Settling into a comfortable position,
Seated,
Standing,
Or lying.
Feeling the contact between your body and whatever is supporting you,
And ultimately with the earth.
Feeling the support of the earth.
Allowing your body to open and settle.
Now noticing the in-breath and the out-breath.
If it helps you to start with a few deep breaths,
Go ahead and take a few.
And as you breathe,
Notice how your breath is always changing.
How the in-breath flows into the out-breath and the out-breath into the next in-breath.
Constant movement.
And no two breaths are the same.
Each is unique.
And when it's gone,
It's gone.
It's not coming back.
So feeling into the constantly changing nature of the breath.
You can bring your awareness slightly down into your chest.
Maybe you feel your heart beating.
Noticing that it's the same with your heart.
It's constantly changing.
Constantly in movement.
And your whole body is like that.
In every second.
Millions,
Maybe billions of cells are being born.
And millions or billions are dying.
From even one moment to the next,
Your body is not the same.
It's constantly changing.
It's said that about every six weeks we have a completely new body.
New liver,
New blood,
New skin,
New eyes.
Allow yourself to touch into the preciousness of this moment because it's impermanent.
Because the you right now will never exist again after this moment.
So savoring that.
Looking at your body,
Your experience in terms of time.
And connecting with the impermanence of your life span.
How you were born and grew from a baby to a child,
To a young person,
And to whatever age you are now.
You'll keep aging and eventually you'll pass away.
Perhaps after old age.
So connecting with the impermanence of your own life.
And again feeling the preciousness of being alive.
Knowing that it's temporary.
And this doesn't have to be a downer.
It doesn't have to be something that scares us or makes us feel dread.
It can be something that helps us to be very awake and to have a very fresh relationship with this moment.
This place.
Our life.
And connecting also to the constantly changing nature of the human species.
Reality of evolution.
And how much our species has changed and how it's continuing to change.
How the world existed,
The earth existed before humans evolved.
And the earth may well exist long after humans cease to be.
And that perhaps as a species we have a limited life span as well.
Just as other species have come and gone on this earth.
And allowing the insight of impermanence to help us see this moment with fresh eyes.
To see the preciousness of this moment in history where the human species still exists.
And now taking in the constantly changing nature of societies,
Of civilizations.
How civilizations have grown up and then crumbled in the past.
How our own society began as a continuation of the societies before it.
And how it too will pass away and end.
It's not guaranteed to continue forever.
Similarly with governments.
Contemplating how governments arise and pass.
Lasting for some time and then transitioning into the next form of government or the next group that holds power.
All things that arise are of the nature to cease.
Being aware also of the shifting,
Changing nature of the planet itself.
The impermanence of planet earth that has existed over 4.
6 billion years and has been changing and evolving constantly.
Began as fiery dust from another star.
It's made so many huge transitions with multiple extinctions and ice ages.
And observing the man-made,
The human-made changes that the earth is enduring now.
The loss of Arctic ice arising in acidifying oceans.
The extinction of 200 species every day.
We are now facing the sixth mass extinction and our species may also be one of the casualties.
Breathing with that reality of impermanence.
And as we touch into the tragedy of this moment,
We can also connect with incredible potential that each of us has.
How we can each contribute to easing suffering and helping to create a more beautiful world.
So allowing this reflection on impermanence to fire up that determination to do whatever it is each of us can do.
And to work with others who also care.
Because we touch how precious this impermanent,
Constantly changing planet and human species and society is.
So feeling into the stability of this present moment.
The stillness,
The creativity,
All the potential that's right here,
Right now.
In every breath,
In every cell of the body.
And being aware that the future is made of the present moment.
So if we are mindful and if we live deeply right here and now.
Touching the beauty in the midst of all the impermanence.
Then the future is a continuation of this.
And we know that we can also live beautifully.
Even in the face of so much uncertainty and so much change.
So as you're ready,
Transitioning to slowly stretch and gently open your eyes.
Perhaps setting an intention to be awake to all the different aspects of impermanence as you go throughout your day.
