Namaste.
I'm Hannah Leatherberry,
And today's daily insight is a reminder of what you already know.
You are composed of the same energy found in nature.
You are never alone because you're never separate from all that is alive within you and around you.
Today's practice is a ritual to honor our teachers and nature through movement and simple phrases.
It's a practice that I've repeated for hundreds of mornings since joining Insight Timer,
And each time it reminds me that I am supported and that I am resting within a great current of wisdom.
If you'd like to join me in moving with today's practice,
Come to a solid standing position facing east.
If you aren't sure where to find east,
Face the direction you imagined the sunrise first appeared today.
If you wish to remain still and seated or reclining,
You can imagine the image of a sunrise before you.
Now take a few easy breaths to acknowledge your arrival here.
Rediscover the body nature gave you.
Let your weight shift forward.
Let it lean slightly back in space.
Now explore your right side and your left.
Having found what off-center feels like,
Find yourself centering.
Find the middle.
You are firmly grounded and steady.
Breathe as if you are settling into being here for a long time.
Facing east,
You greet the direction of the rising sun and the qualities of springtime.
Lessons around new beginnings abound here.
Inhale your arms out to your sides and bring your palms to touch overhead.
Exhale your arms wide and bow forward over your legs.
Take a few breaths in this forward bow,
Releasing tension in the backs of your legs by bending your knees slightly.
Supporting your back by resting your fingers on the earth or on your legs wherever they touch naturally.
Firm your low belly and fully release the weight of your head towards earth.
From the east come teachings of using curiosity to find clarity and using clarity to step forward in courage.
We welcome in the guidance,
Wisdom,
And support of our teachers and ancestors from the east.
Inhale your arms out wide,
Lengthening your spine to return to standing.
Exhale your palms together,
Resting at the center of your chest.
These teachings will be here to guide us as we move through this day.
The poet Rumi reminds us of how to move with nature and with our teachers.
Move within,
But don't move the way fear makes you move.
Walk to the well.
Turn as the earth and the moon turn circling what they love.
Whatever circles comes from the center.
May these teachings radiate from you just as the sun shines forth its light from the east.
