Welcome to your practice.
This will be a meditation on welcoming inner silence,
As taught by my teacher Uma Dinsmore Chooley.
So start by either sitting down or you can practice laying on your back,
Whatever makes you feel most comfortable.
Take the time to settle in,
Making sure that you feel supported,
Making sure that you feel held,
And then settling into stillness.
And slowly,
In your own way,
Start to deepen your breathing,
A very gentle ujjayi is welcome if it feels right,
But if not,
Just slow abdominal breaths.
And if you haven't already and it's comfortable for you,
You can let your eyes close down.
And rest your palms,
One on top of the other,
Over the center of your heart.
Let your palms be flat and relax your fingers.
And breathe your awareness down to a focus of mental attention into the heart.
Notice the weight and warmth of the hands and breathe into that boundary,
That protective space.
And see if you can invite a very gentle experience of gladness into your heart.
Being thankful for the people,
The creatures,
And the circumstances that are making it possible for you to sit right now and do this practice.
And breathe into that feeling almost as if the heart itself is breathing.
And in this way,
We honor the presence of the inner teacher with the words that can be silent or voiced.
With great respect and love,
I honor my heart,
My inner teacher.
With great respect and love,
I honor my heart,
My inner teacher.
Release your hands when you're ready and if you're seated,
You can rest them in your lap.
Palms up,
Back of the left hand supported by the palm of the right hand and the two thumb tips touching.
Or in any other hand gesture that feels appropriate and comfortable for you.
And as the breath comes in and out through the nose,
Be aware of the rhythmic cycle of the breath.
Noticing how the inhale and the exhale just seamlessly merge into one another.
And allow this natural flow of breath to continue as you shift your focus of awareness now from one sense to the next.
So first bringing your full attention to the sense of your hearing.
Exhale awareness into the sense of your hearing and be aware of all of the sounds around you.
Noticing the sounds that are furthest away.
Noticing the sounds that are a little closer by.
And draw your attention closer and closer until you are just focusing on the sound of your own breath as it moves gently in and out through the nose.
Noticing the intimacy of this sound.
Allowing each sound to be heard with full attention to the sense of hearing.
Especially now listening to the sound of the breath as it comes in and out of the nostrils.
And allow that to shift your attention to your sense of smell.
Becoming aware of the odors and aromas that you can detect as the breath moves in.
Giving full attention to your sense of smell.
Feeling connected to the qualities of the earth,
Stable,
Nourishing and supportive.
Inhaling your awareness right up to the top of the inside of your nostrils.
All the way over to the back of the throat and into the mouth.
Allow that to move your awareness now into your mouth and the sense of taste.
Exhaling into full awareness into your sense of taste now.
Become aware of different tastes experienced on the surface of your tongue.
Noticing which tastes seem most easily detectable right now.
Is it sweet or sour or salty,
Bitter or stringent?
Give your full attention to the sense of taste.
Feeling connected to the qualities associated with the element of water,
Fluidity and creativity.
Now run the tip of your tongue along the inside of your closed lips and be aware of the gentle touch of the upper lip upon the lower lip.
Shifting your awareness now up to your eyes and feel the same gentle touch between the upper and lower eyelids.
Sensing feeling the delicate skin on the eyelids and the eyelids resting against the eyes.
Exhale your awareness into your sense of sight.
Feeling with relaxed interest at the eyes.
What is there to be seen in front of them?
Colors,
Darkness,
Movement or stillness,
Patterns,
Shapes,
Whatever it is that you see just observing through your sense of sight.
Giving your full attention to the sense of sight and becoming connected to the qualities associated with the element of fire,
Warmth,
Illumination and the light by which we see.
Again bringing awareness to the skin on the eyelids and shift the awareness into your sense of touch now.
Notice the different temperatures and textures that you can detect through your skin.
Noticing where the air meets your skin compared to where the clothes meet your skin.
Becoming fully aware of your body,
Noticing each sensation,
Temperature,
Texture.
Give your full attention to the sense of touch and becoming connected now to the qualities associated with the element of air,
Openness and movement.
Especially now feeling the air on the skin around your ears.
Shift the focus of attention into the ears and feeling the air inside the ears.
Aware of the air carrying sound as vibrations into the spaces inside your ears.
Bringing your attention back to where you began your sense of hearing.
Noticing again the intimate sounds that are closest to you,
The sound of your own breath.
Very slowly,
Gradually noticing the sounds that are further away in the room around you.
Maybe the sounds outside of your room and the sounds of the wider world.
Can you be simultaneously aware of the sounds closest to you and the sounds furthest away?
Give your full attention to your sense of hearing.
Connected to the qualities associated with the element of space,
The spaciousness through which sound vibrations travel and the spaciousness within which all other elements exist.
When you are fully aware of all of the sounds,
Make your breathing a little bit deeper,
Allowing your breath to deepen,
Inviting fresh prana,
Fresh energy into your body.
You could slowly start to move your jaw,
Your fingers and your toes.
Gently blinking open your eyes and in full awareness of the space that you exist in.
Honor the presence of the inner teacher with the words silent or voiced.
With great respect and love,
I honor my heart,
My inner teacher.
With great respect and love,
I honor my heart,
My inner teacher.
Thank you.
