So just get comfortable,
Whatever way works best for you.
Being aware of any discomfort in the body and taking a moment to adjust.
You might notice what you are feeling right now.
If you are feeling anything in particular,
Just notice that.
You might notice what you are saying to yourself with your thoughts if you are saying anything.
Just notice that,
Recognize you have the capacity to actually notice what you are saying.
You might be aware of the spaciousness of simply being here in this moment with nothing to do.
Being by yourself,
Listening to these words,
Accepting or rejecting whatever is offered freely.
I'd like for you to take this opportunity to invite fear into your body.
It's very natural for fear to be somewhere in the body.
Usually it's in the lower part of the body,
But it can be throughout the whole body.
Let's just make a simple invitation.
It can be the fear of survival.
It can feel very small or it can be big.
Maybe some imagery of some thread will support this invitation.
Only just the invitation allows your attention to find fear somewhere in the body.
So if you feel this fear and if you feel it more,
You have to say something about the fear,
Such as,
Oh,
I thought this was over or why is this still here?
What makes this be here?
If you say nothing about it,
You can actually feel it more,
You can actually let it get bigger.
You can feel the fear begin to expand.
So the willingness for it to expand is the first step to opening.
When it is expanding in feeling,
You might feel some tingling someplace,
Experience some sweat someplace.
This is all just right,
Nothing to do.
And if you are at this point aware of the feeling of fear and are willing to open to that feeling,
Drop every comment you have about it.
Drop every desire for it to be different.
And drop any idea of what will be discovered in this inquiry into opening.
And simply let your consciousness,
Your attention,
Fall into this fear,
This sensation,
Wherever it may be experienced.
If you feel some separation between consciousness and fear,
Discover what the substance of that separation is.
Discover if it is permeable.
Discover your consciousness simply entering into this.
What we named fear some time ago,
Perhaps at this time,
Is no longer even relevant.
This is not an exercise to get rid of fear.
The sensation may still be there.
Feeling may still be there.
This is an invitation to recognize that deeper than sensation,
Feeling,
There is meeting.
There is no particular result that needs to happen.
It's really an exercise to demonstrate how simple it is,
How natural it is to open.
All that's required is willingness,
Willingness to feel,
Willingness to stop telling the story,
Willingness to enter the unknown,
To discover rather than to know.
You can take all the time you need with this.
You may find other times when it's appropriate,
When fear is naturally triggered,
Where you can just retreat for a minute or two,
A few seconds,
And recognize the feeling and the opening and there is no resistance to that feeling,
When there is no fear of feeling the fear.
So when you feel ready,
Just take some deep breaths,
Suspending all judgment of what was discovered or not discovered,
Recognizing that at any time you can open.
