Thank you for being here.
Just take a moment to feel energetically the presence of others here in this space that we are co-creating that you are not alone that we're coming together with a common purpose to give ourselves some time and space just to be some time and space to process that happens in the course of our lives so often we are just rushing it's like we're eating the next meal before we've digested the one that we've just had you know so much happens in the course of just one day and so our systems need some time to integrate to feel all that's been stirred up and so make your body really comfortable now and let's let our bodies feel the difference between tightness,
Contraction and tension and relaxation so lifting both of your legs just slightly and squeezing the muscles tightly feeling the sensation that arises and then gently lowering your legs back down and completely releasing the weight noticing the sensation right at that moment that you let go and feel the ripple outwards of that wave of relaxation and tension lifting your hips and squeezing your bottom tightly holding and gripping and then gently lowering hips back down and completely releasing the weight taking note of how it feels to release to surrender and let go gently pressing your lower back in towards the support beneath holding for a moment and then softening and releasing enjoying that wave of relaxation that arises just in the act of letting go lifting your upper body,
The torso slightly tensing your abdomen muscles in your back and your chest and then tenderly and carefully lowering your upper body back down and giving up the weight feeling the contact with the surface beneath as all of the muscles soften and then raising both arms just slightly squeezing a tight fist pressing fingers into palms tensing your forearms your upper arms,
Feel how it feels to hold,
To contract and tense up and then gently uncurling spreading your fingers out wide spreading the palms of your hands and gently allowing your arms to float back down and completely releasing the weight of your arms feeling where they contact the support beneath taking a nice deep breath in and hunching your shoulders right up to your ears really squeeze,
Holding and gripping and then slowly allowing your shoulders to soften and to sink right down landing in their natural alignment and releasing their weight and then just slightly lifting the head holding the weight,
Feeling how that feels and then really tenderly,
Carefully as though you're placing a precious object back down lowering your head back down and completely abandoning the weight of your head noticing how your body feels right now how do you feel allowing lots of space for every feeling that's here comfortable or uncomfortable every wave of emotion whatever state or condition of mind is present we are not trying to get rid of escape from or push away whatever life is presenting in this moment but softening around all that this moment is noticing that your body is breathing and starting to let your breath go just that little bit deeper down into your belly than usual without pushing over stretching or forcing just very gently allow your breath to slow down to go that little bit deeper into your abdomen than normal and let the exhalation go with a really long soft sigh across across the lips feeling the movement of your breath as you take as many of those slow low releasing breaths as your mind body system needs to settle to let go to give up any trying any effort just letting it all go and continuing to just really be here fully for the immediate feeling of your breath as I read this poem that I have chosen for us this evening by the amazing poet James Cruise this poem is called what the heart says and it goes like this the mind may leap five steps ahead devices pinging with new messages alerts,
Alarms but the heart says there is no emergency that muscle wanting to unclench aching to flex as free as the monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower at the cusp of autumn don't we all long for space to pause and draw sweetness from each bright thing in our path don't we crave the slowness of that butterfly perched on orange petals coming alive in a way it never can while in midair wings folding and unfolding their own form of prayer really allowing those words to sink into your bones yes our minds leap five steps ahead it's exhausting isn't it devices pinging messages,
Alerts,
Alarms our poor nervous systems are bombarded with a sense of there being an emergency all the time like always switched on but your heart knows that in truth most of the time at least there is no emergency and the muscle of your heart wants to unclench it's aching to flex as free as a butterfly that is nectaring on a delicious flower at the cusp of autumn because you know we contract with all that noise and that busyness and those notification messages pinging off here and there there's a contraction within and don't we all long for space to pause and like that butterfly just drink,
Take time to draw the sweetness from each bright thing in our path you know because that's what gets missed isn't it you know we don't stop to draw that sweetness,
We're too busy we miss the bright things in our path sometimes because we're so vigilant for the,
You know we're on alert for what's coming in from our devices maybe we crave the slowness of that butterfly coming alive in a way it never can while in midair so beautiful friends this is the invitation this evening that together we slow down we take a break from the phones,
The distractions we give our hearts,
We listen to our hearts trusting that all is okay there is no emergency right now,
That you're safe and we give the muscle of the heart space to unclench space for the whole body to relax to come back to its natural state of ease,
Flow harmony health to take time to draw the sweetness,
The nectar of our deepest,
Truest selves,
The peace the joy,
The ease that we find there,
Taking time to drink that in to come alive in a way that we can't when we are contracted,
Tight and in resistance to what is so I invite you now to just take a moment to check in with your body and notice any clenching gripping holding tightening and just to give it all up just to give it all up,
To let your whole body soften into the sweetness of just being let's notice again that body is breathing but this time without controlling or managing your breath in any way,
Just be here with it notice it notice the parts of your body that are gently moving as your body breathes the very subtle sensation at the tip of your nostrils as that breath comes in and as it leaves the body the body being breathed the breath happening all by itself and you,
The space in which breath arises and breath dissolves into one that is effortlessly quietly noticing sounds just noticing,
Not getting involved sounds in the distance sounds closer by the sound of this voice just words arising the space between words just noticing the presence of body right here,
Alive tingling pulsating vibrating with life whole body,
Just noticing just noticing parts of the body in contact with the surface beneath feeling that contact as pure sensation just noticing the earth beneath that all the layers of rock and soil of mother earth supporting your body to be here made of the same stuff the vast space in front of your body the wide open vast space in which body is arising pure sensation tongue resting in the mouth just noticing hinges of the jaw unclenching softening and surrendering to gravity feel the pull to presence and go with it give yourself to that the pull to come home to remember the essence of yourself the softening of the whole face mask melting all of the expressions of the day dissolving eyes resting right back nothing to do eyes can rest now cheeks softening throat settling down vocal cords at rest nothing to do right now space between eyebrows softening open forehead smoothing out right side of brain just getting the sense left side of brain the sensation behind eyes softening expanding a free flow of images colors shapes and forms whatever is appearing in that space behind eyes behind eyes just noticing not getting involved giving up any and every attempt to control the mind just allowing thought to arise and pass by like clouds drifting by in a wide open blue sky not getting involved there is nothing that you need to figure out right now nothing needs to make sense back of the head base of the skull back of the neck whole spine from top to tail supported held held cradled in the sweetness of just being the whole front of body softening upper arms elbows forearms hands palms of hands the immediate feeling right now in this moment palms of hands let these sensations come to you palms of hands fingers tips of fingers space between fingers a softening in the chest the muscle of your heart of your heart unclenching unfurling softening noticing the gentle rise and fall of the belly as body breathes breath coming in breath going out hips offering up their weight thighs knees calves ankles feet soles of feet feet soles of feet the current sensation happening right now that we call soles of feet just noticing toes tips of toes space between toes the whole body the whole body whole body handing itself over to the sweetness of your being our shared aware presence being here for all that arises within the body without moment by moment as we rest here together simply being awake aware wide open to each precious moment just as it is just being just being soaking up the sweetness that remains when we give up things needing to be this way or that and we just soften into the moment just as it is the good,
The bad,
The comfortable,
The uncomfortable mind,
Body and world just like this and you the wide open space that is aware here always now and now soak up the sweetness of your deepest being the innate ease,
Freedom peace that cannot be disturbed by anything that appears within itself within you what a relief to remember that true real essence of ourselves welcome the feeling of your whole body in that knowing the whole body whole body alive with sensation pulsating as your heart beats feel where your body meets the surface beneath and see if your body might soften just a little more into that support notice that the breath is moving in and out all by itself and start to let your breath deepen again going just that little bit deeper down into the cave of your belly than it usually goes let's take a few more really slow really low breaths inhaling belly rises and exhaling belly drops feeling the subtle sensation in the inner passageways of your nostrils as that breath draws in like you have forever like that butterfly drawing the sweetness nectarine on the flower drink in that long slow slow drink of breath like you have all the time in the world to receive that gift that nourishment and as you breathe out letting it all go giving it all back body softening even more as you just rest here quietly full permission just to be here and just to breathe and as you continue to enjoy the gift of the breath let's call forward a prayer for our lives as the muscle of your heart unclenches just that little bit more as it dares to open what does your heart know listening to what your heart longs for,
What it aches for what it values most in this life and and taking a moment to call forward whatever help you may need in allowing your heart to soften to open to life to all of life just that little bit more what help do you need in breaking through all that closes your heart down that cuts you off from the love in your heart what help do you need what help do you need as we invite our hearts to open to more and more of life so that we can come alive in a way that we can't when we are contracted and tight trust that your prayer and your call for help have been heard and that they will come and then let's invite the gratitude within our hearts for what we recognize that we already are so blessed to have let's invite that gratitude to spring forward noting acknowledging naming what you're grateful for who you're grateful for allowing that gratitude as it bubbles up from your heart to permeate every cell of your body every cell of your body coming alive lighting up with gratitude for all the ways that our lives are truly blessed check in with your body listen to what it needs right now would your body like to continue resting drinking in the nectar of just being or would your body like to move like that butterfly wings folding and unfolding body moving moving,
Stretching in whatever way it naturally wants to just giving it space to do that complete freedom for your body to move stretch,
Yawn whatever it needs to do now all the time going slowly let's take one last deep breath in together guys and as we do that any benefit that we have received by coming together this evening and taking this journey within as we breathe out let's send that out to all beings in every corner of the globe,
The earth the universe so that they might benefit in the same way and then as we draw that breath back in allowing that nectar to come right back here into your own heart so as if we have one lung inhaling deeply exhaling sending out the peace,
The love the ease that you may have received from your practice this evening and inhaling allowing that to come right back into your own heart thank you friends for being here with our soul family this evening I am sending my love and gratitude to each and every being that is here present and I am very grateful for your commitment and for you showing up here co-creating this medicine space,
Thank you
