So this morning I thought we would look at and work with three words that are really powerful in practice,
That have really served me.
And those three words are relax,
Observe and allow.
To me,
In many ways,
That's the heart of the practice.
So without further ado,
I invite you to find a nice awake posture.
Maybe move around a little on your cushion or your chair or your seat to find a place where your interaction with gravity is as easy as possible.
And maybe a deep breath or two to settle in.
And then just allowing the gravity of your attention to drop from the head space where it most likely,
Most commonly resides,
Dropping down,
Down,
Down through the heart space and if possible all the way down to the belly.
So your attention is residing in the belly or maybe the heart space and tuning in,
Tuning into the breath,
The belly rising and falling with each breath,
Gently swinging in and out and permitting relaxation to take place.
Relaxation of the body,
Relaxation of the mind.
It's not a forced relaxation,
No effort required.
It's just a letting go.
Where and if letting go is available to you right now.
And observing,
Observing the experience of relaxation and also observing the experience of non-relaxation.
There will almost certainly be parts of you that have no desire to relax right now.
Observing that,
Not trying to change it,
Just observing.
This is what relaxation is like right now.
This is what non-relaxation is like right now.
And allowing,
Allowing what takes place to take place.
Not trying to force anything.
Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
Spend some time with each of those words.
Explore the depths of relaxation,
Of observation,
Of allowance.
Sink into them,
Experience them,
Exploring the space that relaxation,
Observation and allowance drops you into,
Perhaps noticing a diminishment of the sense of self.
How the self becomes much smaller in the space that exists through relaxation,
Observation and allowance.
Perhaps a still space,
An open space.
And where there is not stillness,
Perhaps a busy mind or restlessness,
Just relax into that,
Allow it and just observe.
Do not try and fight it,
Noticing how the resistance,
The fighting brings back the sense of self in full force.
What happens when you just relax,
Observe and allow the restlessness,
The movement,
The busyness?
Noticing where there is effort,
Where you are trying to achieve something,
Striving.
And if that exists,
Very simply,
Relax into and around it,
Observe it and allow,
Allow the striving to continue if that's what it wants to do.
But as the observer,
Not as the striver,
Noticing perhaps the tendency towards meaning making,
Trying to explain or theorize,
Conceptualize and noticing what impact that has on the experience and relaxing around that,
Observing that tendency and allowing,
Again allowing it to proceed without being the conceptualizer,
The thinker,
Just being the observer,
Seeing thoughts occur.
Thoughts will occur,
You don't need to own them.
Noticing perhaps the space that opens up through relaxing,
Observing and allowing and how it gets shut down by analyzing,
Conceptualizing and thinking,
How it gets shut down by identifying as you or as whatever,
Perhaps seeing identity as just another thought,
Noticing the difference between being in the space of the observer and being in the space of you,
Whatever that means right now.
Relax,
Observe,
Allow.
If you've drifted off,
That's okay.
As you return to relaxing,
Observing and allowing,
Just notice the difference.
Notice perhaps a sense of wakefulness and aliveness,
Of awareness that exists from the space of observation,
Relaxation,
Allowance and noticing how that compares to the drifty state,
Where would you rather be?
In a minute or so,
I'll ring the chime to indicate the end of this practice session.
The invitation is as you come back to opening your eyes,
If your eyes are closed,
As you come back to interacting with others and with your environment,
To see if it's at all possible to maintain some level of relaxation,
Observation and allowance,
Even if it's just for a short period after the practice,
And just noticing how that may be different than your typical experience.
Again,
As the observer,
Not as the doer.
Thank you for your practice.
