A Contemplation On '93 Percent Stardust' By Nikita Gill

This week’s practice invites contemplation of a wider state of being, with the poem - '93 Percent Stardust' by Nikita Gill. Hoping you find it supportive:

'We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins, carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains. 93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names.’

Transcript

Yeah, So hi, Welcome to this week's Mindful Monday meditation practice. Yeah, Whenever you're tuning in, And the invitation is to take a moment to pause, If that feels okay. Yeah, So that may involve shifting posture, May involve moving your posture, Whatever feels right. And yes, I'm going to close my eyes as we as we go through this short landing arriving practice. But whatever feels good. If not closing your eyes, Then perhaps maybe softening the gaze, Lowering your gaze. And it may, Yeah, May feel helpful to take a couple of deeper breaths, Becoming a bit more aware of the breath moving in your body than you may normally be, You may have been recently. And that may, Yeah, May encourage, Invite a settling, Sinking into the posture you've chosen. Yeah, Especially with the out-breath, Maybe feeling a sense of energy, Weight flowing down through the body, So breathing out, Noticing a settling, Sinking to the throat, Chest, The arms, Down to the stomach, Up about the lower back, Meeting again in the pelvis, Sitting bones, Settling flowing down through the thighs, The knees, Shins, All the way down to feet on the floor, Grounded, Connected, And we often sometimes say, Don't we, Feet, Seat, Hands, And, You know, Whether our anchor point is physically focused on our feet, Connection of feet with the floor, Seat, Chair, We're sitting on, Hands resting, Yeah, And maybe it's your breath moving in your body, Wherever you're noticing it most clearly, Most keenly. And bring the short arriving practice to a close in your own time, Yeah, No rush, Perhaps opening your eyes when you're ready. Yeah, So welcome back and, Yeah, The, It's picking up as, Yeah, As we've been doing really and as we may do a certain amount going forward to, Yeah, The inspiration really around a lot of words, So not a particular meditation practice or a piece of music, But actually more around, Yeah, Poetry, A prose, A form of words that I think I found helpful and hopefully you may find helpful too and, Yeah, And it was read in a practice that I was attending last week and I thought it was really lovely because I know I can and I think, I think I understand that it's often something that can be for others where, You know, We get quite focused on the detail of our lives, You know, Sometimes I like to use the idea of this funnel where, Yeah, Towards the bottom of the funnel there tends to be a lot of focus, A lot of energy, A lot of activity that tends to be a lot about doing stuff, Completing stuff, Achieving things, Ticking things off a list and then, And then higher up this funnel we have this, Yeah, This much wider, More spacious area which is kind of more connected to, I don't know, Bigger things, Wider things, Things that aren't necessarily to do with the kind of the mechanics of the day-to-day and, You know, I certainly find myself getting stuck down the funnel, You know, Whether it's sort of, You know, Tax return or work that needs to be done or shopping needs to be bought but sometimes it's nice to be reminded about moving out the funnel and trying to have a, See if it's possible to have a wider perspective on the, On who we are, Where we are, What's around us on this world, Yeah, And beyond really, You know, Up into the skies, The heavens, Galaxies and so forth and just maybe using that kind of wider, Up the funnel, Wider perspective to have a kind of a different, More grounded, Maybe a bit more realistic perspective about, You know, What actually we are doing here in our lives and, Yeah, A sense of perspective perhaps, Wider perspective, Better perspective and so, Yes, I'm going to read this poem and invitation is to, Yeah, To just join me in another short practice and I'll read this poem at the beginning and then I'll read it at the end, It'll be a couple of minutes, Two or three minutes and really the invitation is to notice how that, How that feels for you, You know, What lands, What comes up in and around the words, Maybe it's in terms of thoughts you may have, Could be emotions or maybe kind of physical sensations, Feelings in the body, Yeah, And there's always invitations if we are being distracted and if we find ourselves being carried away from this practice, From this present moment, Seeing if it's possible to, You know, To come back, Perhaps using an anchor point, Maybe it's the breath, You know, Maybe it's more physical like a point of the body, Feet, Seat or hands but, Yeah, Yeah, Seeing what comes up and trying not as much as possible to be drawn away too much away from what we are doing here, Where we are in this moment, How we are in this moment. Yeah, So the invitation is just to take a, Take a few moments, That's getting comfortable again, Shifting around if that feels good, Maybe, Yeah, Could be closing your eyes as well or, Yeah, Just detaching with the lower gaze, Soften gaze. It's a very short poem, It's by Nikita Gill, You may have heard before and so I hope you enjoy again and if not I hope you enjoy it for the first time. Yeah, So this is called 93% Stardust. We have calcium in our bones, Iron in our veins, Carbon in our souls and nitrogen in our brains. 93% Stardust with souls made of flames. We are all just stars that have people names. Yeah, So those words sort of echoing, Possibly reverberating, Maybe. Yeah, Again, Seeing how it is to, Yeah, Move into a sense of stillness, If that feels okay. Yeah, I won't guide necessarily here but just seeing how it may feel. Yeah, To be as still as we can, To pause, See what comes up in this moment for you and seeing if it's okay to use an anchor point, Maybe the breath or physical connection of the body to come back. Yeah, If we get distracted, If we get carried away from this moment, This being here. Yeah, If you are, If you have a sense of being distracted, See if it's possible to bring some of those words to mind, A wider perspective, A broader perspective on our lives. See if that's helpful or if not. Yeah, Just noticing what comes up, However, Whatever comes up, Whatever you notice. 93% stardust. We have calcium in our bones, Iron in our veins, Carbon in our souls and nitrogen in our brains. 93% stardust, With souls made of flames. We are all just stars. Don't have people. Yeah, So it's bringing this short contemplation to a close in your own time. Feel free, Of course, Once this recording finishes to stay contemplating, Meditating, If that feels okay. But yeah, I hope that's helpful. And yeah, We're looking to post some further short practices, Often focused around words, Poems that have a sense that will hopefully prompt some thoughts, Some consideration, A contemplation about our being, About the nature of being. And I hope you find that supportive. Yeah, I hope you join me. Thanks a lot. Bye now.