

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Hands, arms, carefully placed.

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Fingers soft.

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Let's start by noticing 
any sounds around us.

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Wherever you may be today.

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Or maybe you're relishing,

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silence.

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As we start to settle 
in and ground down,

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allow any extra 
movement, patterns,

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just fidgeting, see if you
can allow them to soften as you

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build a little structure 
for your mediation here.

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In time finding stillness

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with more ease and being kind if

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you're noticing a lot 
of fidgeting or patterns.

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No worries.
That's why we're here.

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To observe.

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With kindness.

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To welcome balance 
and clarity to both

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the mental and emotional self.

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Now most of you have already
likely begun to notice your

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breath but if not allow me
to roll out the red carpet,

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to bring

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fresh picked flowers 
to your doorstep

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and welcome you to

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just notice with a loving
kindness your natural breath.

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And as you begin to notice the
rhythm of your natural breath

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today, see if you can 
take it one step further.

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Inviting the mind 
to also notice what

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the breath does to the body.

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As you breathe in and out.

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Notice, if you can, 
what parts of the body

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move as you breathe in.

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And see if you can 
notice how gravity tends to

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take over as you breathe out.

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So we have this sense
of a rise and a fall,

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nice and easy, nothing forced.

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Just noticing what 
moves as you breathe in.

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And embracing the 
gravity as you breathe out.

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Now you can keep going just 
as is or I'll bring another

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fresh bouquet to your 
door and invite you to

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deepen the breath just a bit.

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Bringing more consciousness,

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more loving awareness 
to that inhale

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and watching the
ripple effect as you breathe in.

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And using that 
exhale to ground down.

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Relax the shoulders.
Relax your jaw.

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Allowing your inhale perhaps

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to be a 
little deeper, more full.

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And perhaps, when you're ready,

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allowing your 
exhale to be longer.

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Think of it as a 
beautiful extension.

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Breathing out as you 
ground down, down, down.

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Now go ahead and let your nice
conscious deep breaths rest.

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Return to just a nice, easy,
natural rhythm and flow.

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With so much love and
a gentle, just gentleness,

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see if you can reestablish
this awareness in your spine

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by maybe lifting your heart,

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gently sitting up 
a little bit taller.

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And you might feel, if
you're doing this with your

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eyes closed, as though 
you grow a little bit longer

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and taller in the spine.

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And as you rest 
easy here in your seat,

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soften the skin of the forehead,
relax the jaw and again use a

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gentle exhale to 
relax the shoulders down.

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You're more than 
halfway through your mediation.

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So as thoughts 
come to your mind,

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to your soul, just acknowledge
them and come back

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to a loving 
awareness of your breath.

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So beginning to deepen 
the breath a little bit.

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Again here, see if you can find
something new as you breathe in.

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Embracing gravity 
as you breathe out.

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And now one final invitation.

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As you continue to 
breathe and lean into

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the dance of feeling

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the inhale lift you, a rise.

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And feeling the 
exhale ground you,

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the fall of the breath.

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As you lean into 
that balance of the two,

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I lovingly invite you to just
bring your mind's eye to

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the tip top crown of your head.

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Place your attention there.

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And then imagine,

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head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

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Then from the crown tip top
of your head in your own way,

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whatever this means to you,

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draw a line

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from the top of your head

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down through the center 
core channel of your being,

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all the way to 
the base of the spine.

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So we've placed a light rope

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or pipeline,

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a cylinder,

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whatever it is for you,

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this awareness from 
the crown of the head

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to the base of the spine.

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And see if you 
can allow that action,

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that awareness, to affect your
breath or to at least notice if

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it changed the way your holding

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yourself up here 
with each inhale.

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And the way you're 
using your exhale to

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continuously ground down.

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And for the last minute here,
we'll take that line from the

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crown to the base of the 
spine and just hang with me,

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my friends, 
continue that line down.

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Past your physical body,
down into the earth.

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Continue that line down

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to the core of the earth.

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And then notice how 
that makes you feel.

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Notice if, and it may not, 
if that effects the way you

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carry yourself here, 
the way you breathe in

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and the way you breathe out.

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Now take three 
final conscious breaths.

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Finding balance

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and a sense of calm or peace

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between the dance
of the rise and the fall.

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The lift and the ground.

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The earth and the sky.

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Then release your 
conscious breaths.

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Rest easy here as you slowly
drop your chin to your chest.

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Try to keep the 
shoulders relaxed here

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as you gently open your eyes.

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Can flutter the eyelashes open.

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And when you're ready,
gently lift your head.

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Cue the birds outside my window.

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We'll bring the palms together.

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Just take one quiet little beat
here to notice how you feel.

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And we'll close it off by
bowing together and whispering,

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Namaste.

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(bright music)