Welcome to practice.
Please find a comfortable seat,
Be sitting in a chair,
Cushion,
Or lying down.
And as you get settled and prepare for practice,
Let go of any expectations of what it means to practice,
To meditate.
Whereas you set up with expectation,
You're getting farther away from yourself.
Where we really want to be is here,
Now,
Present,
In our bodies.
That's perhaps one of the most enlightened things you can do,
Is to be fully present in your body.
So as you've settled in and chosen your position today,
Take a little time to attend to your posture.
If you're lying down,
Making sure that there's something supporting you under your knees so your low back can soften,
Something under your head to allow your chin to be neutral.
And if you're seated,
Allow your weight to find your sit bones.
Might even wobble a little side to side to find your center.
Let there just be a natural,
Easeful lengthening of your spine.
Kind of no big deal about shifting into your posture,
Maybe a little swaying forward and back,
Side to side,
To let you find your natural neutral.
Let your chin be level to allow the natural curve of your neck.
You could even today have a cushion behind you if it feels too much to be sitting up without some support,
Or you could lean into your chair or the wall.
Know that whatever shape you are in,
That you want it to be a shape you can sustain and feel at ease in.
So coming home,
Through the gateway of your senses,
Attuning with the space around you,
Space in front of you,
Behind you,
To the right of you,
And to the left of you,
Above you,
And below you.
And allowing your inner awareness to perceive this proprioception of the space 360 degrees around you.
Scanning the container where you are.
Perhaps you're sitting inside or outside.
Just notice your body in the space.
Aware of the space around you.
Listen.
Listen.
Telescoping your auditory sense of hearing as far out as you can.
What is the farthest sound that you hear?
And then drawing that sense inward.
What are sounds closer to you?
Maybe in the room with you.
Listening into even more subtle sounds,
Perhaps the sounds of your own body breathing.
The sound of any movement your body may be making.
Deep listening now,
Drawing inward.
Merging with the sense of sight.
Your eyes may be closed or open.
If they're open,
Allow it to be a soft gaze.
Noticing the quality of light that your eyes are perceiving.
Even with eyes closed,
There's a luminous quality,
Perhaps,
Just behind your eyelids.
Notice the felt sense of your eyes themselves at rest.
This orientation of easeful seeing.
Allowing the visual field to be and the eyes to be and to arrive together without strain.
And then tuning in with your sense of smell.
You may sense the breath from the tip of your nose to the bridge of your nose.
Today I smell the rain outside.
The cleansing rain.
The earth.
The moistened earth.
What are you smelling in your space?
Noticing with your in-breath and your gentle out-breath.
As you gently shift now with your next breath,
Allow your awareness to move to the inside of your mouth.
You may notice how the tongue is arranged.
Is it relaxed at the bottom of your mouth or gently pressed to the back of your top two teeth?
Is your tongue curled?
In any way,
What feels right to relax your tongue?
And notice your sense of taste.
You can even feel into the spaciousness of your mouth.
Notice what is floating in that space.
Your sense of taste.
This may bring you into a swallow.
Maybe you feel a little more saliva here.
Now feeling into the aliveness of your being from the inside out.
There's nothing you need to change.
Nowhere to go.
Notice your flow.
That aliveness,
That quality within.
When you're home,
Present.
And if you float away from being present with what is here in your body,
Your attention is drifting.
Simply attune back through one of those felt senses from the outside in.
Like a gentle gathering of your energy.
A gathering of awareness to what is.
When we are home,
We can trust.
We know everything is in its place.
There's a harmonious exchange on so many levels.
And being embodied in your center,
Life flows.
You act.
Rather than react.
You allow rather than force.
You choose where to direct your energy rather than being caught by all the shiny objects.
Simply staying attuned with your inner being.
Your felt sense of aliveness.
Aware of your feeling within.
And in your center,
Come back to awareness of that 360 degree perception.
Aware of what's behind you.
To the right,
To the left,
In front,
Below and above.
And how you can both be aware within and aware without.
There's nothing you need to make happen or change to be present.
So we carry this practice.
Rather than stepping out,
You slowly,
If your eyes are closed,
Gently begin to open them.
Seeing the view before you with a soft gaze.
Slowly turning your head to one side.
Taking in the view to the right.
That space that you are feeling.
And turning your head back to the center and slowly rotating.
Turning your head to the left.
Taking in the field of view to the left.
What you are feeling and sensing.
And rotating.
Back to the center.
And then gently looking upward.
Noticing the space above you.
And then looking down.
Appreciating the earth below you.
The ground supporting you.
And a sense of gratitude for tuning in with your felt sense of your body.
Taking this time to come home.
Wherever you go,
There you are.
Home is here,
Now.
I bow to you with my hands to heart and wish you a beautiful rest of your day,
Evening,
Wherever you are.
Namaste.
