So as you make your way into your chosen pose,
We'll ring the bell to signify a pausing of the regular momentum of daily life so that we can soften and connect in.
And for awareness to be sustained,
We'll really have to slow down.
So the moment the bell rings,
You step through the doorway into the inner altar.
And as a simple glimpse practice in arriving,
Check in with the three wisdom regions.
Which each host and taproot basic modes of understanding.
And different rhythms of the chi body.
And you could say the three regions are like the what,
The who,
And the how.
So starting in the head,
Entering through the corridor of third eye.
And find a groove,
Find an inner pathway that leads you to the center of the skull.
Just behind the pineal glands where that alkaloid substances moisturize the tone of the brain.
Serotonin,
Melatonin,
Tryptamine.
Occupying the skull space fully.
What's here?
What type of intellectual or analytical content?
What am I thinking about?
And the mind loves to indulge with the thought stream.
So just let it swim for a moment.
What's here?
I find particularly in the morning,
If we give a moment of observation to the head center,
Then it distracts us less throughout the day.
Three more breaths in this pose.
We'll make our way up.
Most of us in the room are in a forward bend.
So just coming to sit back with a neutral spine,
Resting on the heels of the hands.
And then perhaps a back bend.
And that could just be a sphinx pose on the belly.
Or just resting back in a kind of yin style fish pose on the forearms with the legs long in front of you.
Coming to rest all the way on the back in stupdha bhata konasana,
Which is very slight back bends in the lumbar spine.
And from the what in the headspace,
Exhale your way down into the heart for the who.
We won't circulate here for long.
Just a few brief touches swimming through the heart.
Who's with me now?
Noting cords of attachment.
Little parts of others that you're holding,
Or parts of you that you've given away to somebody else.
Last three breaths.
And we'll make our way all the way down onto the spine.
Either stupdha bhata konasana or constructive rest where the knees bend and you walk the heels out so that the inner patella can touch and rest on the other side.
We'll keep traveling with breath that effortless vehicle that moves prana.
And descend down into the heart realm.
From the who in the heart to the how of the heart.
How am I?
Like how am I feeling really?
So checking in with your emotional terrain,
However rocky the landscape is.
And if there isn't yet a tone of gentle inquiry of metta,
Then infuse this visit into the heart around with a friendliness like you were greeting an old friend.
How are you?
What does life feel like for you right now?
And then infusing the whole aura of the practice with appreciation that despite any difficult emotions or narratives or relationships we're holding on to that there is a richness here.
Complexity of the human spirit is ours to taste for however long this life course lasts.
Take your time to come up to see it.
