Let's invite the stillness that everything seems to move through.
Let's invite that into our presence.
So what do I mean by that?
Just take a look around you now and sense into how everything is being held in this moment,
Us and everything around us.
And it's like there's a stillness that's doing the holding.
And anything that's moving around you,
Whether it's wind or something flying through the air or someone walking by,
Just recognizing that that's all happening through a stillness.
Once you've had a bit of a look around and sense into this space,
One that you're inhabiting now,
Just invite you to settle into an awake posture and a comfortable posture.
So maybe move around a little on your chair or cushion until you find a nice center of gravity,
One where you're working with gravity rather than having it push against you.
Easeful and awake.
Perhaps take a deep breath or two to settle in.
And with your breath,
Just allow your attention to start to drop through your throat,
From your head through your throat,
Into your heart,
Your heart space,
And down,
Down,
Down towards your belly.
Noticing perhaps the gentle rise and fall of your belly with each breath.
And noticing how even that gentle rise and fall of your belly is happening through stillness,
Within stillness,
Perhaps even as stillness.
And allowing your attention to spread outwards to a whole body awareness,
And sensing into the boundaries between inside and out,
Inhabiting those boundaries,
Experiencing them,
Noticing perhaps a certain blurriness,
A certain continuity between inside and out,
Just settling into that space.
Noticing that this stillness seems to inhabit the inside and the out.
Noticing where there is any striving,
Any effort,
Any effort,
Any forcing,
Trying to be something,
Just resting into that,
Inviting stillness,
Noticing thoughts as they arrive,
And resting into them,
Inviting stillness there too.
Simply inviting what is forever present,
Stillness,
Inviting that in.
There's nothing you have to do except open the door.
If you're in a nice warm house in winter,
And someone opens a door,
You feel the cool air rush in.
It's a little like that.
You don't have to bring the cool air in,
You don't have to force it,
You just have to open the door,
The door,
The boundary between inside and out.
And if you get lost in thought,
Feeling or otherwise,
Simply return to what you know,
Your breath,
Your body,
Return to the familiar,
And experience that existing within stillness,
And settle back in,
Noticing perhaps how the stillness holds,
It's like a mother holding and comforting a child.
Stillness is there to hold whatever's present,
Unmoved,
So it's possible as things arise,
Noticing them in the perspective of stillness,
Noticing how they're being held,
Whatever it is that arises,
Whether it's a discomfort,
A memory,
A desire,
A plan,
All being held within a loving embrace by stillness.
The invitation now to explore these boundaries,
Boundaries between inside and out,
Just to see how far they extend.
Where is your outer boundary?
Does it exist?
I hear a sound from a long way away.
Where is my outer boundary?
I notice sensations on my skin,
Interactions with the air.
Is the boundary where my skin meets the air,
Or is there more to sensation than that?
Just exploring,
There's no correct answer.
Just noticing thoughts,
Sensations,
Experiences,
Experiences,
Noticing how each of these are just being held,
If you allow it.
As you let stillness in,
These things still arise,
But they don't need to get in the way,
And an invitation as you move through your day,
To remember when you can,
To just let stillness in,
To experience yourself moving through the stillness,
To experience the movement around you as movement through stillness.
Allowing attention now to become more focused,
To become embodied,
Sensing into feet,
Sensing into ground,
Sensing into ground,
Solidity,
Sensing into legs,
Sensing into your seat,
Hips,
Your pelvis,
Sensing into back,
Belly,
Sensing into chest,
Shoulders,
Arms,
And hands,
Sensing into neck and head,
Sensing into face,
Forehead,
Top of the head,
Forehead,
Whole body,
Body solid,
Sitting here,
And resting in stillness.
Thank you for your practice.
