As you come to a comfortable seated position,
You'll start to notice that your body,
Your mind and your spirit are having a conversation.
Your body is talking to your mind,
Your spirit.
Your mind is talking to your body and spirit and your spirit is talking to your body and your mind.
How does this happen?
What's being said?
When you start sitting and you start adjusting your body,
When you feel your sitz bones grounded into the earth,
Whatever you're sitting on,
Your shoulders adjusting evenly over your hips,
Your head going back a little bit,
Ears over shoulders,
Your chin tucking slightly.
When you're rocking back and forth,
Side to side maybe,
Breathing a little more deeply,
Fidgeting even,
Your body is saying,
I will do what I can to facilitate what we're doing here.
I will straighten the spine and breathe a little more deeply so that everything can both be relaxed and alert at the same time.
And I understand that this time is different than when we're running or doing our daily activities.
I get it.
We're sitting now and I'll do my best to make the conditions good for our practice today.
And your mind is really kind of got a little ego going on,
Kind of thanking itself for taking this time.
It's choosing teachers,
Choosing apps.
It's deciding what's right for you at this place in time in your life.
The more you practice,
The more the mind develops a quality we call discriminating awareness.
All of the yogis talk about this,
Ancient yogis mentioned this quality of mind that develops after a disciplined practice of some amount of time.
The mind is choosing the space and the time.
The mind is recognizing that it has a problem with uncontrollable fluctuations,
Busy,
Busy,
Busy thoughts.
And in some ways it's letting down the ego and saying,
Body,
Spirit,
Please help me.
The spirit,
What is the spirit anyway?
Is it emotions?
Is it your true essence?
Is it what the Quakers might call a still small voice within?
Is it a spark of divine intelligence?
Is it consciousness?
Is it pure divinity?
Is it true nature?
Is it your soul?
You know.
The spirit speaks in really simple terms,
Telling the body and the mind,
I am here.
I am with you.
We are strong.
We deserve this time.
We are in concert with each other.
You're not alone.
I can help.
You are love.
One of the ways the body,
Mind and spirit come together in a seated practice is through mantra,
A simple syllable or phrase that can be repeated again and again,
Timed with the breath or not.
A syllable or phrase that has some meaning for you or that is passed down through the generations and just has a sacred sound that is soothing or protective.
We surrender to the traditions and to these sounds passed down generation after generation after generation to you.
As you breathe in and breathe out,
You may choose a mantra as simple as,
I have a strong and healthy body,
Mind and spirit.
My body,
Mind and spirit work for me and not against me.
Breathe in and on the exhale,
I have a strong and healthy body,
Mind and spirit.
Breathe in and on the exhale,
My body,
Mind and spirit works for me and not against me.
Keep repeating that to yourself.
You may even turn this recording off and use that mantra for a few minutes.
And that's also a mantra you can use upon waking up as soon as you put your feet on the floor.
Sit up in your bed,
Straighten your spine,
Put your hands on your knees and say,
I have a strong and healthy body,
Mind and spirit.
My body,
Mind and spirit works for me and not against me.
And you may also use the simple mantra,
OM.
On the exhale,
OM.
Every exhale,
OM.
OM.
OM.
OM.
OM.
One more simple mantra,
SO HOM.
On the inhale,
SO on the exhale,
HOM.
HOM.
HOM.
HOM.
HOM.
Just listen.
Your body,
Mind and spirit will suggest a mantra to you or just agree that focusing on the breath is the right thing for you.
We'll sit in silence for just two minutes together.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
