We'll begin by establishing the posture that we'd like to practice in today.
And you can choose from staying in a seated position,
You can lay down if that's more comfortable for you,
Or you can stand up if you'd like some more energy.
Laying down can be helpful if you're feeling some discomfort in the body.
If you're feeling particularly sleepy,
That might not be the most skillful posture since we do want to stay alert and awake as well.
And as you settle into that position,
Checking in with your body to bring a sense of strength and balance,
And also being flexible at the same time.
So however that looks like for you,
And however that feels like for you.
And from here,
Letting your eyes,
Head,
And neck rotate gently around your space,
Looking around as if it were your first time here,
Looking at all the different shapes and colors.
And whether you've been here a million times or it's your first time,
Can you see it as if it were your first time?
With a sense of wonder and awe,
Newness,
Freshness,
Beginner's eyes,
Remembering to look behind you as well as to the sides,
Above and below,
And gently letting your head come back to center and neutral.
Letting the eyes close,
Or just lowering the gaze,
Taking a deep breath if that would be helpful.
Just coming into relationship with your physical body,
Resting,
And knowing that we are pressing the pause button on any strategizing,
Planning,
Action.
This is a space and time for being in the present moment,
Noticing the points of connection with the chair or surface supporting you.
And you might notice if you're holding any tension or tightness in the body.
Common places include the forehead,
The eyes,
Or the jaw,
Or shoulders.
And just inviting the body to soften and to be at ease,
Maybe melting like an ice cube or snowflake as we keep in mind this water element.
And we might notice how we're feeling in this particular moment.
We can silently label whatever emotion is here with a single word.
There might be contentment,
Sorrow,
Joy,
Gratitude,
Anxiety,
And whatever is here.
Just making some space for it,
And then noticing any bodily sensations associated with that.
And now I'll invite us to set our intention for our practice in this moment.
Just asking ourselves how we want to show up.
These intentions could be curious,
Playful,
Awake,
Whatever's going to support us.
And we'll trust that these intentions have been set,
Letting them rest like a feather on our shoulders.
And for this first portion of the practice,
We will connect with the water element since it's a water year.
And the water element has characteristics of moisture and fluidity.
We might just see if we can notice any available moisture in the air that's surrounding us.
We might also notice moisture in the saliva within our mouth.
Maybe that's a little more easily accessible.
And there's also moisture in our eyes and the tear ducts,
Whether we are actively having them flow right now or not.
This might be a little more subtle than saliva in the mouth.
So we just notice that moisture in the air.
This might be a little more subtle than saliva in the mouth.
So we just notice as best we can.
And if there's the presence of any perspiration or sweat,
That's also the water element here.
Now beyond moisture,
The water element also has a quality of cohesion.
And if we feel into the systems within our body,
We might notice that cohesion keeping all parts of us together.
That is a quality of the water element.
We might notice also pulsation or fullness in our muscles,
Maybe in the chest,
Noticing the beating of the heart and recognizing the fluidity of the blood traveling to and from the heart all around and across the body.
And for the second half and part of this practice,
We'll be engaging in loving kindness or metta practice,
A practice of well-wishing for ourselves and the people we care about and other beings on this planet.
I'll be inviting you to bring to mind different people.
And I will offer a couple of phrases in the spirit of the characteristics of the rabbit.
I'm just inviting you to silently recite them in the space between the phrases.
Or you can just rest in the reverberation of my voice saying them and just imagining the wish going out to the recipient.
And our first recipient's going to be ourselves.
I'm going to invite you to imagine holding up a mirror and taking a look at yourself.
You might notice some tenderness,
Some unease,
And that's okay.
If it's helpful,
You can place a hand on the heart since this is a heart-based practice.
And so we'll begin with some wishes.
May I know inner and outer gentleness.
May I experience playfulness.
May I be granted serenity.
And so the invitation is just to imagine these phrases going to and from yourself,
Noticing if there's any changes in the heart,
Maybe a warming,
Maybe not.
Sometimes with the heart-based practices,
We are planting seeds,
Never knowing when they might grow.
So even if you're feeling nothing,
Just trust the process,
Experiment,
And see what might happen later on.
May I know inner and outer gentleness.
May I experience playfulness.
May I be granted serenity.
We'll gently put the mirror down.
I'll just now invite you to bring to mind an image or just a felt sense of your friends and family.
This could be your chosen family.
And we'll offer these same wishes out to our near and dear family and friends.
May you know inner and outer gentleness.
May you experience playfulness.
May you be granted serenity.
May you know inner and outer gentleness.
May you experience playfulness.
May you be granted serenity.
And just noticing what's happening in the heart.
It might be the same,
Might be different than what it was like to offer these wishes to yourself.
For some,
The self is easier.
For others,
Others are easier.
There's no good,
Bad,
Wrong,
Or right.
We can just notice with mindfulness.
And now we're going to offer these same wishes out to all beings,
Both human,
Animals.
You can have a felt sense of this planet,
This universe.
You can have an image of the globe,
Whatever,
Whatever works for you.
May all beings know inner and outer gentleness.
May all beings experience playfulness.
May all beings be granted serenity.
May all beings know inner and outer gentleness.
May all beings experience playfulness.
May all beings be granted serenity.
And just feeling these wishes for gentleness,
Playfulness,
Serenity,
Going out in all directions.
And as we begin to bring this practice to a close,
You can lower your hand if you'd like,
Reconnecting with the body,
Noticing the feet on the floor,
Noticing pressure from whatever surface is supporting you.
If your eyes were closed,
Allowing them to gently open,
Allowing and listening to the body moving and stretching in however way it wants to,
As we bring this practice to a close.
