So begin by being aware of the space around you.
Become aware of the presence of all the beings of earth,
All around us at all times.
Let in with this web of life along which we resonate.
Sense for the presence of the bird folk.
Inviting in their experience as an awareness.
Seeing the shape of your body and imagining what it would be if you had wings,
Feathers,
Beak and claws.
Perhaps going inwards to your inner vision and seeing yourself as bird folk.
Seeing the feathers on your body.
Poising to take off and imagining how it feels to unfurl wings and take up so much more space.
What kind of noise might it make?
And gathering your energy now and moving it into your wings,
Making a strong motion to push the air beneath you down and away,
Feeling yourself rising higher as you do so.
Hearing the gentle breeze around you as you look around.
Let your body be carried by your wings.
Noticing the way space around you is different.
Noticing the change in perspective.
The way you feel,
What you see,
Hear and know as you fly through the skies.
Circling the air above our practice space a couple of times.
And then gliding gently down,
Alighting back in your own body.
Aware of your presence in the here and now.
Calling your energy back in.
And then allowing yourself to shift form once again.
Allowing your limbs to fade and your skin to turn to scale.
Feeling your body turn into a long,
Powerful flow of muscle.
With your inner vision,
Seeing yourself as a snake.
And taking a turn around now in the body of the snake.
Close to the ground,
Moving powerfully.
Circle the practice space as a snake.
And then pause,
Still a snake,
And go inwards.
In your mind's eye,
Watch your snake skin fade to white and harden.
Slowing your heartbeat.
Retreating now to the depths.
As the skin begins to flake and to separate from your body.
And then see yourself,
Feel yourself,
Know yourself to begin to move once again.
Sliding from the old skin,
Leaving it behind.
Moving powerfully through the world as a snake.
Coming back now to your practice space and releasing awareness of the space.
Coming back to your own presence in the here and now.
Bringing your energy back.
Going inwards,
Using your inner vision to watch yourself sinking down and down.
Down and down into the deep.
Into the depths of the ocean.
And feel your body now,
Really large and solid.
Gently held by the salt water.
Listen out for the call of the deep.
And opening your inner vision,
You see that you are a whale.
Feeling the pressure of the ocean just comfortable and right.
The air in your lungs sustaining you.
Experiencing the world through song.
And sending out your own song.
Move through the blue gentle depths.
And feel how your body naturally moves up to the shallows.
Until you experience that liminal space at the top of the water.
Gather your energy and your joy and leap.
Releasing out water,
Taking in air.
Knowing what it is to be alive,
Whale.
And then bring this knowledge back to our practice space.
Coming back to your own presence in the here and now.
Calling your energy back.
And keeping your awareness within you.
Going into stillness.
Noticing the gentle stillness of rock.
Sensing inwards throughout yourself.
And noticing the layers.
The sharp bits,
The soft bits.
The bits formed by huge pressure and by gentle accumulation.
Sense from the inside out to your surface and feel the shape you have become as a rock.
You might see yourself in your inner vision,
See your colours and patterns.
And become aware of the vast ages of your existence.
So that all the humans and the birds and the snakes and the whales are hardly in your awareness so long have you been in the forming.
And sitting with the beingness of the rock now.
And then coming back to your presence in the here and now.
Gathering back your own energy.
And coming back to what it means to be human.
We are the humans.
And as with all the other beings in our community,
Our experience is unique.
With your mind's eye,
Watch the neurons firing in your brain.
Sense inwards for your own heartbeat.
Feel the breath moving rhythmically through your body.
Know what a gift it is to be given the chance to experience this earth.
Appreciate what it is to be human and all the experiences that go with it.
Love,
Grief,
Joy,
Pain,
Presence and all the other human experiences.
Just spend a minute really appreciating this now.
And then come back once again to presence in the here and now.
Ready to close the practice by speaking a blessing for all the beings.
Wishing all well.
So you can speak any blessing now that you wish for all the beings.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice today.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
