We'll begin this meditation with settling into the seat,
Whether that's on a cushion or a chair.
We can imagine from the base of the spine roots or a plumb line dropping down all the way to the center of the earth.
You can feel that deep pull of gravity holding us down,
Connecting us with the center of the earth.
If at any point during this meditation you begin to feel too scattered,
Too spacey,
You can come back to this feeling of being connected to the center of the earth.
We can relax,
Allowing the base of the body to be heavy,
To be stable,
To support us.
We could imagine from the roots or the plumb line that we've dropped down to the center of the earth that a golden glowing earth energy that's stable,
That's solid,
Flows back up,
Helping us relax into our deep seat.
From that stable base,
We feel our spine rising nice and long and straight.
We could imagine that the crown of the head is being gently pulled upward as if by a string.
And above the crown of the head,
We can imagine away the ceiling and the roof of whatever building we're in.
We imagine our spine and the crown of our head orienting up toward the apex of space.
And this space is luminous,
Lit with the rays of the sun,
So it's not an empty space.
We feel that the blessings of this luminous space above us can flow down and gently caress the crown of the head and be absorbed into the body.
In a very calming,
Secure way,
We're held between the elements of earth and space.
Now we'll take three long,
Deep breaths,
Imagining that the energy of the breath goes all the way down to the center of the abdomen and imagining that with each out breath,
We release stale energy and stale habit patterns.
And now we take those three long,
Deep breaths.
As the breath returns to its usual flow,
We can rest the mind and the attention on the feeling of the breath wherever that's clearest for us.
We could rest the attention in the nostrils,
Feeling that cool inflow of the breath and the warm outflow of the breath.
We could rest the attention in the chest or in the abdomen,
Feeling the expansion and contraction with the breath.
And wherever we're paying attention to the breath,
We can allow that place to connect us with the present moment.
And in particular,
Can we focus now on that slight pause between the end of the in breath and the beginning of the out breath,
Allowing that slight pause to remind us of the in between moments of our lives.
We can extend that pause just a few seconds,
Giving ourselves time to rest in the space between in and out.
Urt What does it feel like to rest for a few more minutes?
What does it feel like to rest for a few moments in that space in between?
What does it feel like to rest for a few more minutes in that space in between?
Then we turn our attention to the outbreath,
Trying to notice all the moments of the outbreath.
What does it feel like to rest for a few more minutes in that space in between?
What does it feel like to rest for a few more minutes in that space in between?
And now we'll focus on that slight gap between the end of the outbreath and the beginning of the inbreath.
If you like,
You can extend that gap by a few seconds,
Allowing yourself more time to experience that in-between space.
And now we'll focus on the rest of the outbreath.
As the breath returns to its usual flow,
We can notice not a whole inbreath or a whole outbreath,
But a series of moments.
We'll focus on the rest of the outbreath.
As we breathe,
We can feel the space element in our lungs.
If our lungs didn't have room for the air to flow in,
It would be impossible to breathe.
We can feel the space in our nostrils,
The space in our sinuses,
The space in our throat,
The space in our bronchial tubes,
The space in our lungs,
With every breath.
So just feel that internal space now.
And now,
From our body,
We can open out an experiencing space.
Can you feel the space immediately around your body?
We enjoy having this space around our bodies.
If we were enclosed on all sides by something,
It wouldn't be pleasant for very long.
So can you feel the pleasure of being surrounded by space?
And can you hold a mental image of what's in the room with you and feel particularly into the empty,
Unoccupied spaces of the room?
In art and architecture,
People recognize that,
Aesthetically,
The spaces in between objects are just as important as the objects themselves.
And you feel the space around you just as much as you feel the objects.
If this exercise is difficult,
You can call on the blessings flowing down from that luminous space above the crown of the head.
We can imagine those blessings flowing into the body,
Helping us to feel and to appreciate the space around us.
Finally,
With your mind,
Can you release the sense of the room around you,
The floor beneath you,
The ceiling above you?
Can you feel into that sense of being on the surface of the earth,
Surrounded by the mystery If it feels comfortable,
You can open your mind enough to embrace the entire universe,
To close the meditation,
We can bring our attention back now to our own body.
Now we let go of making any effort or trying to do anything and simply rest,
Allowing this practice to sink in.
And finally,
We close the meditation.
