As always,
We start by finding a comfortable seat.
That means that your hips should be slightly elevated so they're higher than the knees.
You can sit on a blanket or pillow,
Anything.
And your shoulders are centered over your hips and your ears over your shoulders.
There's a slight tuck of the chin which elongates the back of your neck.
Take a moment and rock back and forth a little bit and find grounding in your sitz bones.
Feel the connection to the earth.
And as always,
We start by becoming aware of our breathing and our breath.
Just the basic qualities of breath,
Whether it's deep or shallow,
Whether the inhales are longer than the exhales or vice versa,
Just notice you don't have to change it very much just now.
Is there a pause at the top of the inhale or the bottom of the exhale?
Is the breath audible or silent?
Just notice.
And this last quality is something of a diagnostic tool you can notice if your breath is smooth or choppy.
Sometimes if our breath is choppy or stuttering or uneven,
It says there's undigested emotions or thoughts.
Sometimes if this are laughing or crying.
So just notice.
Today I'd like us to contemplate a few concepts from the teachings of yoga.
One concept is from the first limb of yoga,
The yamas,
And the other concept is from the second limb of yoga,
The niyamas.
The first concept is called a paragraha.
And this asks us to be aware of our grasping,
Our reaching,
Wanting,
Coveting,
Things that we don't have,
Things we think we want or need.
The second concept from the niyamas is samdosa.
Samdosa asks that we be content with what we have,
With who we are.
You can see how these two things go together.
Not reaching,
Not grasping,
And being content.
Combined,
These two concepts encourage us to rest in the knowledge and the feeling of enough.
It's the opposite of a feeling of lack.
We have enough,
We do enough,
We are enough.
And as we rest in this feeling of enough,
Let's contemplate for a moment the five elements.
The earth beneath us.
It's enough.
It's holding us.
Nurtures us.
Feeds us.
Water the beautiful fluidity of our bodies.
Water of our oceans and lakes and rivers and streams.
The humidity in the air.
Force of all life.
Fire the sun that warms us.
The fire in our bellies of digestion and determination.
Air.
The air that we breathe.
The breath that we take.
The knowledge that there will always be another breath.
One follows the other.
The yogis recognize the fifth element,
Space or ether.
This planet,
Our atmosphere traveling along.
Fully connected to the universe.
So again we have the earth that holds us.
The water that sustains us.
The fire that warms us and animates us.
The air that we breathe.
The space that connects us.
Looking through all of these concepts,
The idea of having enough,
The beautiful elements that can all happen in the head.
Can you return to your breath now?
Can you drop all awareness even of the elements?
Even of the concept of enough?
And just return to your breathing.
There you will find the embodiment of all that you need.
Let your exhales be long.
Let your inhales fill up your belly.
Your belly gets big.
And as you exhale you bring your navel towards your spine.
Exhales flow into exhales with no pause at the top or the bottom.
Breath becomes deeper.
Looking through the nose,
Breath is mostly silent.
And now through this contemplation of enough of the elements and of your breath,
Perhaps you notice that your breath is smooth.
Stay with this even breathing,
Noticing as long as you like.
