Thank you for joining me.
Before we begin,
I invite you to take a meditation posture that is both upright and relaxed,
Offering yourself a sense of dignity and openness.
Whether you're sitting on a cushion or a chair,
Allow your hands to gently relax on your lap,
Tucking your chin slightly,
Allowing the shoulders to relax,
And gently softening the eyes,
Or closing them if you prefer.
And as we arrive together in this moment,
I invite you to take a few deep breaths.
So inhaling through the nose,
Filling the lungs and the belly,
Holding at the top,
And exhale,
Releasing and letting go.
And again,
Inhaling,
Holding at the top,
Feeling the fullness of your breath,
And exhale,
Relaxing deeper and deeper into this moment.
And another breath together,
Inhaling,
Feeling the aliveness,
Holding at the top,
Taking in another sip if you can,
And exhale,
Letting it all go,
Arriving in this moment,
Settling and softening,
Letting your breath return to natural.
Simply let your mind rest,
Letting the mind rest openly,
Naturally,
But fully awake and present,
Allowing yourself to settle into your body,
Feeling the ground beneath you,
Noticing your feet on the floor or your bum on the cushion or chair,
Allowing yourself to soften into all the sensations from the support beneath you,
Allowing the ground to meet you in this moment,
Receiving the support from Earth.
And start by tuning into your physical body,
Getting a sense for what it feels like to be your body in this moment.
There may be certain sensations that are more dense than others,
Some that are more fleeting than others,
Louder than others.
Just allow yourself to be with the whole field of sensation,
Like one field of feeling.
If you notice the mind wandering,
Just gently guide yourself back with the breath,
Allowing the breath to become an anchor for you in your practice,
Allowing the breath to be an anchor of space as you soften deeper and deeper into the space that is your body.
And with each inhale and exhale,
Allowing the body to become space,
Allowing your body to become this moment,
Being fully awake,
Fully here,
Fully present,
And allowing yourself to arrive in this moment.
There is nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
And no effort to be applied.
And just like space,
Your body is already here,
Entirely unaffected by what arises and yet so intimately interconnected.
Being present with all that arises without judgment or without preference,
Without reaction.
Just a simple noticing,
A leaning into the knowing that is you.
The true nature of who you are is to simply know what is already here,
Allowing your body to be like the wide open sky and all sensations and emotions that arise are like clouds in the sky.
They cannot be forced away,
Pushed away,
But simply recognize as they are.
Your body as awareness is open like the sky and all sensations that arise,
Arise within this wide open sky.
The sky is always here,
Remains ever present among the passing and going of all that arises.
You are this wide open sky and everything that arises.
You are both the permanent and ever present being and the impermanence of all that arises as this being.
Simply rest,
Awake and present as you are.
Resting into your natural state.
And as we gently bring this practice to a close,
I invite you into the possibility that the practice can truly continue.
That your true nature is not something that comes and goes.
The space in which you are is always here.
