Taking these first few moments of the practice to really settle in,
Letting your body make whatever final movements it wants to make.
Just preparing ourself to come into stillness.
So,
Allowing that spine to be straight,
Hands to be resting either on the thighs or folded hand in hand,
Just in the lap.
Letting the chest be nice and broad,
Jaw relaxed,
Face relaxed,
And belly soft.
Just so that we can feel that movement of breath really naturally in the belly.
And remaining upright so that we can feel both grounded and also relaxed.
Either our feet or our seat,
Either one connected to the earth,
Connecting to the ground while the spine just rises naturally.
Just noticing the body breathing.
You might even take a few slow inhalations and exhalations.
Breathing in and knowing this is breathing in.
Breathing out with the body while letting the mind become aware that this is breathing out.
And this might be the first time today that you've rested your mind in the same place as your breath.
That's perfect.
It doesn't matter if you've done it before this moment.
All that matters is that right now,
You're aligning awareness and body,
Awareness and breath.
So each moment is fresh.
It doesn't matter what moments came before or what comes after.
This practice is really about the simple practice of connecting the awareness with the body with the breath.
You might notice that perhaps some breaths are more shallow,
While others might be deeper.
There's no right and wrong way to breathe.
Instead,
Just noticing however the breath is arising naturally.
Now just bringing your attention to the simple fact of sitting here.
Noticing the contact points where your body meets the floor or your chair.
Sensing the warmth and aliveness and the weight of this body.
And noticing how it's being perfectly held by the earth.
With just the right amount of gravity to allow us to stay grounded and connected to the earth through our body.
Noticing even a force like gravity on the body.
And as you breathe in,
Sensing energy rising in the body.
That sense of the body being breathed gently.
And as you breathe in,
Feeling that sense of the rising energy in the body.
And as you breathe out,
Sensing the grounding.
Sensing how on that out breath,
The body can rest more deeply into the support of the ground.
And let awareness start to move up through the body.
So you could begin with feeling the feet.
Sensing the feet from the inside out.
And letting awareness start to fill from the feet up just like you would fill a glass with water.
So rising awareness through the ankles,
The calves,
The thighs.
And then feeling this connection point between the upper and lower body.
This seat,
The hips,
The pelvic bowl.
Just sensing the aliveness in the body.
You might feel various sensations,
Temperature.
A feeling of a void or maybe a lack of feeling.
A tingling.
A pressure.
And even discomfort.
Nothing to do about anything you notice other than notice.
Letting your awareness fill the body.
And letting your body be what fills your awareness.
As it rises up through the belly,
Low belly,
Mid belly,
Back.
The lungs.
That rib cage as it expands and contracts through the heart center.
Including now the totality of both arms from fingertips to shoulders.
Noticing this is the sensation present here.
Noticing the throat,
The neck.
The jaw.
The mouth.
The nose.
The ears.
The eyes.
The forehead.
And now really letting awareness just expand throughout the whole of the skull.
The face,
The scalp,
The back of the skull.
Letting awareness now fill the entire body all at once.
Like that glass of water has now become completely full with the light of your awareness.
No part left unrecognized.
Just sitting.
Just breathing.
No greater mountain to climb.
Just simply being aware of the body.
And as you continue to rest awareness in the body.
You may find your awareness pulled to different sensations,
Experiences.
And just noticing that too.
And letting awareness lightly follow without attachment.
Just noticing.
The whole body aware.
Nothing excluded.
Nothing to fix.
Just presence.
Embodied presence.
Really let body and awareness merge.
Not two separate things.
But one experience of aliveness.
And on your next exhale.
As you exhale.
Allow the breath to simply dissolve.
Into space.
Letting the boundaries of the body dissolve into space.
Space and awareness are not two.
But when we rest in space.
We inhabit awareness.
As we bring our practice to a close.
Noticing how it feels to inhabit the body.
The steadiness.
That sense of aliveness.
Just noticing.
And remembering that at any point.
Throughout our day.
We can return even for a few moments to just inhabiting the body.
Feeling the body from the inside out.
Letting this be a place of refuge.
And rest.
