So this morning,
Let's investigate relaxation a little,
Where that leads and what it can lead to.
So ease in well-being or ease of well-being is perhaps what we're investigating today,
Pretty central concept.
So I invite you to take a deep breath or three as you settle into your posture,
An awake posture,
And noticing as you invite relaxation,
As you allow relaxation,
Noticing how that may impact your posture.
As your back begins to relax,
As your torso begins to relax,
Does that cause you to slump more or be maybe a little more erect,
A little more upright?
Just investigate.
No right answer.
It's just a good thing to explore.
It may turn out that a certain degree of tension is required for your default posture,
Whatever that may be,
And that relaxation shifts that.
And as you settle into your breathing,
Just allowing your attention to drop from the headspace down into and through perhaps the heart space,
And if possible,
All the way down to the belly,
And allowing your attention to rest wherever it wants to rest,
Not forcing it.
This is a practice of ease,
Of effortlessness.
It's not a practice of pushing.
It's not a practice of striving.
It's not a practice of attaching to a specific goal.
It's just simply a practice of letting go of that which is available to being let go.
Nothing more.
And as we move through the practice,
You may find certain parts of you want to let go.
You may find the opposite too,
And that's okay too.
Just being present with this right now.
Settling,
Settling,
Settling.
And wherever your attention has rested,
In your belly,
In your heart,
Even if it's in your head,
Wherever your attention has rested,
Allowing settling in that space too.
You may find attention being more directed at that which is tense,
That which is uncomfortable.
Wherever you're noticing tension or discomfort,
Just notice that around that discomfort,
Around that tension,
Is relaxation.
It's already there.
That's the space to inhabit.
Similarly,
You may notice a degree of resistance to any discomfort or any tension.
Just notice how that adds to the discomfort or the tension,
And see if you can at least let the resistance drop.
So all there is is the tension or the discomfort,
Surrounded by a space of relaxation.
Noticing also perhaps that that which notices the discomfort or the tension is already relaxed.
So relaxation is not something we do,
It's something we enter.
It's something that's already there,
That is always willing to invite us in.
Perhaps the invitation and the allowing of invitation,
Allowing of relaxation,
Has settled the mind some.
Perhaps it hasn't.
If the mind is busy,
See if it's possible to observe the space that surrounds the thoughts.
Is that busy?
Noticing perhaps that thinking is another source of tension.
Again,
Not resisting the thoughts,
Not pushing them away.
Just occupying the space that surrounds them instead,
Inhabiting the relaxed spaces.
And as you inhabit the relaxed spaces,
And as perhaps you shifted back and forth between the relaxed spaces and the tenser spaces,
Between the space around thoughts and the thoughts themselves,
Just noticing the difference between the two.
What's it like to inhabit a tense space?
How big is your world?
How big is your universe?
It's not much bigger perhaps than the tension itself,
Or the thought itself.
What's the space like that surrounds the thoughts,
That surrounds the tension,
The relaxed space?
What's it like to inhabit that space?
Is it perhaps a little more open,
A little larger,
A little more,
Well,
Providing a little more perspective?
Just noticing.
No right or wrong,
Just observing,
Which requires more energy to maintain,
Which enables the clearest seeing,
Seeing of the circumstances,
Seeing of the situation,
Which provides the more full perspective.
Where does confusion lie?
Is it in the space of relaxation or the space of tension?
Which of these spaces is more equanimous?
As you go through your day,
Which would you rather inhabit?
The space of tension or the space of relaxation?
Recognizing that in any moment,
We have a choice.
We can occupy a space of tension,
Whether that be thoughts or discomfort or however it may arrive,
And we can place our attention there.
Or we can inhabit the settled space,
The relaxed space that surrounds those thoughts or that tension.
There's always a choice.
Sometimes that choice may not feel available to us.
That's okay.
And sometimes you may find,
Especially if you continue with this kind of practice,
That you can shift from one to the other.
Ease of well-being,
Allowing attention to return to the body,
The whole body,
Noticing connection with ground,
Sensing into that,
Back to solidity,
Form,
And shifting attention up through the feet,
The legs,
Hips,
And sitz bones,
Pelvis,
Up through the belly,
Chest,
Shoulders,
And arms,
Hands,
Neck,
Head,
Through the face,
The jaw,
Forehead,
Up to the head.
Thank you for your practice.
