Welcome to a short practice about the space in between giving and receiving.
We will begin briefly with pranayama to help settle the nervous system.
Then I'll guide you into a gentle somatic inquiry,
Exploring what it feels like to give and what it feels like to receive.
Then we'll explore the space of exchange in between.
Finally,
We'll close with an art prompt to help you reflect on this exchange in your own life.
This practice is for the givers,
The helpers,
The ones who show up consistently for others,
And who are learning,
Perhaps slowly,
To let something flow back.
Let us begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
Place your feet flat on the floor or sit with the legs crossed,
Whatever feels most natural for your body right now.
Let your hands rest softly in your lap,
Palms facing up if that feels comfortable.
You may close your eyes or gaze softly to the floor.
Begin simply by noticing your breath.
Not changing it yet,
Just notice.
And now choose one place in your body to anchor your awareness.
The heart space works beautifully,
Noticing the gentle rise and fall with each breath.
Or bring your attention to the chair or floor as it supports you.
Now begin gently to lengthen the breath.
Breathing in for a count of three.
Pausing and then breathing out for a count of four.
Again pausing.
Then breathing in to the count of three.
Pausing.
And out for the count of four.
Continue with the rhythm of your own breath.
On the next inhale,
Extend a little further,
Breathing in to a count of four or five before pausing.
And then breathing out for a count of five,
Six,
Seven or eight.
Again pausing.
Continue,
Letting the inhale be smooth,
Allowing the exhale to be gentle.
Allow the exhale to be slow and complete.
We'll do this for a few rounds of breath.
Following the next exhale,
Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Take a moment to observe any obvious sensations in your body.
Starting with your feet,
Then moving up through the legs.
Notice if there is tension or gripping.
Move your awareness up through the hips and belly.
Notice if you can soften in the belly.
Continue up the spine through the heart center into the shoulders.
Notice if you can release any tension there.
Move the awareness down through the arms into the hands.
Notice any energy or sensation in the hands.
Now move the awareness up through the arms into the neck,
Up through the head.
Noticing the back of the head,
The ears,
Softening the jaw,
Softening the muscles around the eyes and forehead.
Now notice the crown of the head,
The whole right side body,
The whole left side body,
And the whole body.
Notice the whole body.
And now I invite you to turn your attention to the feeling of giving.
Bring to mind someone or something you give to regularly.
It might be a person,
A community,
A practice,
Or a creative calling.
Let this arise naturally.
Just notice the first thing that comes.
Now notice what happens in your body when you bring this to mind.
Is there warmth?
Expansion?
Or is there a subtle heaviness?
Perhaps a tiredness that lives just underneath the generosity.
There is no right or wrong answer here.
Just notice.
Now gently bring the mind to the feeling of receiving.
Not receiving in theory,
But receiving in the body.
A moment when someone's care actually landed.
When support arrived and you let it in.
Notice what happens.
Is there relief?
Does the body soften?
Or does something tighten?
A familiar instinct to deflect.
To say,
I'm fine.
Or to return the gift before it fully arrives.
Continue now with focusing on the breath.
Like the inhale and exhale,
Giving and receiving is a circuit.
Notice your inhale and exhale.
Said again.
Like the inhale and exhale,
Giving and receiving is a circuit.
It is actually a neural circuit.
Like the inhale and exhale,
Giving and receiving is relational.
Giving and receiving are like two directions of the same breath.
Yoga philosophy has a name for this,
Called Dhana.
The practice is offered freely,
But also allowing something to flow back.
Not as a transaction,
But in relationship.
In fact,
Dhana is one of the oldest models in contemplative tradition for how wisdom gets transmitted.
In ancient times,
You did not pay a teacher for their teaching.
You received it.
And then if it changed something in you,
If it landed in a way that mattered,
You offered what you could in return.
Not because it was required,
But because it was understood that the relationship asked for it.
There were no price tiers,
No paywalls,
No sliding scales.
Just the teaching and a quiet bowl placed near the door.
Alongside the theme of giving and receiving,
Dhana is the focus of this week's art prompt.
When you're ready,
Gently bring some movement back into your fingers and toes and let your eyes open softly.
Today's art prompt is the bowl by the door.
Find a piece of paper and whatever drawing or art supplies feel right.
Trace both of your hands side by side on the page,
Palms facing up.
One hand is giving.
One hand is receiving.
Then spend a few minutes with each one separately.
On the giving hand,
What does it feel like when you give freely?
Is it open?
Full?
Tired?
Purposeful or fried out?
Let the colors and marks carry the feeling without needing to explain it.
And then move on to the receiving hand.
What does it feel like to receive something,
Such as care,
Support or acknowledgement?
Is it easy?
Is it uncomfortable?
Do you consciously deflect it in the name of humility or a limiting belief that results in low self-worth?
Does your receiving hand want to stay open or is it closed or empty?
Let this image be honest as well.
Now I know in this community there are many people involved in places where giving and receiving flows freely.
So I encourage you to follow what surfaces here because this flow between the hands might look different if the topic is a friendship or a personal relationship versus a job versus a spiritual community.
This is actually pretty cool to think about.
Now when you complete these images,
Take a moment to sit with them.
Then consider the space between the two hands.
This white space is where something is moving between them.
This is Dana,
The relational space in between.
So consider between these two what lives there when the circuit is complete.
And then add something to that white space.
A color,
A shape,
A mark that names what becomes possible when both directions are flowing.
This is the information that shapes your bowl.
What needs to fill it?
Where do you place it?
Is it empty or is it full?
When you're done,
Take a few moments to journal with the image.
I encourage you to dialogue with the Dana or this space between.
But if you're drawn to writing about what is occurring in either hand,
Feel welcome to spend time with that as well.
As we close today's practice,
Thank you for taking the time to turn inward.
You give well.
That is not in question.
What is being asked of you now,
Gently and without pressure,
Is simply this.
Let something flow back.
Place the bowl by the door.
Again,
Not as a transaction,
But as practice.
As the completion of a circuit that makes it possible to keep giving from a place of genuine fullness.
The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.
