Come to a sitting position now and if it feels comfortable,
Close your eyes.
Take a moment or two just to notice where there might be any slight tension calling for your attention within your body now.
And seeing if you can,
If a slight movement,
A little wriggle as it were,
Might help relieve any discomfort.
Letting your spine be upright if you can,
And just allowing yourself to be as comfortable as you can be at the moment.
Take a few very deep,
Refining breaths in your own time,
Whatever the pace of your breath,
Just noticing the gentle rhythm as you breathe in and breathe out.
There are no rules,
No right ways about how to breathe.
Breathe in through your nose,
Through your mouth.
Let the breath travel where it will before releasing again.
Pausing for a moment as it reaches into your body before you exhale and release again,
Breathing out through your mouth or your nose.
Focusing on this very familiar pattern that sustains us from the moment we are born until the moment we pass.
A simple but wonderful act of breathing in the air around us and giving back to the very same.
This breath that connects us with everything that is,
Continuing in silence,
Just following this coming and going,
A little bit like watching the coming and going of the tide or the break of sunlight each day before daylight gives way to the night.
See now if you can focus more on where the breath settles when you breathe in,
That place within your body before you begin your out breath.
Let that be a point for centering,
For coming within,
For connecting with your core.
And as you feel connected,
Dwelling within the heart,
Coming now to a point of prayer,
Allowing your authentic self to wish well for others and for our planet as we turn our attention to a theme for prayer for today.
Thinking about the destruction of pristine rainforests,
Especially in the Amazon where human need to expand and exploit the forest for farming,
Mining,
Settlement continues at an unprecedented pace.
Millions of trees that have survived many centuries and provided homes to millions upon millions of creatures being torn up,
Burned or sent to timber mills,
Clearing space for new farmers,
Factories and homes.
And those many millions of animals that have lost their homes now exposed to dangerous new environments,
Struggling to survive and adapt,
And as they do,
Especially some insects,
Bringing with them new disease,
New viruses,
Affecting animals,
Flora and humans.
So let's ask our God to bring awareness to those who are causing this destruction,
Who are taking decisions on policies that allow it,
Some perhaps acting without much awareness.
To be mindful of the consequences of their actions,
Not only for their own communities,
Their own countries,
But for the whole of humanity that suffers as these vital lungs of our planet are ever more cut off from their vital task of breathing.
Show those who would destroy these lands other opportunities where they can make a livelihood and be in harmony with the beautiful earth,
Which is their home and our home.
Bring a conviction of the urgency among policymakers and decision makers,
And where there is a retreat from further exploitation,
May the forest soon return,
And those animals that have been displaced take up their rightful homes once more.
We ask for grace and light,
For many miracles,
For powerful intervention and action that is guided by the one spirit of love.
So we now gently return as we begin to end our meditation,
Becoming aware of where we are,
The environment around us,
Aware of our bodies,
Conscious of sounds,
Sensations in the background,
And when you are ready,
Very gently open your eyes and come back to the place where you began.
