For Keli

To begin, seat yourself where you study. Don't move anything. 

Allow things on your desk to be however they are.
Set your hands on your lap.
Rest your feet. Allow your bum to find the right spot on your chair. 
Release your shoulders. Release your jaw. 
Visualize a braid of hair toward the back of the crown of your head 
that pulls you ever so gently toward the sky.
Release your belly. Kindly life the corners of your mouth
to suggest a smile. 
Feel your eyes want to smile and send kindness to your gaze.

Soft hands soft belly soft shoulders soft jaw,
Gentle pull toward the sky,
Hint of a smile in the mouth and eyes.

Here is where we will begin with a soft, smiling body,
aware of the gentle filling and emptying of the lungs.

From this space let's visit and offer gratitude-
both to the desk and the woman who works at the desk.
For now we view the desk like an exhibit at
a museum- as an observer. For this moment
the checklists are stopped in time. The books are
quieted. The pens are asleep.
The underlined text, on break from attention. 

The woman who sparks them to life and gives them meaning,
who casts a spell that can turn printed words into
knowledge, turn pictures into concepts, turn
highlighted paper into received information-
From this space let's visit her and offer gratitude.

All of this comes alive by You. All of this is your
spell and your intention. All of this is your desire
and your commitment. All of this is your decision
and all of this is your creation. When that 
woman sits here and calls these items to life
they open themselves to being changed and to 
expanding. You have become- excellent- at this work.

Let us offer gratitude for being curious. Let us
offer gratitude to the desire to learn. Let us 
offer gratitude to the pull to heal suffering.
Let us offer gratitude to the body of the woman
through which she learns and works, relaxes and plays. 
Let us offer gratitude to the woman who 
has cried to learn, who has been exhausted to
learn, how has been lonely to learn.
She has completed their task!

The time for cramming is over. The time for
questioning her abilities has passed.
The time for hoping to succeed has come
and gone.
She can do it and do it well. She has changed
and re-made herself and completed her task.
The time for worry is over. She is already 
transformed by knowledge and dedication.
There is no failure she cannot overcome-
no success where she stops.

See what she has done. Nothing stops her.
See what she has accomplished- everything
she set out to do.

Allow your smile to deepen and appreciate her
effort. Appreciate her struggle and offer
her the benefit of your observation.
Let her hear you say:

Your spells are excellent. Your heart is true.
Your mind is flexible, powerful.
You have learned to persevere and you 
will continue to achieve your goals.
There is only evidence to suggest 
that you will continue to work hard 
and love hard and succeed.