Getting yourself into a comfortable posture,
Getting anything you need to make yourself more comfortable,
Having your feet flat on the floor so that you are supporting your upper body,
Taking some deeper breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth,
In through the nose and out through the mouth,
Feeling the body expanding as you breathe in and softening as you breathe out,
Imagining that you are breathing in calm and breathing out tension,
Closing the eyes,
Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm,
Feeling the weight of the body sinking down and the feet connecting to the floor,
Having a sense of being grounded,
Of being rooted to the earth,
Solid,
Reconnecting to this question,
What is here and now if there is no problem to solve,
Noticing sounds,
Noticing what's going on in the mind right now,
Is it very busy,
Is it going back to solving problems or planning something,
No problem to solve,
Softening the forehead,
Softening the eyes,
Feeling the air travelling in and out through the nostrils,
Noticing if the jaw is tense,
Seeing what happens if you allow a slight smile,
Does anything change in the mind or the body,
Imagining that as you breathe in,
You're breathing into your shoulders,
As you breathe out,
You're breathing out from your shoulders,
Softening the hands,
Allowing the arms to hang down,
Dead weight,
Keeping the face soft,
Feeling the chest area,
Feeling the belly area,
Feeling the back,
The upper back,
The middle back,
The lower back,
If there's any tension in the shoulders or the back or anywhere in the body,
Asking yourself what if this is not a problem that needs solving,
Feeling the buttocks,
The hips,
The groin,
The thighs,
The knees,
The shins and the feet,
Tuning into the breath within the body as a whole and seeing if it's possible to imagine in a child inside of you,
Imagining what they look like,
Their facial expression,
Their body posture,
Notice if you imagine them as seeming to be happy or unhappy,
Imagining now giving your inner child a hug,
Imagining as an adult being able to give your inner child a hug,
And imagining if there are any soothing words that your inner child needs to hear,
Wants to hear,
Noticing how that feels,
Notice how your body feels,
Feeling your breath,
And now as you imagine your inner child,
Is anything changed about how they look?
Noticing your mood right now,
Noticing your state of mind.
This is a poem called The Invitation by Araya Mountain Dreamer.
It doesn't interest me It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
For your dream,
For the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you've touched the centre of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
Mine or your own,
Without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy,
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
To be realistic,
To remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul,
If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty,
Even when it is not pretty,
Every day,
And if you can source your life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the moon,
Yes.
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone,
And do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you've studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments,
Bringing the attention back to the contact with the chair,
The feet on the floor,
Noticing sounds when you're already slowly opening the eyes.
