So just beginning by finding a nice comfortable posture,
Whether you're sitting down or laying down,
There's no right way.
Just as long as you can be comfortable enough to not have to shuffle around or move too much.
And then when you've found a nice comfortable spot,
Just gently closing down the veil of your eyes if you're comfortable to.
Just notice that when you close down the veil of the eyes,
The attention,
Your awareness just starts to turn inwards.
To begin with,
Just become aware of anything that's in contact with the floor.
Maybe noticing that as you push down gently into the floor,
It pushes you back.
Gently holding you in place.
And then just taking your attention up to the space between the eyebrows.
And just notice if there's any obvious creasing or tension,
Any squinting around the eyes.
And just see if you can let there be spaciousness and gentleness across the top of the forehead.
Almost as if there's a smile across the forehead,
Creating more openness across the front of the face.
And just bring that same smile shape across the eyes with the outer edges,
The outer corners peeking upwards and outwards.
And then also just bringing that same shape down to the mouth with the corners peeking upwards and outwards.
What would it feel like to bring that shape to the inside of the mouth?
Smiling on the inside of the mouth.
Maybe it becomes a little bit more supple,
A little bit more soft,
And just a little bit more relaxed.
And then maintaining that openness across the front of the face,
Just coming down to the shoulders and making sure the collarbones are nice and broad,
Shoulder blades on the back of the body,
Gently coming closer together.
Just creating that same open smile shape across the front of the chest.
Just allowing ourselves to be open and receptive,
Able to receive anything that might be here for us in the next little while.
So just maintaining this openness across the front of the body,
Just start to notice the breath,
Start to notice maybe where you're allowing the breath to go.
You don't need to change anything just yet.
Just notice if you're breathing into the chest or down into the navel.
And just slowly start to invite the breath down into the space just above the belly button.
Just deepening the breath in the same way that through our ears we receive the sound.
See if you can let the stomach receive the breath rather than needing to do the breathing itself.
So just taking a couple of breaths here,
Seeing if you can be with the breath as you inhale through the nostrils,
Down to the navel,
Then exhale back up and back up.
And so just being with the breath as much as you can.
Just start to ask yourself what it was that brought you to this meditation.
Was there a staring of some sort,
A question,
A curiosity,
A feeling?
What was it that had you feel you needed this moment?
I'm just going to explore the idea that through stillness,
Through silence,
Sometimes we get access to the answers that have always actually been there beneath the surface.
But by carving out space within our busy lives,
Sometimes we actually find the answers that we're seeking through the doing of our busy lives.
And so just bring to mind if there was a question or a curiosity that you did come with.
And if you didn't come with one,
What would one be?
That's one question that you're currently asking yourself or contemplating over.
And just let that be your intention for this meditation.
And when you've got something this gently coming back to the breath,
Inhaling through the nostrils,
Down the spine to the navel,
And exhaling back up the spine and out the nostrils.
And so with this question in the back of your mind,
I'm just going to spend a few moments deeply listening without the need to find the answer,
Without forcing an answer.
Just by connecting to the breath and starting to relate to silence and stillness in some way,
I'm just going to listen and observe to what might emerge.
Just building the capacity to listen.
And so staying connected to the breath,
Just starting to observe and become aware of thoughts or feelings as they pop up.
Sometimes it helps to bring a gentle smile to the mouth as you observe,
Observing them as if they're your grandchildren in the park.
And so,
With this question in the back of your mind,
I'm just going to spend a few moments are like your childhood memory.
And if you notice your mind going off on crazy tangents,
Just again bring a gentle smile to the mouth,
Coming back to the breath,
And just remind yourself of that question or that intention.
You're set You You Might start to notice that one answer comes up and then another answer comes up And so you might feel the fluidity of answers the impermanence of answers You start to notice that maybe there is no concrete answer And that maybe by developing the capacity to constantly listen in to check in You can really only find our answer for this moment And that by returning to the body in the breath You start to access the knowledge of the body Instead of trying to seek these answers With all the stories in the mind and expectations By listening in and connecting to the breath we start to create space for the body to speak to us For all of the memories and the knowledge that the body holds about ourselves We start to get access to that So I'm just going to read a poem by Martha Posselswaite Do not try to save the world or do anything grandiose Instead create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently Until the song that is yours alone to sing falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue So just start to bring life back to the body very slowly,
Maybe starting with the toes and the fingers And just remember that the breath is always there and that maybe these answers are also always there And that they will always change and morph by developing the ability to listen in Maybe we can have a relationship with the present moment and whatever the answer is that feels true for this moment So in your own time and when you're ready just start to bring a little bit of movement and deepen the breath back into the body And then maybe on your next inhale bring your shoulders up towards your ears And on your exhale just rolling them back down,
Exhaling out through the mouth And then gently blinking your eyes open back to the wild and wonderful world
