The Anchor
A small practice, freely given.
This is the practice I teach first, in every room, before anything else. It is yours to keep, whether or not we ever speak.
What it is
About five minutes. A way of arriving — in a day, or a meeting, or a difficult conversation — instead of running straight into it.
It asks nothing of you. You do not have to breathe in any particular way, empty your mind, or feel anything specific. Wandering off is part of it, not a failure.
Why this first
A group cannot do honest work while everyone in it is braced. Landing is not a warm-up before the real thing. It is what makes the real thing possible.
The practice
Written version · audio coming
- Sit however you are sitting. Nothing needs adjusting.
- Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath. Two or three times. Then stop counting.
- Notice what is holding you — the chair, the floor, the ground under the building.
- Let something soften. Jaw, shoulders, hands. Whatever is willing.
- Listen for the furthest sound you can hear. Then the nearest.
- Find one place in your body that feels even slightly at ease, and rest your attention there.
- When you notice you have been thinking — and you will — that noticing is the practice. Come back.
- One thing to carry into what comes next. Small.
Not another thing to be good at. Just a quiet reminder: here I am. I am breathing. And I can begin again from here.
Give it forward
If it is useful, teach it to someone else. That is the only thing asked in return, and it isn't really asked.
More will be added here over time — guided recordings, and other practices worth giving away.