Welcome to this session on opening to Source.
Now Source can mean many different things to many different people.
In Christian language maybe it could mean opening to the presence of God,
Maybe for you it might mean a specific deity,
For some it might be the universe.
In essence it is that ultimate true nature of life,
A holding presence in which life exists.
But for this practice particularly I don't want you to get too entangled in the concepts around it or what it might be,
But rather just opening to the feeling,
The feeling of that supportive holding presence that allows you to be just as you are and then see what that brings and how it feels.
So go ahead and get yourself comfortable,
Try not to be too rigid,
Allow your body to be relaxed and natural.
To begin let's do some slow breaths together,
Taking a slow deep in-breath for about four or five seconds,
Allowing a long slow breath of about seven seconds to flow out.
So keep doing that on your own for a little while,
Really noticing how your body relaxes on the out-breath and then just relax onto the natural breath,
Allowing it to flow in and out with ease.
And instead of just following the breath with your mind,
Start to become curious of how it feels in the body,
So noticing all the sensations in your belly,
Your chest,
Your ribs as they rise and fall,
Expand and contract.
Allow yourself to really be with the breath,
The natural flow of the breath almost holding you as you begin to relax.
If you find yourself drifting off that's okay,
Just let it be where it is,
You don't need to fuss with it and instead just very gently bring your awareness back to noticing the breath in the body again,
Back to being with the breath.
So we're not trying to create or hold a certain mind state here,
We are just letting everything be as it is,
Flow as it needs to flow and allow ourselves to be present within that.
Becoming aware again of how your body releases and relaxes each time you breathe out and really let your body relax deeper and deeper each time.
Noticing also if you're visualizing relaxing,
Whether you're feeling it in the body.
Each breath sinking deeper into the ground and then starting to notice how that ground feels against your body.
The sense of ground might be the actual earth beneath your feet but also might be the chair or the bed that's holding your body.
Noticing how it supports your whole body,
How steady and securely and safely it holds you.
And just noticing for a moment if you're really allowing yourself to trust that sense of ground.
And as you breathe with each out breath,
Whether you're really allowing yourself to let go,
Relax and deepen into it.
If you get caught in worries or thoughts,
You might notice tension or lifting up feeling in the body.
Just try to let the thoughts be there.
Just leave them alone and gently,
Softly,
Bring your awareness back to noticing the breath in the body.
Allowing your body to relax back down into the ground.
Feeling the support of that.
While resting in this present moment,
Allowing,
Just being.
Allow yourself to open to source,
That ultimate holding presence in which life exists.
And as you open to source,
Just notice the feeling.
Know that this source energy is part of your true nature.
It is always there for you.
You're never without it.
The only difference is whether we're allowing ourselves to open to it,
To open to its holding presence.
As you rest with the presence of source,
You could imagine yourself in a situation in your life with some kind of struggle or difficulty.
Imagine the pain or the challenge of that.
And imagine while you're in that situation,
Allowing your awareness to come back home to your body,
To your breath,
Allowing your body to relax,
To ground,
And opening to source.
Noticing how that feels.
Imagine yourself being able to handle that situation positively,
In a way that you would like,
While being held by source.
And let that feeling really embed in your system.
Now take a nice,
Deep,
Slow breath in through the nose,
And let out a satisfying sigh.
Letting the shoulders relax down from the ears.
Letting the ground support you.
Coming back to noticing the breath,
Coming in and out naturally.
And when you're ready,
You can slowly begin to move your body in a way that feels very satisfying.
It might be stretching,
Shaking,
Yawning,
Or saying something,
Whatever it might be for you.
Feeling the nourishment of that.
And gradually begin to open your eyes.
I hope you enjoyed opening to source,
And felt held by its presence.
So as you go out and about on your day,
Faced with constant challenges,
Just remember,
Source is always there for you.
