Thank you so much for joining me in this meditation to come into presence through the body by opening and connecting with our five senses.
Unlike our minds,
Which tend to wander into the future and the past,
The body is blessedly only ever in this present moment.
It is our portal to experience life,
And when we shift from out of our heads and into our bodies,
We meet life in real time.
So let's sink in,
Come into a comfortable position,
And we'll open with a couple deep breaths together in a moment,
And see if you can let yourself enjoy breathing as you fully inhabit each breath.
So taking a deep breath in through the nose now,
And exhaling,
And taking another deep breath in through the nose now,
Holding at the top and letting any tension from the body or mind collect here at the top.
And as you exhale now,
Release it all,
And one last deep breath together in,
Filling the belly,
Filling the chest with fresh oxygen,
Holding at the top,
And exhaling now,
Clearing out,
Creating space in the body,
And letting the breath return to its natural rhythm now.
Simply surfing the tides of the breath,
And notice now what else you can feel,
Maybe the clothes on your skin,
Or the surface beneath your feet or your seat,
Can you feel the vibrations of the sounds in the background,
Where do they land in your body,
Similar to your auditory experience,
How much can you notice about what you are hearing,
Noticing how sounds layer and blend,
And continuing on to open our sense of vision,
If your eyes are closed,
Notice what shades of colors or light or shapes you see on the backs of your eyelids.
Just because the eyes are closed doesn't mean that the sense of vision is shut off.
What do you see in your mind's eye?
And if your eyes are open,
I invite you to take a slow look around and see if you can notice something new about the environment you're in,
Expanding our awareness even more to include any tastes lingering on the tip of the tongue,
Or any scents or smells wafting through the air,
Resting in this openness,
This rootedness in the body in this moment,
Turning past and future thinking mode into a vertical orientation to the present moment,
Inside ourselves.
We can remind ourselves that nothing ever actually happens in the future or in the past,
And yet we spend so much time spinning our wheels on ruminating and anticipating,
When life actually happens in a continuum of now.
And let's take one final deep breath in together,
Inhaling through the nose,
Holding at the top,
And exhaling now,
Releasing whatever wants to go on the out-breath as we let the practice go.
And see if you can continue to access presence through your body as you continue into the rest of your day.
