Hello and welcome to this practice.
If you're feeling lonely or your heart needs a bit of love right now,
This is the practice for you.
So I'm going to invite you to first find yourself somewhere to sit or lie that feels really comfortable.
Maybe wrap yourself in some blankets,
Really settling into the best position for you right now.
And as you do so,
I invite you just to close your eyes,
Bring your awareness to your body,
Simply to your breath.
Allowing your inhale and your exhale to slow.
Feeling any points of connection to the ground,
Any points of connection to yourself.
And on your next exhale,
Really sighing out the air.
Allowing all the tension to be released as you sigh out your next exhale.
It can be as fast or slow as feels good.
I'm now going to read you a poem.
This poem is called The Guest House by Rumi.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival,
A joy,
A depression,
A meanness.
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all,
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.
Still,
Treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought,
The shame,
The malice,
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
Allow yourself for the next few minutes to sit with whatever is in your guest house right now.
Allow yourself to acknowledge its presence in your body no matter who it might be.
Note if you had any strong responses or feelings when listening to that poem.
And let's practice that awareness that Rumi spoke of.
And as we're bringing awareness into our body,
Into our emotions,
Into whoever these visitors might be in our home today,
I invite you to make sure that compassion is your right hand man.
That you are gentle with yourself no matter what you are feeling.
That you are kind to your heart no matter how it is hurting.
You you you I'm now going to lead us in a very gentle gratitude practice.
Not to discount anything that you just felt,
Noted,
Experienced or processed,
But to give ourselves an emotional hug.
It's okay if things are hard and it's okay if it's not okay.
But one of the most beneficial things we can do is to bring our attention to even the moments that are good.
So I invite you to pause to allow your thoughts to go to the day,
The people and gently search for something that you feel grateful for.
It could be as small as a smile from someone you love.
A moment to breathe.
It could be giving yourself this time to sit in a comfortable position and listen to your own heart.
I'm going to give you a few moments and I really invite you to sit with what you are grateful for.
To let it go over and over in your mind.
To savour that which is beautiful in your world.
Now that we've done that,
Allow the image of what it is we are grateful for to pass.
I'm going to close this session with another poem.
This poem is called Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for hundreds of miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair,
Yours and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile,
The world goes on.
Meanwhile,
The sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes.
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile,
The wild geese,
High in the clear blue air are heading home again.
Whoever you are,
No matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination.
Calls to you like the wild geese,
Harsh and exciting.
Over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
I invite you to place your hands on your heart.
I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.
I invite you to take a deep breath out.
I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.
Place your hands on your heart and just for a moment,
Know that you are there.
Even if it's only you.
There is love there.
Feel free to roll your shoulders,
To wriggle your toes,
To move however you need to move,
To stretch and gently wake yourself up and out of this position.
Feel free to take as much time as you need to return into the room that you're in.
Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you for watching.
Thank you for watching.
