Let your eyes close gently.
Maybe take a couple of deeper breaths.
Just to release whatever goes with that.
Exhale to become more present.
Let your eyes and face be soft.
Loosen the jaw.
If you like,
You can roll your head in a circle to release your neck and let it find a simple upright.
Let the shoulders relax and the arms and hands rest easily.
Feel the weight of your body,
Your bottom and your legs and feet,
The weight of gravity,
And how you can let go and be fully supported just where you are.
The earth fully supports you,
Steady and stable.
Let the belly be soft and the breath natural.
And let the heart be soft as well to receive whatever arises with the spirit of kindness,
Compassion.
And now with this embodied presence,
Begin to pay attention to this mysterious human body,
This human incarnation in bodily form,
And feel how it's breathing itself.
You don't have to do anything.
It breathes in the breath of the atmosphere and oxygen.
And feel the breath wherever it's easy.
The nostrils,
The back of the throat,
The chest or belly.
And if it helps,
You can put your hand on your belly if you can't feel the breath easily and feel the belly rise and fall in the palm of your hand.
And with a kind attention to each breath,
Invite a sense of ease,
Breathing in and out with ease,
Calm.
Breathing in with ease.
Breathing out calm and steady.
The whole nervous system relaxes,
Stands down.
And the body and attention,
The heart,
Mind all come together just feeling this breath.
And with this embodied presence,
Begin to pay attention to this mysterious human body,
This human incarnation in bodily form,
And feel how it's breathing itself.
And of course,
There will be thoughts and emotions.
And sounds that arise as you sense each breath.
Let them rise and fall like waves of the ocean around the breath and feel how the breath breathes itself in the midst of it all.
And now add metta or loving kindness to each breath.
Very simple.
As the breath breathes in,
Fill your body with breath and kindness,
Loving kindness.
Let each breath in,
Fill your whole body and being with loving kindness for yourself.
And with each breath out,
Feel,
Sense,
Imagine any way you can that you're sending love out to the whole world.
Breathing in love for your whole being,
Just naturally and easily.
And every little breath out,
Sending love to the world.
And if the breath gets soft and quiet,
Let the love get soft and quiet as well.
And with each breath out,
Feel,
Sense,
Imagine any way you can that you're sending love out to the whole world.
And with each breath out,
Feel,
Sense,
Imagine any way you can that you're sending love out to the whole world.
And with each breath out,
Feel,
Sense,
Imagine any way you can that you're sending love out to the whole world.
And notice as you breathe,
Breathing in and out love.
How there's a natural trust,
A trust that after the breath breathes out,
It will breathe in again,
All of its own.
And after it breathes in,
It breathes out all on its own.
How you can trust the earth to hold you wherever you're seated.
How you can trust the mindful,
Loving awareness to notice and hold it all.
The breath,
The love,
All the waves of experience that come and go.
And in the midst of it all,
There's a stillness,
A listening.
And in this stillness,
Ask your body,
What does my body want or need as we go through this new change of seasons?
Now that you're present and quiet,
Let your body tell you,
What do you need for the seasons ahead,
What do you want?
And trust that you can know.
What does it need to be at its best?
And you can listen in this deep presence and stillness,
Just as you listen to the body,
You can listen to your heart.
As the seasons turn,
The year ahead will begin.
What does the heart want?
What does it need to be at its best?
And you can know.
And in the same way,
Ask,
What does my spirit need and want for the next season?
What would serve?
What would bring the best?
And take whatever gifts of understanding your body and heart and spirit offer.
And the quieting of your mind and tending of the heart and breath.
And let this well-being stay with you.
Even after the bell invites your eyes to open.
So that was a simple practice of deep listening.
Quieting the mind,
Tending the breath,
Body and heart,
And listening.
Something we need these days.
We get so busy,
There's so much else going on.
And just to pause,
To stop,
To breathe with love,
And listen.
