Okay guys so let's get started.
I thought this evening we might tense and relax the body.
Progressive muscle relaxation is what it's called and it has been proven to be a very simple quick and easy way to start relieving the stress that's living in the body.
And so let's start by raising the legs just slightly and squeeze all of the muscles in your legs.
Squeezing really tightly and holding for a moment as hard as you can and then allowing your legs to soften,
Release and let them settle back down to the support beneath and completely release the weight.
And as we go around the body doing this really feel the sensation of holding,
Gripping and clenching.
And then when we release the body feel the softening,
The relief and the sensations of letting go.
So let's raise the hips just slightly and squeezing the buttocks really tightly holding,
Gripping and clenching and then gently softening and lowering your hips back down and completely releasing the weight.
And then let's gently press the lower back down into the surface beneath holding that position for a moment.
How does it feel to hold?
And then release.
How does it feel to let go?
To soften?
And then tensing your abdomen.
So holding the abdomen tightly.
Maybe drawing your belly button back towards your spine just to tense all the muscles in your abdomen.
And then releasing and letting go.
And then lift your upper body up just slightly and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Tense your chest and all the muscles in your back.
And then gently let your upper body soften back down and completely give up the weight of your upper body.
Feel how it feels to release and let go.
And then let's raise both arms just slightly and squeeze your fingers into your palms.
Make a tight fist,
A really tight fist,
Squeezing,
Gripping and clenching.
Feel that tension in your forearms and your upper arms.
And then spread your fingers out wide,
Stretching your palms and allowing your arms to float gently back down.
Completely releasing the weight.
And then just for a moment just slightly raising your head and just noticing how heavy the head is.
And then very gently offer it back and allow the full weight of your head to be held.
And then if it feels right and comfortable for you let's place one hand over the heart space.
Yeah and the other hand over the belly.
And I like to do this as a way of sending a signal to your mind-body system that you are here for yourself.
That you are committed to taking this time out and being fully present to listen to whatever wants to be heard,
To witness what wants to be seen and to feel what wants to be felt.
So just silently setting that intention for yourself very lightly to really be here and to let that intention fall away knowing that that intention is enough.
And just let life do the rest.
Life will call you back to presence.
Anytime that you leave,
Anytime you drift off or you numb out,
That intention will rise up as a moment of noticing.
All by itself.
There's nothing that you need to do.
And as you start to let all of the energies of your day just noticing how you feel,
How your body feels,
Without any judgment just noticing and starting to soften around whatever's here.
We're not here to get rid of anything or push anything away but to create space and soften around your moment-to-moment experience.
I have a really beautiful quote to read us this evening from a beautiful book called the Radiance Sutras written by a man called Lorin Roche.
I'm going to read Radiance Sutra number four and this is a translation,
It's Lorin's translation of a sutra from the Vijnana by Rava Tantra,
An ancient text.
And this sutra goes like this and I invite you as I read this to just let your whole body hear the words to sense the essence of what is being conveyed in this sutra,
In this verse,
Which goes like this.
At the end of the exhale breath surrenders to quietude for a moment you hang in the balance suspended in the fertile spaciousness that is the source of the breath.
At the end of the inhale filled with the song of the breath there is a moment when you are simply holding the tender mystery.
In these interludes experience opens into exquisite vastness with no beginning and no end.
Embrace this infinity without reservation.
You are its vessel.
Such beautiful words and I hope this evening that we really get a taste of that exquisite vastness that is always present even in the midst of all the noise but we get lost in that noise and cut off from the tender mystery.
So that's my hope for us this evening that we get to taste that and let's let the breath take us there.
So let's start to slow our breath down together just breathing together letting your breath go just that little bit deeper down into your belly than it usually goes.
So we are bringing a softness and a gentleness and a kindness to this experience.
No forcing,
No pushing.
Let the breath come to you.
And allow it to go just that little bit deeper down into the cave of your belly.
And then just give the exhalation away with a really long soft releasing sigh.
I invite you to really take your time.
No rush.
Breathing in like you have all the time in the world to savour that long full refreshing drink of life force energy.
And let every breath out be a giving up of the whole story of your life and all the stories of the world just for now.
Just for this moment.
And devote yourself to the feeling of your breath.
Just that simple experience see if you can stay with the immediate feeling of your breath working at your own pace noticing as your body gives back that breath with a soft comforting soothing sigh.
Notice the parts of your body that are naturally involved in breathing.
Just noticing.
Notice as you follow your breath that at the end of the exhalation the breath surrenders to quietude.
There's no resistance it just sinks back into the space from which the next breath arises.
But you might notice that momentary pause where you hang in the balance suspended in the fertile spaciousness that is the source of the breath.
Feel that sense of being filled at the top of the inhalation with the song of the breath.
And noticing that moment where you are simply embracing the tender mystery of your being.
And so that's all that's being asked of you in this moment is just to be here and just to notice and just to notice these momentary gaps between each breath.
Not thinking about them not trying to figure them out not exerting any effort but just that moment of noticing as the breath turns and what the breath points to.
The exquisite vastness that you are that you already are there's nothing you need to become.
A vastness with no beginning and no end totally free and unbound.
Breath coming in and breath going out.
So simple.
Anytime you leave just let that be okay and just keep coming back to right now to the fullness of this moment to the sounds near or far just noticing without getting involved.
These sensations of body pleasant or unpleasant just noticing no judgment let everything come to you in its own time and in its own way.
The aliveness of the body just noticing where your body meets that support feeling where your body makes contact with the surface beneath just noticing the sensations where your body meets that support.
Might you surrender the weight of your whole body to that support?
A support that is here for you rising up to meet body.
Bones giving up their weight muscles releasing and letting go layer by layer as we surrender to quietude.
Feel where your head meets the pillow just the feeling and let your head be held.
Any time you leave whether you succumb to sleep you numb out or dissociate or you get caught in restlessness of body or mind know that you can just begin afresh in any moment coming back again and again to your naturally awake alive aware presence it is always here.
Feel the tongue resting in the back of your head feel the tongue resting in the mouth the root of the tongue softening a release of any tension in the jaw just letting it go giving it up the lower jaw surrendering to gravity noticing the natural taste inside the mouth just the immediate experience without getting involved taste inside the mouth a softening of the whole face the expressions of the day fading away noticing the temperature the eyes dropping right back and maybe dropping even further back than that temples eyebrows space between eyebrows softening open like a beautiful flower opening up to the sun forehead smooth giving up any tension or grasping around how you feel around how this moment should be let it be as it is keep softening around what's here already brain giving up its weight as we allow nothing to make sense to just be in the tender mystery of life not trying to figure any of it out back of the head base of the skull back of neck and whole spine cradled supported and let that support impart a sense of safety that it's okay and safe to just let everything go and just be to embrace infinity without reservation and let your shoulders soften right down arms giving up their weight devote yourself in this moment to the simple already here already here experience hands the direct feeling hands how can you tell right now in this moment that hands are present referring only to the immediate feeling hands palms of hands fingers tingling and dancing with life life happening right here right now in the palms of hands let these sensations flow there is nothing to keep and nothing to wait for palms of hands alive with sensation heart beating breath coming in and going out all by itself the rhythm of life beating in this body hips giving up their weight legs softening releasing and letting go thighs knees calves ankles feet soles of feet really being here fully present awake and aware for the current feeling feet dropping everything that you know about feet dropping the memory the image and just be here fully right now for the immediate experience feet without looking for anything special or in particular being here fully for whatever is here you can't get this wrong you can't get this wrong the whole body whole body softening releasing and giving up whatever it's ready to layers of clenching and gripping bracing and resisting let your body release what it's ready to just giving it all back whole body whole body suspended in a warm bath of exquisite vastness with no beginning and no end so beautiful souls friends together let's rest as that let's dive into the tender mystery of just being let's embrace this infinity without reservation knowing that you are it's vessel and any time you leave just keep coming back again and again just being just being just being noticing the paradox of life unfolding moment by moment in the quietude both happening simultaneously life dancing in the exquisite vastness that has no beginning or end no separation like lovers in the closest embrace feel the presence of your body alive tingling and vibrating pulsating with life feel the dance in the palms of your hands notice that your body is breathing and once more let your breath go just that little bit deeper down into your belly than usual drinking it in savouring the breath and then inhaling with a long soft soothing sigh devoting yourself again to the movement of your breath following its journey in and out of the body notice that moment at the end of the exhale where the breath surrenders to the quietude of your being where for that delicious moment you hang in the balance suspended in the fertile spaciousness from which that breath has emerged notice that moment at the end of the inhale whilst you are filled with the song of the breath that momentary pause when you are simply holding the tender mystery of life you are life's vessel you are life itself keep following this journey of your breath that reveals the great mystery that is the source of peace peace freedom and ease even in the midst of our difficult moments as human beings and as we lie here together open and with the defences down let's call forward from that fertile spaciousness a prayer for our lives anything is possible anything is possible everything is possible the spaciousness that you are is fertile wanting to give birth to what your heart longs for call that forward note it acknowledge it what matters to you and then let's call forward whatever help we may need as we face the challenges and difficulties of being human the suffering what help do you need silently ask for it and trust that grace will come moments of mercy arising in our difficult moments in our difficult times and then let's spend some time in gratitude calling forward and acknowledging what you're grateful for who you're grateful for how is your life already blessed privileged taking note of what you're grateful for and really feel sense that gratitude lighting up the cells of your body whole body lit up with the healing energy of gratitude and now let's just take a moment to check in with the body and let's listen to what it needs now does it want to move does it want to stretch or does it want to continue resting and bathing in exquisite vastness really listen to what's needed now and whatever your body needs let the unfolding of that happen slowly gently so that there's not a contraction back as mind body and world return so that we remain anchored in that quietude and fertile spaciousness take your time there's absolutely no rush and maybe just for a moment if if there is benefit that you have received by being here this evening joining together in this way just take a moment to send that out to all beings beings who are suffering how lucky we are that we have the time and space to come together like this so sending that out so that it reaches all corners of the earth of infinity and then let it come back boomeranging back to yourself so that all beings may know the peace that resides within us within us oh what a pleasure to be here with you this evening thank you for showing up thank you for being here so important to take time out and remember who we are to remember our being yeah go really slowly friends yeah go easy just taking you all in and sending love from my heart to yours
