Let's begin this practice with a moment or two of willful practice.
Willful,
The nature of bringing something into focus,
Taking the garden hose and turning the nozzle at the end in order to concentrate the flow of water or to spray out,
Widen the flow of water.
But there's a willful turning of the nozzle so that the water flow is concentrated in a narrow stream or allowed to flow out in a wider sprinkle.
The mind also can be willfully concentrated or willfully dispersed.
Either is a wonderful form of meditation.
So the willful practice for this morning will be directing the breath in and out rather than watching the breath.
Four,
Seven,
Nine,
Ten,
Twelve breaths.
Direct the breath when you're breathing in to be breathing in.
And direct your breath to breathing out as you breathe out.
Begin that direction of breath at this time.
So the direction of the breath is a leading,
A leading of the breath in,
The mind leading the body to breathe in and the mind leading the body to breathe out.
And around now,
Just allow the breath to be on its own.
Release any direction of the breath as though the water was just flowing through the hose,
Through the nozzle at whatever focus it happens to be at right now.
One of the aspects of meditation is we'd like to be able to feed the body.
Meditation is we'd like it usually to be in the present moment.
Now contemplation,
A cousin of meditation,
Can be on some future thinking,
Future ideas,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Expectations,
Feelings,
Planning.
Contemplation could be on a particular subject or contemplation could be on past memories that are brought actually into the present.
The attention to contemplation is on the past rather than on what's happening in this moment or what may be happening in the future.
So to bring the awareness more into what's happening right now,
We'd like to be able to dissolve or let go of any thoughts about the future or any memories,
Thoughts about the past.
And we can use the body in order to help in this regard.
As you're watching the breath flow in and flow out without any direction to the breath,
Gently begin rocking your body forward and back.
A slow,
Easy motion almost without willfulness,
Just letting the body rock a little bit to the front and a little bit to the back.
And the next time it rocks to the front,
Just hold it leaning forward,
Staying in balance,
But just leaning forward slightly.
Hold your body in that position and think about what you might be doing tomorrow or what you might be doing later today.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Nothing heavy,
Just you might get up,
You might brush your teeth,
You might go to the store,
You might go to work,
You might be cleaning the house tomorrow,
You might be helping a friend with something.
And then rock back and go through the middle of balance and lean back,
Not too far,
Just a little bit.
So you can feel,
You're still in balance,
But you're not falling over,
But you're leaning back.
Just holding that position,
Bring to mind something that you did yesterday or last week.
A place that you went,
A meal that you had,
Somebody that helped you with something.
Now bring your body forward back to middle.
Rocking slightly forward and back and gradually settling down into the central position of balance between forward and back.
And just allowing gravity to help solidify that vertical position.
Sitting straight up but relaxed and allowing gravity to tug down the muscles hanging from the bones.
Watching the breath go in and out.
And in your body,
Starting with your toes,
Ankles,
Shins,
Knees,
Thighs,
Hips,
Belly,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Fingertips,
Wrists,
Elbows,
Upper arm,
Neck,
Back of your head,
Ears,
Mouth,
Nose,
Eyes,
Top of your head,
And all the strands of hair on your head.
Scanning your whole body,
Finding some place,
Somewhere,
You can allow gravity to tug down a bit more.
Releasing,
Releasing,
Releasing.
Watching your breath.
Being present in this moment.
Allowing whatever sensation arises to just be as it is.
Allowing any sounds that arise to be just as they are.
Doing another stand,
Toes,
Ankles,
Shins,
Knees,
Hips,
Belly,
Torso,
Fingers,
Elbows,
Shoulders,
Head,
Ears,
Eyes,
Forehead,
Hair.
Finding another.
Relaxing,
Softening,
Opening.
Dissolving into the space surrounding where you are.
Weightless.
Timeless.
Interconnected.
Floating.
Joining the ocean.
Being.
Not
