This audio is the copyright of Catherine G Lucas.
It is for personal use only.
Welcome,
I'm Catherine G Lucas,
Or welcome back if you've already heard some of my mindfulness audios.
Today I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful practice,
Blossom gazing.
It's a practice which is very dear to me.
I had a profound experience with this practice many years ago,
Where it took me into a very deep inner stillness,
That inner silence,
Wonderful peace.
So yes,
It's a very,
It's a practice that's very special to me.
So you're going to want to find some blossom,
Either a tree or a bush.
And ideally,
This practice works best on a day when you've got a gentle breeze,
So that some of the blossom is already starting to flutter away.
So I'm sat here,
I've got my meditation mat on the grass,
And I'm sat looking at a small almond tree in bloom,
Almost more of a bush than a tree.
And the blue sky and the sun and the bees and the butterflies are absolutely loving the blossom.
So get yourself comfortable,
Either sat in front or if it's a lovely big tree underneath.
And let's take a few moments to really arrive,
To get grounded,
To get settled.
So just feeling your connection with the earth,
Feeling the ground beneath you,
Knowing that the whole planet is supporting you.
And notice what that contact feels like.
Does it feel hard or soft,
Damp or dry?
And noticing where you're feeling that contact with the ground as well.
Is it through your feet,
Through your legs,
Your bottom?
And then we can take a few moments to bring our awareness to the breath.
So we're connecting with this moment through the body,
Through the breath.
And following the breath for a few cycles,
Feeling the movement in the body,
The sensations in the body with the breath.
So you might notice as you breathe in the upper torso,
Kind of lifting,
Expanding,
That feeling of expansion across the chest and then releasing as you breathe out.
You might feel the movement in the upper back across the shoulder blades,
Broadening out as you breathe in and then releasing as you breathe out.
So when you feel ready,
Let's take our attention to the blossom.
We're just going to look,
We're just going to watch.
This is gazing,
Blossom gazing.
And we're gazing without any expectations.
Nothing needs to happen.
There's nothing for us to do.
We're just being present with the blossom.
Now it might happen from time to time that a gentle gust of breeze sends some of the blossom drifting downwards.
So we're in very receptive mode,
Just allowing,
Allowing it to be as it is.
And if a tiny petal of blossom floats downwards,
We just gently turn our attention to it and follow it towards the ground.
And then if another petal starts to fall,
We can take our attention to that and follow it with our gaze.
So we're just being with one petal at a time,
One gentle gust of breeze at a time.
If the mind starts to wander off,
Just gently bringing it back to the breath,
To the contact with the ground.
Maybe you get a little flurry of breeze,
A little flurry of petals coming down.
Just following those with our attention,
With our awareness,
With our gaze.
And you can carry on with this practice as long as you like.
In some ways,
The longer the better.
The more focused,
The more settled we become.
We're just touching into that inner peace,
That inner stillness,
The inner silence of the quiet mind in receptive mode,
Simply watching,
Watching the blossom as it falls.
And when you're ready to start wrapping up the practice,
Just gradually broadening your awareness back out to the wider environment,
To the other trees,
The other plants around,
Maybe some buildings.
Broadening your awareness out to any sounds,
Maybe having a little bit of a stretch,
Feeling into your body,
And setting your intention to take some of this mindful awareness with you through the rest of your day.
So thank you for listening.
I look forward to sharing more practices with you.
Practices with you.
Go well.
Bye for now.
