Welcome.
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center.
And I'm so glad to bring you this visualization practice today.
We'll work with the metaphor of seeds and creating conditions that help our practice grow.
So choosing a posture now that can support you for the next 10 minutes or so.
This may be seated,
Lying down,
Standing,
Or even a slow walking practice.
Allowing yourself to notice what it feels like to take this posture.
Maybe you can sense gravity,
Where it tugs and connects you to the world.
Feeling the weight,
Noticing the invitation to let go.
Where can you find support in this posture?
If it feels good,
You can bring awareness to the felt sense of the body breathing.
Where do you sense the breath,
This rhythm between inhale and exhale?
Whether at the belly,
The chest,
Or over the lip,
Through the nose.
Seeing what it feels like to establish your awareness on the body breathing.
And if it feels good,
You can stay here with the breath.
You could also explore bringing awareness to sounds.
Sounds that are in the room,
Close at hand.
Sounds that are filtering in from outside the room.
Even perhaps noticing the silence in which sound unfolds.
Taking a moment now to investigate and see what might serve you for this practice as a home base.
A place to which you can return your attention if the mind wanders off,
Or if something in the practice becomes too intense.
Is it the felt sense of gravity in the body?
Or maybe a particular part of the body and the felt sensations within?
It might be the breath,
The body breathing itself,
Or it could be sound.
This dynamic play of the world around us as we take our seat in the middle.
So choosing a home base now doesn't have to be perfect.
Just one that has some stability to it,
Some comfort to it.
I'm bringing your awareness to that home base now.
Receiving this list of foundational attitudes that support our mindful practice.
Taking them in as the conditions that help our practice germinate,
That move it from dormant to growth.
So as you listen,
Just seeing if there's one that especially speaks to you now,
One you would like to see more established in your life.
Curiosity,
Kindness,
Gratitude,
Generosity,
Acceptance,
Non-judging,
Non-striving,
Letting go or letting be,
Patience,
Humor,
Trust,
Beginner's mind.
I'll read the list again.
So establishing your awareness on your home base,
Letting these conditions drop in,
Curiosity,
Kindness,
Gratitude,
Generosity,
Acceptance,
Non-judging,
Non-striving,
Letting go or letting be,
Patience,
Humor,
Trust,
Beginner's mind.
The invitation now is to take one of these foundational attitudes and imagine cupping it in your hand like a seed.
Perhaps for you,
It makes sense to have a collection of seeds.
If it makes sense and feels good to really imagine this vividly,
Perhaps you can experience it like a movie unfolding or narrate it to yourself as you would a novel.
So feeling the sensations of your home base as your ground,
Your fertile soil,
And imagining now this seed in your palm,
Resting,
Ready.
Observing yourself kneeling here at the soil,
Pressing a finger into the soil to create a divot,
Maybe sensing the coarseness or clay-like quality of the soil,
Feeling its dryness or its moisture,
And then naming the seed that you plant,
This condition you would like to see established in your life,
Placing the seed in the divot,
Covering it over with the soil,
Tamping it down.
With kindness,
With care,
With hope for its growth.
Knowing that the soil contains the water and the nutrients the seed will need to soften and swell.
Imagine watering the seed in some way.
Maybe it's watching the rain.
Imagine the seed absorbing that water,
Softening,
Expanding.
And as it expands,
These enzymes that have been present in the seed all along,
Waiting for these conditions,
They activate and take the starches and turn them into fuel,
Energy for the seedling to grow.
Cells start to multiply.
And soon,
The embryonic root presses down through the soil,
Creating an anchor,
A tether,
Drawing up nutrients from the soil through the root,
So that in time,
The seed sends forth a shoot.
The first small leaves appear and fall off,
And the true leaves emerge,
Reaching for the light,
Soaking up the light,
Absorbing the light,
Photosynthesizing sun into food,
Nourishment.
Maybe you can observe this seedling,
Fragile,
Determined,
As a possibility.
When conditions are right,
Germination begins.
I'm letting this visualization go now and bringing your awareness to rest on your home base.
Resting here for a moment,
Pausing,
No effort,
And then beginning to feel the points of contact between you and that which is supporting you,
Even actively pressing the body down in a way to feel that support returned,
And then beginning to move the body in a way that feels good,
Making these motions bigger,
Stretching,
Working out any kinks from the posture,
And as the eyes open,
Or you lift your gaze,
Looking around the space you're in,
Taking in some form,
Or color,
Or quality of light,
Even temperature or smell,
Letting the nervous system know through the direct senses that our practice is complete.
Thank you for your practice.
Did you feel supported by this practice?
I'd love to have you follow me on Insight Timer,
And if it feels good,
To consider a donation through my profile.
Until next time,
Take good care.
