And we'll get started with taking a few deep breaths together and just sit comfortably,
There's no particular way to sit no particular way to breathe especially but just becoming aware of the breath it coming in through our nostrils and down into our lungs into our bodies and feeling our bodies,
Our feet our legs our thighs our hips and belly feeling our stomachs our chest our arms and shoulders,
Fingers,
Hands feeling our throats our face our heads coming close to the edge of our skin and feeling that and just getting into the space of our bodies and recognizing our bodies because tonight is about recognition recognizing that we are here that we are breathing and that we are in our bodies and how important the recognition of our breathing is because it takes us into ourselves as we inhale a breath where does that go?
It goes inside of our bodies and just like our spirits enter our bodies,
So does our breath and it's a reminder that we are embodied beings and that embodiment,
Being in a physical body,
Is so important to what we are doing that we're not here to escape anything we're not here to escape our physical body we're not here to escape our thoughts we're not here to escape into something that has no challenges but just like the breath,
We're here to enter and be in our body and be with our thoughts and be with that which our spirit has engaged us to encounter and we don't need to escape though that feels very compelling sometimes I just want to get out of this way of being sometimes I don't like what's happening around me sometimes and yet here we are in these bodies,
In a particular place,
In a particular experience and never are we without the awareness that we are more more than this experience more than this body more than these thoughts just like when we breathe in,
We enter the air enters our bodies just as we chose to enter into this environment and the breath reminds us that it's moment by moment that we exist and in each moment we're offered the opportunity to recognize recognize we are more so let's feel our bodies be aware of them let's follow our breath and be aware that something so subtle so intangible is entering this body and notice how comfortable our bodies are as we breathe in notice how at ease the body is with being penetrated by the air notice how the entire body appreciates it,
The breath this subtle,
Almost intangible breath the breath feels at home in the body and the body is one with the breath just as your spirit is at home in the body and the body is comfortable with your spirit and the spirit is comfortable with your body now that may have stirred up a thought and notice if it did did your body have a comment?
No?
Was it your mind that had a comment about that comfort?
The body is comfortable with the spirit and the spirit is comfortable with the body but not always is the mind comfortable and it's the mind or the thoughts that may distract from the peace that you have and that you are so let's just notice that the mind has comments about that and that's okay because you're more than your mind so we recognize that we are physically embodied here that we are dependent on the air entering our bodies and we are comfortable each moment breath by breath even though we continuously inhale that one breath isn't enough to sustain the body it requires another and yet our body isn't panicked isn't worried where the next breath is coming from just notice how at ease it is with the moment by moment life support of the air the moment by moment incoming breath and the spirit is at ease and relaxed in the breathing and our awareness further recognizes that there are thoughts that happen as we sit here and breathe together and just like one breath isn't everything that we are nor is one thought nor is one arm or one finger that there is not just one aspect of us and ever how our bodies present is a whole unit a complete unit and the breath itself is a whole breath a complete breath and the body and the breath unify and as the body and the breath become one there is such relaxation in that it's complete in the oneness that's shared between the two the breath and the body and right there in that single breath that we take in is completeness is wholeness and not one thought is required to be complete or whole just breathing in and breathing out is the wholeness the unification of spirit and body and breath and then we can begin to add in other aspects of who we are because this unified being of spirit and breath and body holds within it thoughts and feelings and beliefs but they are not required for wholeness but wholeness holds all of that very spaciously within you so you can actually tour your body you can focus on your feet your knees,
Elbows,
Any part of your body you can focus on your thoughts or your feelings your body and your mind is yours to tour to discover,
To accept,
And to love and isn't it interesting that nothing owns you your thoughts don't own you you're perfectly capable of breathing and being one with the breath,
The spirit,
And the body without having to have a thought or a feeling so thoughts and feelings don't own you thoughts and feelings are not you but they are part of the space that you occupy and there's way more choice in what you focus on than we maybe recognized in the past and whenever we become anxious or disturbed by a thought we can become aware of the space it's taking up in our body because as a thought runs it has a location you feel it in a particular place in your body and you can breathe that spirit into that location you can breathe in and take the air that you're inhaling and direct it to that thought or that feeling where you're inclusive of it in your awareness without letting it become your total focus because you're focusing on the breath coming in and extending that to the thought that you're having and where it's located in your body and how it makes you feel and you're aware that it doesn't take your whole body and just as you're breathing in this air and dedicating it to touching that feeling or that thought it still supplies the energy needed for the rest of the body the oxygen so you're capable of feeding your whole body and still noticing a thought or a feeling and you're still whole you're still that spirit and that breath in the body and it's simply just focusing and extending and recognizing the awareness that you are more than just one thing and you can even converse with someone else and notice that something that they've said has triggered an emotion or a feeling in your body and as you're speaking with them you can breathe in and let that air touch that feeling in your body and still keep up with what they're saying and as you notice these things you can begin to notice this energy that's inside of you that is aware of everything that's happening aware of the body,
Aware of the breath aware of the being,
Aware of the other person aware of the thoughts and feelings and that being has a vibration and that vibration isn't separate from you that vibration is you it is way more you than any thought or feeling it is more you than the body but it is completely comfortable with the body and completely comfortable with the breath and it's comfortable with the thoughts and the feelings that are happening at the same time this being that you are is comfortable with all aspects of you and it recognizes that thoughts about you are not you you are not one thought in your head and this being that you are,
This vibration that is comfortable with the breath that is comfortable with the thoughts and the body this vibration can be combined with the breath as you send energy to any thought and not to what it's thinking or what it's saying but the vibration of it and this vibration that you are is comfortable and loving it's not stressed about that thought it's just going to love it and it's going to vibrationally love that thought so any thought that you have as you breathe in you mix the breath with the energy that you are and extend that to any thought that you're having and allow it to calm that thought again,
Not thinking so much what the thought is saying but giving it the vibration of the deep well of being that you are because the vibration of that thought feels very alone it's not aware of the breadth of you it's only aware of its own experience and its experience was somewhat limited it hasn't been with you in every single thing that you've done it's not aware of how complete that you are it's not aware that you have nothing to fear it hasn't felt the comfort of the unified breath the unified body and the unified being and as you combine all these elements as you recognize that you are that incoming breath that you are the resident being in this body and you send that energy to that vibration that is a thought and it experiences the wholeness of you it begins to shift and change and you don't have to get caught up in what it's thinking because no matter what it's thinking it is not aware of the unified presence of you until you extend it to it and the moment that you extend that unified being to that feeling to its vibration,
Not to its content but to its vibration it too can relax into the absolute vastness of who you are and then you can begin to breathe through your entire body not just breathing in through your nose but letting the breath come through your skin let your whole body breathe and begin to notice that as your whole body breathes that you're not reaching out for a breath but that you are the breath and it's just simply like a movement,
In and out you're not reaching,
Clutching,
Scraping for that breath it's absolutely there even before you begin the inhale and that's the ease of being a unified breath being and body and that you're breathing with your entire being and you're completely at ease in this space and anything that comes up in your space can interact with this unified being and be loved and love is such an interesting word because we don't truly understand the depth of unconditional loving because our experience has often not received that but as we realize that it's so easy to breathe and that as we breathe it is a gift from the universe to us and then as we notice that we are so one with that breath it's hard to even tell that we're doing anything to breathe it's just happening it's coming in through the skin,
Through the nose and that gift is so abundant it's always present there we begin to realize that the universe is extending gifts all the time and that love isn't something to be earned it just is just like the breath you don't have to earn that next breath,
You just enjoy it and then we begin to notice that it's reciprocal that we breathe it in and we extend it back and that our relationship with the universe is reciprocal that your gift back is as important as what you breathed in and this unified spirit and breath and body is in constant exchange with Source that you have a seat at the table at all times you have a seat at the table at all times and the exhale from you is as important as the inhale from the universe in fact it's seamless there's no difference that that exchange is appreciated and necessary and if your very breath is important and necessary just the breath what else are you exchanging with the universe?
If just your breath is important what about your heart?
What about who you are?
And you have a seat at the table that's how important you are to the fabric of the universe that you're in constant exchange you are not questioned you are not exempt if you are breathing you are participating and it's wanted and it's needed and it's loved and it's honored your very existence is honored and any thought that is in disagreement is to be loved because it doesn't know you but the universe knows you and recognizes you and your place which is no less than anyone else's and no more than anyone else's so we can equally appreciate every being that we share the one breath with the one breath as we breathe in our own being and breathe in each other the breath,
The body,
The being there is nothing separate from you and you are not separate from the universe you are cherished and loved and your love,
Extended back is honored,
Needed,
And appreciated your value is not in question only a thought with a limited experience and lack of knowledge questions your value so let's extend from the presence from your seat at the table in the presence of all that is let us extend love to those vibrations that are limited in their awareness of who you are who you've always been and who you will always be and let the breath each breath you take remind you of your place at the table it is my hope that you recognize the importance of the place your place at the table the table that you have extended to everyone the table that you built and I hope that you recognize that power and that value and not power over anyone else but the appreciation of who you are and the rightful place not because any of us has done a particular thing to earn it or deserve it because those aren't even questions it is who you are your very existence and everyone's existence is valuable appreciated needed and is in fact the creator of the table so of course you have a place it's part of your design it's not a question now show up show up at the table
