Welcome to this meditation,
Body as Instrument.
Our body is an instrument.
How we tune it,
Use it and care for it,
What we put into it and everything we incorporate becomes part of our life story.
There are people who read palms,
Scalps,
Minds and the soles of feet for clues as to what's going on with the body,
Where it's been,
Where it is now and where it's headed.
Looseness and suppleness in the body equate to looseness and suppleness in the mind,
In the heart and in all the bodily systems.
Likewise,
Tightness and rigidity in the body equate to tightness and rigidity of thought,
Feeling and overall bodily function.
In our practice today,
We bring awareness to the body as it stands in service to art.
Being comfortable in our own skin enables us to embody our songs and words,
Our movements and gestures,
Our stillness and silence with beauty and grace.
If our lips speak the language of a beautiful soul and our eyes reflect the sentiments of a generous heart,
Then these qualities will inform our body also.
Our body knows our way.
During the times that we feel disconnected from our body,
Uncomfortable in it and even ashamed,
We can remember that the one who led us there is not the one who will lead us elsewhere.
Another version of us will do that.
We can remember that the disconnection we feel is also a part of us and is of service to the things we create.
Our body is the vessel through which we channel our message.
We learn it like an instrument so we can free it,
The message.
Like the song that guides us and how it wants to be sung,
Our body guides us in how it wants to be played.
We strive for ever greater openness and fluidity so that all the inner life we cultivate can come forth.
It's our inner life that connects us with the world.
So find a comfortable position now in which to sit or lie down.
Close your eyes and allow your breath to flow in and out naturally,
Releasing any tension in your face,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Hands and abdomen.
As you follow your breath,
Notice how your body softens to its flow.
Breathe your body into harmonious accord with itself as you hear and echo these words.
I breathe into my experience.
I breathe into my knowledge.
I breathe into my talent.
I breathe into my belief.
I breathe into my doubt.
I breathe into my grief.
I breathe into my body,
My foundation.
I breathe into the spirit that inhabits me and guides my body.
To attain my highest states of creativity and inspiration,
I must have solid grounding.
My body is vital to my life as artist.
I breathe into it,
Be it small or large,
Short or tall,
Narrow or wide.
It's all here for my use and for what I dream of bringing forth.
I take this body as it is and I begin.
My body is perfect as it is,
As I attune to my purpose,
My body follows and as I follow my body,
My purpose deepens.
My body is mine.
It serves my nature and my highest good.
I will not wait until I have some other body before I claim my artistic self.
I inhabit this one and I make it my instrument.
In my heart,
I love this body and I honor it by using it.
I breathe into my heart and into my whole being.
I breathe into this channel and vessel for all that I dream to create.
My body is the physical manifestation of my thoughts and feelings.
I aim to keep these pure,
Kind and true as I use my body for the many roles I choose to play in this life.
This vessel is the container of my inner being.
Aligning my inner and outer selves is the great adventure of my life.
It is my duty to myself.
My purpose is to know myself as an ever widening and ever deepening spiral of evolution that gives my life meaning and my art its utterly unique expression and luster.
I am my instrument.
My whole body sings this song that I am.
I am grounded here just as I am.
From here I can go anywhere I choose.
I am free always to rest here just as I am.
