So we've got our candle lit here and you can use mine as a placeholder or maybe your own or something entirely different but we always start with our eyes open and just connecting with something very tangible.
This candle in my hand is very tangible.
It's very solid and the flame as well.
Although my cat is very distracting this morning and adorable at the same time.
So let yourself,
Let your eyes,
Let your hands or maybe your feet find something very solid,
Very actual,
Factual as we say.
Something that doesn't require figuring out or managing,
Just is.
I'm going to put the candle down and let my eyes rest on maybe the candle,
Maybe on something different.
Letting your eyes find something in your space that's very neutral and then letting the eyes gently close,
Moving your attention to something in your sitting body that is also just very actual,
Factual.
Doesn't require any figuring out or managing.
And lastly we'll bring in something of the breath.
Something of the breath that is also actual,
Factual,
Simple.
Doesn't need to be changed or fixed.
So we've got a sitting body,
Breathing body and we're just going to be quiet here for a few cycles.
It might require effort for your attention to keep coming back to that anchoring or simple experience whether it's in breath or sitting but use that effort,
Keep coming back to that.
Another couple breath cycles,
Keep bringing your attention back to that which is very simple in this moment in your sitting,
Breathing body.
So you may be having thoughts that your attention gets distracted by.
That's very predictable and normal.
You can even expect that to happen.
Thoughts about thoughts,
Thoughts about sensations,
Thoughts about past,
Future.
They just,
They do happen.
So that's predictable.
Our breath is also a predictability.
We are always breathing,
Always being breathed and then we're always within the field of gravity.
So we've got these three predictables that are,
Well we know breath and gravity are always true 100%.
Thinking is probably close to that as well.
So we will just,
For the sake of simplicity,
Say we've got these three predictables.
Thoughts,
Breath and gravity.
So I'm going to keep inviting you to bring attention,
To keep bringing attention toward some aspect of breath that is simple and some aspect of sitting in this field of gravity that is simple.
All parts of our body are at mercy,
We could say,
At mercy to breath and gravity.
All parts of our sitting body are in relationship to gravity.
And all aspects of our being,
Of our existing,
Are in relationship to breath.
If you remove gravity,
Everything changes.
You remove breath,
Everything changes.
So we are 100%,
In this experience right now,
Reliant on breath.
Not a particular kind of breath,
But just the fact that breath is coming in and out in some way or another.
And we are all dependent on having an experience like the one we're having,
Where we don't have to worry about floating up to the ceiling or strapping ourself in.
We're all reliant on this field of gravity that holds us,
Holds us securely.
If we were all to check right now,
We would likely notice that none of us are teetering.
We're all securely held by gravity through our chair,
Our couch,
Our bed,
Our floor.
And so just having a little conversation with ourself,
A silent conversation with ourself of this really wise field of gravity that is always here supporting our nervous system and our bones,
Always holding us.
And we can really feel it right now.
And we could have a little chat,
Like,
Yeah,
What is it like for us?
What is it like,
Self?
What is it like for me to be able to lean back and to soften my muscles and not have to worry about falling to the floor or floating to the ceiling?
What is it like for my feet and my sit bones,
My back,
My hands,
To feel solidity,
To have a resting space,
To have a resting experience?
It's not conceptual,
It's actual,
Factual.
So just having a chat with yourself,
Your bones,
Your muscles.
What is it like to be cared for so deeply,
Unconditionally?
We've not earned gravity.
It's just here.
And we feel breath through the gravity,
Field of gravity.
We feel how breath moves us up.
It moves us a little bit.
It moves against gravity for a moment as we breathe in.
And then when the body breathes out,
We fall back into that field of gravity.
The chair catches us,
The bed catches us,
The floor catches us,
And we can feel those micro-movements of filling and emptying.
And we can intentionally take deeper breaths if we want,
Just to play with breath and to play with the gravity that we're within,
To feel those different experiences.
Or we can let breath just breathe us,
Make ourselves available to breath,
Like we're making ourselves available to gravity,
Like we do at night when we go to sleep.
We just let breath have us.
So whichever you'd prefer.
If you want to purposefully or intentionally breathe a certain way,
That's great.
If you want to let breath breathe you,
That's great.
Just letting yourself experiment here,
And I'll be quiet for a few breathing cycles.
Sometimes during the day,
We forget that we can trust breath.
We automatically do it at night.
When we go to sleep,
We automatically,
Consciously or unconsciously,
Trust breath to breathe us.
But during the day,
We might forget that we don't have to be in charge of everything.
We can trust gravity.
We can trust the chair.
We can trust breath.
So if you want to play with that,
You can,
On purpose,
Choose not to breathe in.
Don't hold your breath,
But you can choose not to breathe in.
And you can just,
Your body will breathe in at some point because it's in the design.
So if you want to play with that,
You just exhale and wait.
And just like we're always within the wisdom of gravity,
We're always within the wisdom,
The caretaking of breath.
We never have to earn it.
It's unconditional nurturance.
And in this way,
We might even connect to it as a loving movement.
In old language,
Breath and God and love were very woven,
And we can understand why it's so.
Breath is at the key of our life.
It is the most nurturing.
And in that way,
We might play with it as love.
We are being loved every moment.
It is our design to be loved every moment,
Not to earn it,
But to just through being.
We can even try not to be loved by breath,
And then eventually,
Breath will breathe us,
But love will love us,
Even when we fight against it.
Be quiet.
I will be quiet for a few more cycles,
Just to let yourself tap into this inherentness,
This inherent care that comes with being a human.
This might really activate your mind,
By the way,
And you might have a lot of thoughts.
Just notice that.
Notice thoughts trying to understand this,
Which those thoughts cannot.
Just notice the thoughts come,
And if possible,
Just letting them go on the shelf,
Letting your attention come back to just the raw experience that you're having,
The predictability of breath and the predictability of being held by gravity.
Keep coming back to the experience,
To some experience or some experiences,
Simple experiences,
Actual,
Factual experiences,
Experiences that you don't need to manage or figure out,
That are just happening.
Keep noticing these experiences happen as your eyes slowly start to open,
Just into a soft gaze somewhere,
Nowhere particular,
Letting your attention continue to stay with the simple experiences.
And then I'm going to invite you to move to paper or typing on the computer.
We're going to do a fast write,
Just a simple writing of your experience,
Of what you learned in the last 15 or so minutes.
Or maybe what you want to remember,
Something in the last 15 minutes.
It's a really broad question,
Broad prompt,
So just be curious,
Let yourself just let the fingers move,
The pen move,
Or the fingers type,
Be curious,
Staying with your simple experiences as you do so.
And then we'll come back to the screen in about five minutes.
And if you're listening to this on Insight Timer,
Feel free to share in the comments or send me a message of what you were learning,
What you learned,
Or what you'd like to remember from your experience today.
Take good care.
