Greetings.
This is a meditation for reciprocity.
I invite you to close or soften your eyes.
Let your shoulders settle away from your ears.
Whatever you're sitting on,
Can you let your sitting bones feel grounded
and take an inhale into your heart.
I invite you to think back to the last time you felt a sense of awe and wonder
while in a green space or observing a living plant.
Think back to the last time you felt a sense of awe or wonder
while in a green space or observing a living plant.
Note if recalling that sense,
That feeling of awe or wonder lands in a particular place in your body.
I invite you to bring your hand or your attention to that place.
And if you're not sure where that lives,
You can bring your hand or both hands to your heart.
An expression of gratitude for that experience,
Or inviting an openness to your heart for future experiences.
Take a few rounds of breath here.
On your next exhale,
You can let your arms drop to your lap or wherever feels comfortable.
Breathing back into your heart.
Breathing down your legs to the bottoms of your feet
as they feel heavy and grounded in contact with Mother Earth.
If you happen to be sitting on the ground,
You could bring your fingertips to meet the ground.
To meet the ground.
Breathing in connection to our home planet,
To Mother Earth.
Breathing out gratitude.
Breathing in connection.
Breathing in connection.
Breathing out gratitude.
Breathing in connection.
Breathing out gratitude.
Continuing with this intentional breath in and out.
As you breathe in through the nose,
Can you let your belly soften and expand,
Taking up all the space,
Breathing in all the oxygen.
And breathing out through the mouth,
Letting your belly soften.
Deep breath in to the nose.
Full breath out through the mouth.
As you breathe in,
You breathe in this gift of oxygen from our plant kin.
As you breathe out,
You give back carbon dioxide.
As you breathe out,
You give back carbon dioxide to which they breathe in.
Breathing in their gift of oxygen.
Breathing out what they will receive.
As you continue to breathe,
Every round of breath is a celebration of this evolutionary relationship.
This relationship that we must continue to notice,
To celebrate,
Nurture and protect.
Let's take our last three rounds of breath together.
First,
Breathing out the air in your lungs.
We'll take a slow,
Steady breath in to the nose.
Breathing in connection.
Steady breath out through the mouth.
Gratitude.
Gratitude.
Breathing in connection.
Breathing out gratitude.
One more breath in.
Full breath out.
As you return to your natural breath,
I will end our meditation with a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer,
The author of Braiding Sweetgrass.
Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world,
Receiving gifts with open eyes and open heart.
Thank you.
Thank you.
