Let's just close our eyes if that feels safe and comfortable for you to do that or you can have the eyes obviously at sort of half-mast looking downward.
That's also just fine and we come into the present moment with this attitude really of compassion for ourselves.
We enter into this space acknowledging where we've been and opening to this moment with a sense of gratitude.
So if at all possible maybe as you if you need to fidget or move a little bit,
That's fine,
Of course.
And maybe just opening yourself to this idea of gratitude for being in this body in this moment right here and right now.
Cultivating that sense of gratitude even appreciation for all of the things your body is doing that you don't even know about.
The ways it's healing,
Protecting and can you just offer a brief thank you to your body?
And same thing with your thoughts.
Even if you're getting pulled,
Distracted,
If you are sensing something about the future that's pulling you or something you're reminiscing about,
Conversation,
Image,
Whatever it is,
Can you offer a prayer of thanks,
Of appreciation,
Thank you mind,
Thank you consciousness for showing me.
And then maybe doing the same thing with emotion.
Sensing the feeling tone right now,
Noticing how you feel.
Frustrated or joyful,
There's a sense of contentment or sense of agitation,
Whatever is presenting itself to you right now.
Can you offer gratitude,
Appreciation,
Thank you feelings for showing me what I need to see,
For allowing me to feel what I need to feel.
And then we come back to our particular experience of where we are right here and right now.
So you can sense your feet flat on the floor or if you're sitting on a cushion,
Maybe the ankles touching each other.
Sensing gravity pull you into your seat,
The spine tall,
So you're alert but relaxed.
And you feel the body breathe,
So maybe you feel it more intensely at the tip of the nose or in the chest or in the belly.
It doesn't matter,
You can just pick one of those places and let your mind rest there for a few breaths.
Maybe even offering that same gratitude and appreciation for the breath.
Every time your mind wanders,
Just like a storm cloud gathering in the sky,
You watch it appear and then dissipate.
There's nothing to hold on to here.
If you find yourself lost in thought,
You just begin again,
Come back to the breath.
And the same thing is true with emotion.
If there's an emotion that arises,
You sense or feel it,
Notice it.
Ah,
Feeling,
This feels like tightness or gripping or this feels open.
And again,
Like a cloud in the sky appears and then it's gone.
And there's nothing to do but be in spacious awareness.
You are the wise witness.
Same thing with sensation in the body,
If you notice tightness or gripping.
Cultivating maybe even a sense of gratitude.
Thank you.
I can let go of that space now.
Can you find more ease and equanimity in just the being?
And just like the vast sky,
You have the capacity to hold it all,
To see it all.
You are part of it,
And it is part of you.
And anytime you feel pulled,
Just begin again.
Come back to the breath.
Sense yourself like the vast expanse of sky.
No separation between yourself and everything.
Thoughts,
Feelings,
And sensations rise and fall,
Appear and disappear,
Just like clouds in the sky.
You see it all with loving awareness,
Sense of gratitude.
Rest in that space.
And in this last minute or so,
Can you sense or feel everything under that sky connected?
Feel yourself as a part of the whole,
As if it's one breath together.
Trees,
Animals,
Flowers,
And all the other beings.
And then bringing our chin down towards our chest,
Deepening the breath,
Blinking the eyes open very slowly,
And again with that same sense of gratitude and appreciation for whatever the practice held for you.
Whether you felt it or didn't feel it,
No comparison.
In a state of equanimity,
Hold that space for just a moment.
Let yourself be in that space.
And then as you're ready,
We'll come back.
You can rub the hands together if that feels good,
Taking the hands to rest over the eyes,
Regenerating the senses before coming back.
Coming back into your space.
