Namaste.
Take these first few moments to resettle your body into a comfortable space.
For this practice,
You may prefer to be lying on your back.
If you need,
Take the time now to support your head and the crook behind your knees or support yourself in any other way to help your body begin to relax back onto the surface which you're lying on.
You can begin to take a few exaggerated breaths here.
These could be breaths that come in through your nose and that part your lips as you exhale so that your jaw begins to soften and your nervous system gets a simple message that you're here to let go of what came before.
With even just these few deeper breaths,
Feel your body settling even more into the surface that you're resting on.
With your body beginning to settle now,
The premise of today's practice is to see ourselves in others and to also see others in ourselves.
To be able to take a perspective where we can look down and see everyone with equanimity.
Know that as you do this practice,
There is no way that you can do it wrong.
You may relax deeply,
You may go close to sleep or fall asleep.
All that's important is your level of curiosity with a hope to remain relaxed and alert,
But with an openness to see where the practice takes you.
Begin to bring your awareness to the point right between your eyebrows.
This is a point that can normally feel a bit compressed when you concentrate.
See now if as you breathe in,
You can imagine a small cool point of light,
A light not unlike a star that shines here.
And perhaps as you inhale,
This light grows a little,
And as you exhale,
Dims a little.
Feel this light grow as full as you like on the next inhale,
And on your exhale,
Let it dissipate.
Drawing your awareness down now towards the center of your mouth,
And right inside the center of your mouth,
Imagining another cool point of light that grows as you inhale,
And brightness and dims as you exhale.
On your next inhale,
Let it grow as big and as bright as you wish,
And as you exhale,
Let it dissipate,
Moving your awareness down now to the center of your throat,
Seeing this point of light here.
Feeling its color,
The amount of space it wants to take.
On your next inhale,
Letting it grow as big and as bright as you wish,
And as you exhale,
Letting that light dissipate and fade,
Dropping your awareness down to the center of your mouth,
Cultivating an awareness of the light that's there,
Its color,
The space it wants to take up,
Beginning to see it become more bright and dim with each cycle of your breath.
On your next inhale,
See it grow,
And on your exhale,
Let it dissipate,
Awareness moving down now to your solar plexus,
The space of your abdomen where your attention is drawn,
Seeing your point of light here,
Whatever manifestation it takes,
Noticing it from all angles.
Taking a full breath in here,
And on your exhale,
Letting it go,
Awareness traveling down now to the space below your navel,
In the area of your pelvis,
Wherever it feels like your attention is drawn,
Create this point of light.
Allow it to grow and intensify,
And to shrink and fade each breath.
On your next inhale,
See this point of light completely in its fullness and its brightness,
And when you exhale,
Let that go,
Awareness drifting down to the base of your spine,
Your tailbone,
The end of your trunk and torso,
Focusing your attention here,
Seeking to identify a single point,
And watching that point.
You can take a full breath in here,
And when you exhale,
Let that point go,
And letting your awareness come to the very top of your head,
And as you inhale,
Letting the full length of the inhale take you down the length of your spine to its base.
As you exhale,
Letting the breath take you back up the spine towards the crown of the head,
Moving in your own way at your own pace,
Following the rhythm of your breath as it moves down your spine on the inhale,
As it lifts up the spine on your exhale.
On your next breath,
Let your awareness begin to rest at the center of your chest once more.
Take a full breath in,
And feel this space at the center of your chest swell a bit,
And when you breathe out,
Feel it condense again.
Breathing in,
Let it grow a little bigger this time,
Feeling your awareness expand to the walls of your skin,
And when you breathe out,
To release back.
And now in this moment,
Bringing your perspective high above your body,
As if the view of a hawk were yours to receive,
High above,
Looking down,
Seeing everything that is around you,
Seeing your body resting.
As you look down at this body,
Words come to mind.
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be peaceful and at ease,
May I know joy and equanimity,
Gazing down at your body,
Seeing now,
Arriving next to you,
Those who you care about,
Those that you love,
Coming to sit beside you,
And as they come to sit,
May we be happy,
May we be well,
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we know joy and equanimity.
More people still come to join as you look down from above,
Seeing your body,
Seeing the ones you love,
Seeing those who join now,
Anyone who's ever smiled when you needed it or held your hand,
Strangers who've been kind enough to give you a kind word or to open a door when your arms were full.
People arriving you may have seen only once,
But whose kindness struck you.
They sit down with you now,
And together,
May we be happy,
May we be well,
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we know joy and equanimity.
Looking down now,
You see still others arriving.
These are the people who've been too tired to smile when you needed it,
Those who've been confused and lost,
Who've misunderstood you,
Or been unable to say something kind.
You let them sit down too,
And you look down at all of these bodies surrounding your own,
About ones sticking out more than the other,
Everyone there,
Everyone accepted,
Everyone allowed to sit.
May we be happy,
May we be well,
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we know joy and equanimity.
And now from this view you expand out as wide as you can.
May all beings be happy,
May we be well,
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we know joy and equanimity.
Looking down from above,
You see it all,
You embrace it all,
And you draw your awareness back to the image of your own body.
Looking down at yourself now,
Descending closer now,
Zooming in towards your body.
Resting now just a few feet above your body,
And starting with yourself,
Knowing that you are the most important thing in the world,
That the whole wave,
That you open all doors,
You offer yourself that deepest,
Deepest desire to forgive and to accept who you are,
All you've done.
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be peaceful and at ease,
May I know joy and equanimity,
And in this may I serve all those who I meet,
All those who cross my path.
Feeling the image of your body fade now,
Resting in this easy awareness.
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be peaceful and at ease,
May I know joy and equanimity.
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be peaceful and at ease.
