Aum So let's begin by simply sitting quietly.
Let's begin by allowing a few moments for our body and our mind to slow down.
And then let's turn our attention to the contact we're presently enjoying with the Earth.
Feel the seat underneath,
Whether this is a chair or a cushion or a bench.
And feel the way that your feet and legs are touching the floor beneath you.
Let your attention turn in this direction and become familiar with what you find there.
And whenever you notice tension or clenching or a sense of withdrawal from the support that the Earth underneath us is always ready to offer,
Just see if this tension,
See if this retraction can soften ever so slightly.
See if you can surrender into this support.
This is the first way that we can welcome the Earth in our practice,
By simply giving ourselves to the support that's being offered,
The presence that's being offered,
By letting our resistance to this loosen and melt.
And as we begin to do this,
You might begin to notice a very subtle sense of energy or uplift coming from the Earth's support.
Sometimes we'll notice it just rising up through our seat,
Through our torso,
Along the spine.
Sometimes we can heighten our awareness of this by gently lifting the crown of the head.
But notice this subtle,
Energetic uplift welcome the Earth in this way and allow it to gently lengthen and elongate the spine through the torso,
Through the neck,
And through the crown of the head.
This is the second way we can welcome the Earth in our practice.
Now that we have this sense of grounding underneath us and this sense of elongation through the core of our being,
We can gently move the torso from left to right so gently,
So subtly,
That someone on the outside might not even notice you're moving.
Left to right,
Right to left,
Until you find a spot that's not quite left,
Not quite right,
Where the body just naturally lets go.
Settle into this letting go and let gravity just percolate through your body from head to seat,
From head to feet.
This is our third act of welcoming,
Welcoming the downward pull of the Earth that we know as gravity.
We can do it a second time,
Gently moving the torso now from front to back,
Back to front,
Finding that placement that's not quite forward,
Not quite back,
Settling into that accompanying feeling of release and ease and letting gravity pour through us,
Down through the body,
Down into the Earth underneath.
And having offered these three kinds of welcome,
We can just let our attention gently rest on the experience of embodiment that we're enjoying in this moment.
Just let your attention rest.
And as we move toward the end of this short practice session,
Though of course you are welcome to continue if you're so inclined,
To surrender any sense of effort or exertion or doing.
Let yourself settle into whatever remains when this dissolves.
And return full circle to the beginning of our practice today,
To the simple act of sitting For more information,
Diagrams,
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