I invite you to go ahead and find a comfortable position,
Taking a little time to let your body arrive in a place of balance.
Feel the ground beneath you supporting your body.
Notice how your body is balanced in relation to gravity,
Front to back,
Side to side.
You might even rock gently to help you explore the position of your body in space and its relationship to the ground.
Feel the weight of the body and how it naturally seeks balance.
Notice any settling that occurs inside as you do that,
However small.
And as you rest here quietly,
See if you can soften any tension that you're holding in your body around the jaw,
The eyes and forehead,
Your shoulders,
Or what happens as you bring awareness to those places.
Can there be even the smallest bit of release?
And let your chest be open,
Your belly soft,
Inviting the tissues to lengthen.
So we begin by attending to the posture,
Taking the attention through certain checkpoints,
Finding a position that's as comfortable and balanced as possible while also being alert.
And as you settle in,
Finding your balance,
See if there's any amount of ease or alertness that begins to emerge in the heart-mind,
And then in your own time,
Begin to incline your attention towards a simple,
Easy anchor,
The sensations of sitting,
Breathing,
Hearing,
Whatever feels accessible and supportive to you.
Take some time to just rest here to receive the simplicity of that experience of the anchor.
Just taking it one moment at a time.
And whatever might be swirling within you,
Around you,
Even through you,
Just keep gently inclining your attention towards the steadiness of the anchor within this field of presence.
And as you do that,
Noticing if there's any amount of steadiness that's available in the present moment.
You might experience that steadiness as a felt sense or a particular constellation of sensations in the mind and body,
The sense of the spine being upright,
The skeletal structure aligned,
Force of gravity holding you here on the earth.
It might be a certain connection with your heart or a quality of tenderness.
Other times,
It might just be the steadiness of your intention,
Just the sincerity of your willingness to slow down.
And show up.
There's even a certain steadiness available within awareness itself that this very capacity to be aware of whatever's unfolding can offer a kind of steadiness.
And so,
As you tune into the anchor,
As you rest here in the present moment,
To just notice anywhere you experience some steadiness,
Even a glimmer of steadiness one moment at a time.
It can feel like it's flickering in and out or just like a very faint signal off in the distance.
However you sense it,
That steadiness is like a frequency in the heart-mind.
The more you attune to it,
The more it can begin to spread.
And then,
Like strings vibrating in harmony,
Other aspects of our being,
Our emotions,
Our thoughts,
Our muscles,
Even the very cells in our body,
Can begin to entrain with that frequency,
With that sense of steadiness.
It's almost as if something deep inside we're saying,
Here.
Here's the possibility of being aware,
Of being available.
But just keep listening,
Attending,
Allowing yourself to touch that steadiness,
To rest with it one moment at a time.
Whenever you notice that your attention has drifted,
It's completely ordinary,
Nothing special you need to do to fix it.
You can give yourself a few moments to just feel or sense whatever's happening.
And then,
Let the anchor emerge into your awareness again,
Noticing any flavor of steadiness that's available,
Attuning to the steadiness,
And letting everything else slowly settle and organize around it.
Attuning to steadiness in this way nourishes the heart,
It gathers our attention,
And creates the conditions to meet whatever's present with a kind,
Curious attention.
So,
You might take a few moments now to just widen your attention and acknowledge anything else that's here,
Different thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations in the body,
Some mood or overall tone to your experience.
Whatever it is,
Heaviness,
Grief,
Or confusion,
Racing thoughts,
Jangled energy,
Some sweetness or tenderness.
What if,
Just for right now,
There were nothing you needed to do about it,
Nothing to fix or change or even try to understand?
What if it were enough to just recognize it as it is?
Oh,
Oh yes,
This is here now.
This is part of how it is for me right now.
It's just this much.
Turning inwards,
Listening,
Attuning to steadiness,
And then opening to the truth of the moment.
So,
It's from here that the practice unfolds,
Attending to whatever wants to be felt,
Whatever wants to be known and received.
It's from here that we can investigate,
Look more deeply,
Or just let the heart rest in the middle of it all.
So,
I invite you to practice like this for as long as you like,
Attuning to the steadiness,
Letting it nourish and strengthen you,
Opening to your experience just as it is,
Letting it unfold and move through you.
When you're ready,
You can begin to bring some movement into your body.
Maybe take a deep breath.
Gently open your eyes.
Thanks so much.
