Finding a posture that allows both ease and wakefulness,
Seated or lying down if you're seated,
Let the feet rest flat on the floor and allow the spine to rise naturally not rigid,
Not forced,
As if you're being gently lifted from the crown of the head letting the shoulders drop away from the ears,
Soften the hands,
Soften the chest,
The belly and clenching the jaw,
Letting the tongue rest easily and if you're laying down,
Allowing the legs to fall open a little,
Arms relaxed by the sides,
Palms turned up or down whatever feels most natural,
And letting the weight of the body give itself to the earth take a moment to make any small adjustments,
Shift the hips,
Lengthen the back of the neck settle the face,
So that the body receives this time as safe allowing the eyes to close or softening their gaze,
Feel the body being supported by the chair,
The floor,
The earth there is nothing you need to achieve here,
Nothing to resolve,
Nothing to perform,
You are already within the way notice the simplest things,
Breath,
Sound,
Temperature,
The quiet fact of being here if the mind is busy,
That's okay,
If the heart feels tender,
Closed or open,
That's okay too everything belongs,
Bringing attention gently to the breath,
Not as something you do,
But as something given the in-breath arrives,
Unmasked,
The out-breath releases without effort as you exhale,
Let the body soften,
Just a few degrees,
Shoulders loosening,
Jaw unclenching,
Hands ungripping you don't need to make the breath longer,
You don't need to make it calmer,
Just let it be natural,
And let yourself be met by it now let the exhale become a gentle permission,
Permission to release,
Permission to be unfinished,
Permission to be simple and if you notice you've drifted into thought,
That's not a problem,
Kindly return,
As if you were guiding a child back by the hand back to breath,
Back to now,
Now introduce the movement of self-emptying,
Not as loss,
But as surrender with each out-breath,
Imagine gently laying something down,
Not throwing it away,
Not rejecting it,
Simply placing it down you might lay down the need to understand everything,
The need to be certain,
The need to stay in control you might lay down the subtle striving to be better,
To be spiritual,
To get this right and notice you are still here,
Breathing,
Aware,
Self-emptying isn't becoming nothing,
It's releasing what no longer needs to be carried if it helps,
Quietly name what you're laying down,
Just one thing,
Trying,
Proving,
Overthinking,
Bracing and then let the breath carry it out,
Now rest for a moment in the space that opens when you stop gripping allow awareness to settle,
Beneath thoughts,
Beneath images,
Beneath effort,
Thoughts may continue to pass that's okay,
Nothing needs to be silenced,
Nothing needs to be fixed,
Begin to notice the space around experience the quiet backdrop behind sound,
The stillness underneath sensation,
As if you were listening from deeper within here,
Prayer becomes very simple,
Not words,
Not requests,
Just presence,
Just consent a small inner yes to what is,
And if you sense any tenderness,
Any vulnerability,
Let it be included too this is not an escape from life,
It's a return to what is real,
The doorway is not a place,
It's a softening I loosen the name I wear,
The story I've been carrying,
The small fist of certainty something opens when I stop reaching,
Not darkness,
Not light,
A quiet wide enough to hold them both I take one breath as an offering,
And step into what I cannot explain let everything be simple now,
No need to do anything with the experience,
No need to grasp it,
No need to name it just rest,
And when you're ready,
Gently begin to sense the body again the contact points,
The weight,
The room,
If you'd like a final whisper,
Only this the way continues
