Settle into stillness,
Let the body arrive before the mind does.
Close your eyes or lower them softly,
Resting your gaze inside of your own heart.
Take a slow deep breath in through the nose and exhale gently through the mouth.
And again inhale and release.
Let your breathing return to its own easeful rhythm.
There is nothing you need to change,
Nothing you need to become.
Begin to notice that you are here,
Breathing,
Alive,
Present.
Feel the quiet miracle of this moment,
Your heart beating,
Your breath moving,
Life happening effortlessly within you.
There is a story that heaven exists elsewhere,
Beyond this body,
Beyond this life,
Beyond this earth.
But listen closely,
The breath in your lungs is not waiting for another world to be sacred,
The pulse in your heart is not preparing to be alive later.
Feel this moment exactly as it is.
Gently tune into your awareness of the world around you.
See nature,
The way light filters through the trees,
The rhythm of the ocean,
The intelligence of the earth growing and renewing itself.
Notice how nothing in nature strives to be holy,
And yet it is.
Allow yourself to feel that same belonging,
That same holy essence.
You are part of this living world.
Now bring your awareness to your heart.
Feel the warmth.
Feel the warmth there.
The tenderness.
The capacity to love and to perceive beauty.
Feel yourself gazing into the eyes of someone you love deeply,
Or someone who has made you feel truly seen.
Notice what happens in your body.
The softening,
The opening.
In these moments,
Nothing is amiss.
Allow yourself to rest in this understanding.
You do not have to leave this life to experience heaven.
You do not have to transcend the body or escape the earth.
Heaven lives in presence,
In connection,
In the way life reveals itself when we are truly healed.
Feel your breath again.
With each inhale,
Invite yourself more fully into this moment.
With each exhale,
Release the belief that fulfillment exists somewhere else.
There is nowhere you need to arrive.
Allow your senses to awaken gently.
Feel your body.
Noticing sounds around you.
Sensations in your body.
The quiet aliveness of now.
This,
This is where heaven touches the earth.
Silently,
You may say to yourself,
Heaven is here.
It is in me.
It is found in my breath.
In my sight.
In my love.
Let these words sink beneath thought into feeling.
Carrying this awareness into your daily life.
Into conversations.
Into moments of stillness.
Into the simple act of being human.
Heaven does not require perfection.
Simply presence.
Begin to gently return to the feeling of your physical body.
The surface beneath you.
The pace of your breath.
Take one slow,
Nourishing breath in.
And release it fully.
When you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Welcome back.
To this life.
To this earth.
To heaven here and now.
Carry this with you.
That heaven has not been far away.
It has been waiting for your presence.
