So again,
Allowing yourself to settle into a comfortable posture.
Eyes could be open or closed,
Whatever is preferred in this moment.
And with a quality of gentleness,
Let your awareness draw inward.
And as we explored before,
Touch into the lived experience of the body.
Tracking this experience through the sensations and feelings that are present within the body.
And if it's difficult to stay connected to the lived experience of the body,
Notice the parts of the body that are being supported or supported by the body.
And held by the floor or whatever else carries the weight of the body.
And at the points of contact of the support,
Notice the sensations that are present.
And you tune into the experience of groundedness,
Of stability.
And as we touch more into this lived experience of the body,
We may notice that there are parts of the body that feel naturally relaxed and at ease,
While other parts of the body may feel contracted or tight.
And again,
As a simple yet meaningful act of compassion or kindness,
Bring attention to any part of the body that feels tight.
And perhaps with the cycle of the breath,
See if you can begin to initiate a process of relaxing,
Of letting go.
Breathing out,
Releasing any unnecessary tension or strain.
And once again,
As we allow the body to become more relaxed,
Can we tune into the ground,
The earth beneath?
And along with calling upon the earth as a source of resiliency and support,
Fall upon the earth as a teacher,
A great guide,
Who if we observe,
We can observe a natural process of arising and passing,
Of blossoming and decay,
Of returning and renewal.
And as we observe this process in the natural world,
We can come to the realization that death is not a failure.
It's a natural process,
As natural as the air we breathe.
And so momentarily,
Let's see if we can begin to steady the mind.
And we could do this by simply bringing our awareness to rest upon the in and out flow of the breath.
And as you notice the breath,
Celebrate how the breath animates the lived experience of the body,
Feeling nourished by the breath from moment to moment.
And if your attention drifts away,
No problem.
Again,
Coming back to the breath.
And as the mind becomes more steady,
We allow ourselves to become composed around a practice of reflecting upon our own mortality.
And to enter into this practice,
Begin by considering the certainty of our death.
So as before,
We mentioned many names,
Those who we hope to call in to our time together.
All of them at one point,
Very much like ourselves,
Alive and well,
Moving through the world,
But now gone,
Transformed through this natural process of dying.
So consider those in your life who you've known,
Who've come and gone and passed.
And through this consideration,
Becoming aware of the certainty of our own death.
And most importantly,
Acknowledging that today we're one day closer to our death.
And then alongside the certainty of our death,
We can begin to reflect upon the uncertainty of the time of death.
Acknowledging first that here we are incorporated in a body that is very fragile.
The equilibrium of the body can easily shift in a moment.
With a thin layer of skin,
The body is easily harmed.
And acknowledging the causes of death are many.
Even though we would like to think we can age out of this body.
People in their youth face death,
Their adolescence,
Middle age,
At any age,
Circumstances can change swiftly.
From illness to injury,
To unexpected accidents.
The time of our death is truly uncertain.
And consider when the conditions of our dying have come together,
Regardless of our strength,
Our status,
Our possessions.
We cannot delay the process of dying.
And so with this,
We'll come to our last point of,
At the time of our death,
Consider for yourself what truly matters,
What is of value to us as we make this transition.
Is it our long list of achievement?
The many different roles that we play?
Material wealth?
Or like this body,
Do all of these things that we acquire come and go?
And yet,
If we look deeper into the process of death,
We can say awareness is still present.
Awareness that is conditioned by our way of being in the world.
Awareness that is influenced by the qualities of our heart.
How we lived,
How we loved,
How we allowed ourselves to be loved.
An awareness that is conditioned by our everyday choices,
For where we place our attention.
And so again,
With this,
Consider what really matters.
What quality of presence or purpose would we like to lean into now,
Knowing that death is certain,
The time of death is uncertain.
And give yourself a moment to sit quietly and see what stirs in your heart.
Is there anything waiting to be known,
To be revealed,
To be lived into?
And let that be an open question,
Trusting your own intuition to guide the way.
And before bringing this reflection,
This practice to a close,
Let's again return back to the immediate experience of the body.
The aliveness of the body as it's known through the rhythm of the breath.
And again,
Feeling the weight of the body being supported and held by the earth beneath.
The lighting in our life here and now.
And with this,
If your eyes have been closed,
Gently blink them open,
Let the appearances around the room rise up to meet your awareness.
Softly coming back into our collective space.
