Come to a comfortable position.
Seated if possible.
Perhaps on a bolster,
A floor,
A chair.
Get yourself as comfortable as possible.
Settle in.
And start with looking around you.
Look up.
Look down.
Look left.
Look right.
Gaze at a spot far away from you,
Perhaps through a window or the other side of the room.
See how far away you can look.
Now bring your gaze to something very close to you.
Perhaps your shoulder,
Your arm,
Lap,
The details of the back of your hand.
Really observe the minutiae,
The details.
And when you're ready,
Slowly close your eyes.
Now imagine the space,
The room that you currently occupy.
Draw to mind where you are in this room and where the things in this room are in relation to you.
What surrounds you?
What is under you?
Feel where your body connects to the earth.
Feel the air as it cools against your warm skin.
Feel what is touching your skin,
Clothing,
Blankets,
Grass.
Now try squeezing your fists together,
Balling up the fingers.
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze.
And release your hands down to rest somewhere on your lap.
Sense your mouth.
Glide your tongue along your teeth,
Starting with upper teeth,
Moving down to lower teeth.
Prod the sides of your cheeks left and right.
See if you can touch your tongue underneath your tongue.
Awareness of whole inside of the mouth.
Lick your lips.
Let them smooth out.
And let's exhale.
Release all tension in the jaw.
And let the tongue rest in the mouth.
Awareness of breath.
Feel your breath as it comes in and out through the nose.
Nice and smoothly,
Not forced.
Feel the expansion in your chest,
Ribs,
Abdomen on the inhale.
Feel the release of the abdomen,
Ribs,
Chest on the exhale.
Breathe here with this awareness.
Hear the sound of the breath as it comes in through the head.
Sound of breath as it leaves through the head.
Hearing sounds within the body.
Now expand your sense of hearing outside the body into the space you are in.
Listen.
Reach with your ears to every corner of the space you currently occupy.
And now see if you can expand that sense of hearing to outside the room or the space that you occupy.
Above,
Below,
Around.
Can you stretch that sense of hearing?
Now bring that sense of hearing back.
Imagine a great flowering tree,
Branches thick,
Many off-shooting branches,
Reaching out like fingers all around it.
Get close up to a tiny twig,
Its bark like the skin on a finger,
Striations and textures,
Colors,
More than just the woody gray,
More than meets the eye.
And see on this twig,
A tiny furled bud right at the end.
See the colors and textures of the little bud.
And notice how full of energy and potential the little bud is.
A quivering little ball,
Wrapped up in its fetal position,
The potential of a flower.
See if you can become that bud.
Hold the sensation,
The visualization,
And also feel through your body what it is to be a bud.
So still to the observer,
But underneath a surface,
Little micro-currents of potential energy bursting through its curled little self.
In your awareness,
Notice the sun rising,
Bringing light and heat,
Warming the outer layer of petals or leaves.
The sun is a call,
The siren's song.
Hear how the sun beckons your opening.
And at the same time,
Feel the pull of stasis,
Of remaining curled up,
How comfortable and safe it is wound up into yourself.
And feel that equal pull of the sun,
The warmth,
The light,
Opening you up layer by layer.
Feel the tug back of staying,
Of being,
Of resting,
And that equal,
Opposing tug of opening,
Of giving.
Feel the outer layer of your leaves or petals stretch,
Like fingertips on widespread hands,
Reaching,
Efforting,
Opening.
Maybe your first layer opens.
Feel it settle open,
The glorious ecstasy of the sun's rays on your petals.
It's intoxicating.
Surrender this opening to the sun,
To the light,
To the warmth.
Feel the effervescent buzz of energy filling you.
Your skin is alive with electricity and heat.
Surrender your next layer of petals.
Allow them to burst forth,
Opening,
Blossoming.
Sink into the warmth of the sun.
Feel the surrender of petals opening,
Opening for sunlight as nature intended.
Let one petal open,
And then another,
And another,
And another.
Keep this opening going.
With each burst of sunlight,
One petal at a time.
Sit here with this peaceful,
Powerful,
Luminous sensation.
Know that you can access this power within you anytime.
Bask now in the sun's rays fully open to the light.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale,
Release all concentration on thoughts.
Guide your attention to the sounds in the room around you.
Sounds outside the space you are in.
Draw that awareness back into the sounds within your body.
Digestion.
Heartbeat.
Breath.
Finding your breath.
Notice once again how the body expands and contracts with each breath.
Feel the cool air coming into the nostrils on the inhale.
Warm air as it brushes the upper lip on the exhale.
Notice the jaw,
Perhaps wiggling it to loosen it.
Awareness of tongue,
Releasing tongue from top of the mouth.
Noticing the taste within the mouth.
Waking up awareness of the mouth in your body.
Stick out your tongue.
Lick your lips.
Feel where you are connected to the ground through your seat.
Feel the parts of you touching the earth.
Notice where you're not touching the earth.
The feeling of your clothing on your skin.
The feeling of the air on your skin.
Imagine once again the room that you are in,
Where you are in this room,
The space you occupy.
In your mind's eye,
See all the walls and furniture that make up where you are right now.
When you're ready,
Slowly begin to blink your eyes open.
Keep your gaze soft as you slowly look around the room.
Drink it all in with your eyes,
And take these last few moments to notice how you're feeling right now.
You might find it helpful to journal,
Or just take a few extra minutes after this meditation ends to settle back into your space,
Into your body,
And to continue with the rest of your day.
Take as much time as you need before getting up.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
