Arriving To The Present Moment

This is a guided practice to help deepen one's connection with their body and the support of the Earth. This can be used as a morning practice or in times of unrest or anxiety for nervous system regulation.

Transcript

Arrival.

So I want you to find a nice comfortable place for you to lie on,

On the floor preferably.

I find having a pillow underneath your knees and pillow underneath your head can optimise comfort.

And when you find yourself in lying position,

Just go inward and ask yourself the question of how comfortable am I with 10 being the most comfortable you've ever been and zero being the most uncomfortable you've ever been.

Just find where you land on that scale.

Next,

Ask yourself,

What is it that I can do to make myself just a little bit more comfortable,

Get myself up to a nine,

Perhaps a nice warm blanket,

Or a pair of socks on your feet.

If there's anything you can do to settle yourself in a little bit more.

Once done,

I'll invite you to bring your awareness inwards.

You may close your eyes and find your breath.

As you breathe in,

Notice how your body responds,

Slight opening,

Extension,

Expansion.

And as you exhale,

How your body responds,

Releasing,

Letting go,

Dropping perhaps.

And in concert with your in-breath,

Just in your own space,

Invite all aspects of your being to be here on this day,

At this time in this place,

Right here right now.

All parts of me to arrive.

And knowing that with your in-breath that these parts will continue to arrive.

Continue to settle,

Continue to belong here within yourself.

Next,

I want you to find your center or to the part of your body that perhaps relates to center.

Some it may be the center of your chest,

Some the center of your abdomen,

Others it may be a sensation that you feel on your big toe.

And with this question,

I would encourage you to be as honest with yourself as you have been,

Perhaps the most honest that you will be with yourself all day.

Asking yourself the question of how is it that I am feeling right here in this moment right now?

What is my direct experience?

This may come through as something subtle,

Like a lightness or slight heaviness,

A tingling perhaps,

Or it may come through as something bold and big like a expectation or anticipation and excitement perhaps.

Or it may even come through as a ruminating thought.

I wonder what I'm going to have for breakfast after this.

Whatever its shape,

Whatever its size,

Whatever its subtlety,

Or coarseness,

I invite you to call upon your angels of non-judgment and scholars of observation and just allow whatever arrives to arrive.

And should something arrive,

Should something sit on the forefront of your awareness,

I invite you if it feels resonant to you to find language,

Something similar to what I'm about to present,

Something along the lines of,

Dear one,

Dear sensation,

Dear feeling,

Dear thought,

Thank you for being here with me today.

You may be here with me but not of me.

You may sit here beside me as I rest in my own being as I continue to arrive in my body on this moment,

On this day,

In this place.

But you not,

May not be of me,

You may not take over my awareness,

You may not distract me.

Please sit beside me.

It may be that a few moments of gently placing this feeling,

This thought to the side may be required.

And it may be that at certain parts in this meditation that you may need to repeat this instruction.

Because that is the nature of the thinking mind,

It may want to sneak in at any given opportunity.

So using this guidance of thank you for being here,

Thank you for trying to grab my attention.

But right now I'm being with my own body,

With myself,

I'm arriving with my in-breath.

And with your next slow in-breath,

I invite you to follow yourself just a little bit deeper in,

Following your breath down as it meanders through your torso,

Through your abdominal region,

Down your legs,

Right down till they come to a rest at the base of your feet.

And allow your awareness to occupy your feet.

And just bring your attention to the parts of your feet that are in contact with the floor underneath.

Perhaps your heels or your Achilles tendons.

Notice your left heel.

Notice your right.

And allowing permission for your heels to occupy a bit more of that supporting space underneath.

Thank you feet,

Thank you heels.

Thank you,

Ankles for all that you do for your movement and carrying me and keeping me balanced.

Thank you for bringing me here today.

Right now you may rest that little bit more into the floor underneath.

And using the great passive nature of your out-breath,

The great letting of your exhalation to encourage just a little bit more letting go of your heels.

Moving upwards,

Expanding your awareness to the backs of your knees,

The backs of your thighs,

Backs of your calves.

Noticing the parts of your legs that are in contact with the floor or the pillow underneath.

Notice how your left leg resides,

How it holds itself or how it's held,

How it's perhaps rotated a little bit,

Its position.

And similarly with your witnessing,

Observing self noticing your right leg,

How your right leg holds itself.

Your hard working laborious,

Strong legs,

How they do so much.

And once more inviting both left and right leg to occupy more space,

As if to say to the pillow,

Here pillow,

Take me.

Allow the pillow to take every ounce of weight of your legs.

As legs give way,

So do hips,

Left hip and right hip,

Opening up the space in between your sacrum bone,

The bone that connects your lower half of your body and your upper half.

And the access points to lower back,

Bringing your attention to lower back,

In front,

Your organs,

Your abdominal region in behind your muscular tissue.

Noticing if any parts connect into the support surface underneath.

Letting go and allowing abdominal region to be just as it is to give itself to the floor,

Just in the same way that the floor,

By its very nature gives itself to the foundation of the building.

Perhaps a sense of deepness or depth or stillness is sensed as your body continues to arrive on this moment,

This day,

This place.

As your breath continuously feels that little bit more comfortable being here and a slight deeper in breath noticing how your lungs swell in expansion and how the backs of your ribs come in connection with the ground underneath,

How your shoulder blades come in connection with the ground underneath.

And once more your out breath being the vehicle to allow more arriving,

More comingness to this space.

And finally how head and neck are nestled in the pillow or nestled on the floor,

Allowing head to occupy the pillow.

Thank you pillow for being here for me.

Here take every ounce of weight and do exactly what it is that you were made to do,

Pillow.

It's as if your whole body now can continuously breathe as you breathe in,

As in a whole body breathing.

And as you exhale just sensing that sense of depthness,

That sense of perhaps heaviness or droppingness or letting go as your body continuously comes into being,

Continuously comes into occupation of the space.

Occupying the floor underneath just like the floor occupies the full supportive structure of the foundation.

Just in the same way that the foundation fully occupies the supportive structure of the clay,

The earth.

How this whole ground of being is omnipresent is always here to occupy and support every ounce of your being.

As your body familiarizes itself with its essence,

Its mountain nature,

Its earth,

I invite you to bring your attention to your center,

To the part of you that may be called your inner intelligence,

Your inner knowingness,

Your inner healer perhaps,

Your heart awareness,

Your connection point,

Whatever language resonates.

But the anatomical space in which it occupies is that around your center of your chest and with intention and with attention,

Noticing the soft nature in comparison to the depth of the ground,

You may notice it like a mist or a the lightness of a feather.

Asking this space,

This great intelligence of Dear One,

What is it that I need today for my healing journey,

For my journey,

Journey.

And within the great support structure of your being,

Allowing whatever arrives to arrive and whatever words come to come,

And may it be so.