You the American novelist James Baldwin once wrote People can't unhappily Invent their morning posts their lovers and their friends Any more than they can invent their parents Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say yes to life The great difficulty is to say yes to life and yet within that difficulty lies a possibility Could we begin by saying yes to our feet?
Inviting kind and gentle awareness of the left foot and the right Can we say yes to the surface supporting us in our practice right now?
What is it like to say yes to the beating of your heart?
Perhaps it might be helpful to place a hand on the chest right now Connecting with the rhythm,
The pulse,
The aliveness and say yes Can we extend that yes to the sensations of breathing?
The filling of the chest and the softening of the ribcage Can we welcome the heaviness of our arms?
Noticing where they have landed Noticing their temperature and tuning into any movement of the air which may be experienced against the skin Could the intimacy of that connection also be a yes?
How do you embody the fullness of your body?
The fullness of yes in your practice posture The head gently balanced on top of the spine Completing the gesture of wakefulness,
Of nowness,
Of yes-ness We greet our minds in the full spectrum of the psyche with a yes Whether that be stillness or turbulence Can we turn towards that which we find with the same curiosity Gentleness and kindness with which the hand turns to the cool breeze An open hand,
Receptive Yes An open mind,
Curious Yes We include sounds which arrive at our ears The barking of dogs,
Yes Birdsong,
Yes Construction site busyness,
Traffic,
Yes Leaves shimmering,
Yes The brightness of sunshine,
Yes The coolness of moonlight,
Yes Yes Connection,
Non-preferential intimacy,
Yes Silence Silence,
Yes Movement,
Yes Stillness Sound,
Yes Yes
