Taking your time,
Knowing it matters that you're comfortable,
It's important how you feel.
And wherever you find yourself,
Taking a deep breath in,
And a long,
Slow,
Releasing breath out.
As you arrive here,
Feeling the sense of the body on the earth,
Noticing those points of contact,
Of pressure,
Of connection,
Sensing into the body,
These points where the body is held,
Is supported by the unconditional support of the earth,
Knowing you can let go into this support of the earth,
You don't need to hold your body,
Knowing that you don't have to be any particular way to be here.
Taking your time to breathe in,
Long and slow,
This is your space,
This is your time,
And bringing your awareness to notice the toes,
These parts of the body that so often we don't notice,
Perhaps moving the toes if that's what they want,
Sensing into the soles of the feet,
Heel,
Tops of the feet,
Perhaps this is a part of the body that doesn't often get a lot of attention,
A lot of noticing,
This is a part of the body that's working so hard every day,
Noticing the feet,
Is it possible to meet this awareness with a gentle,
Warm kindness,
Perhaps seeing a warm light of compassion,
Perhaps breathing this into your feet,
Letting go of awareness of the feet and moving your awareness up the body,
This gentle,
Kindly noticing the ankles,
Noticing the calves and the shins,
Not the idea of the body but the felt sense in this moment,
How does this body feel,
What's here right now,
Perhaps bringing this light of kindly awareness with you,
Releasing the lower legs,
Noticing now the knees and the thighs,
We often hold so much in our thighs,
These large muscles,
Perhaps allowing a releasing as you breathe out,
Releasing the thighs and noticing the hips,
The points where the body meets the legs,
And now perhaps noticing the whole of both legs,
Perhaps using imaginative breathing to imagine you could breathe down into the legs,
All the way down and back out with the out breath,
Perhaps imagining you're breathing in this compassionate awareness,
This compassionate breath that works for you,
Perhaps seeing a golden light being breathed into the legs,
And when you're ready,
Breathing out and letting go,
And moving awareness up to the pelvis,
The whole basin of the pelvis,
Noticing what's here,
The sit bones,
The lower back,
Noticing pressure of the lower back as it touches the earth and that sense of the vertebrae,
The lower back,
The mid back,
The upper back,
This back which works so hard to hold us up each day,
Which isn't really designed for this purpose,
With its aches and its pains,
Perhaps breathing into the back,
Bringing this kindly light of awareness here,
Releasing awareness of the back and noticing now the abdomen,
Sense of the breath here,
Releasing awareness of the abdomen,
Noticing the chest,
That gentle rise and fall as the body breathes,
Sensing how it feels to breathe,
Letting go of the chest and noticing the shoulders,
Perhaps there's tightness,
Maybe there's tension here,
Perhaps you can breathe into this,
Acknowledging it's here,
This will come and go as all feelings do,
These shoulders that work so hard each day,
Releasing awareness of the shoulders and noticing the upper arms,
The elbows,
The lower arms,
The hands,
The energy in the hands and perhaps it works for you using this imaginative breathing to breathe into the arms,
Breathing down to the tips of the fingers and back out again,
This light of kindly awareness,
Sensing into the arms,
Perhaps even thanking the arms,
The hands for all they do,
Releasing awareness of the arms and noticing the throat,
The neck,
The scalp,
The forehead and if there's any tension in the forehead,
Letting that go as you breathe out,
The eyebrows,
The space between the eyebrows,
The eyes,
The temples,
With each out breath,
Letting go a little bit more,
Letting the face release a little more,
The nose,
The cheeks,
The jaw,
The lips,
Perhaps finding a gentle smile,
Breathing in and out,
Perhaps imagining you could breathe into the whole of this body,
Breathing in this kindly awareness,
Noticing this body just as it is,
This body which works so hard each day,
Perhaps there's a golden light of compassion filling the body,
Perhaps a sense of warmth or maybe a wish,
A wish to feel compassion,
To sense into the body with each breath and when you're ready,
Coming towards the end of this practice,
Releasing this awareness,
Letting go,
Remembering you can always return,
You can always come back to this,
Letting go of the sense of the body and once more noticing the points where the body makes connection with the air,
Sensing into the body on the air as you breathe,
As you listen,
This being human as a guest house,
Every morning a new arrival,
A joy,
A depression,
A meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor,
Welcome and entertain them all,
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
Still treat each guest honorably,
He may be clearing you out for some new delight,
The dark thought,
The shame,
The malice,
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in,
Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond,
Taking a deep breath in and out,
Namaste
