Taking a moment to just arrive,
Allowing the body to settle,
The breath to settle.
You may wish to close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Making sure that you're in a comfortable position.
Sitting with a straight back,
I'm reminded that I'm in a precious human body.
I have all my faculties intact.
And as I sit in this awareness of this great human potentiality in which I dwell,
There is a natural arising of appreciation and gratitude.
So I take a few moments,
Just taking this all in,
I take a few breaths.
With my feet making contact with the floor,
I'm reminded that every single day I'm connected to the center of the earth.
And that no matter what my behavior is,
I am held unconditionally with gravity.
So in this awareness of being held and being grounded,
I take a few more breaths,
Just arriving at the practice.
Body scan.
Sitting with my feet and moving upward through the body,
I visit each part of my body,
Each organ,
Each system,
Experiencing my body fully as I bring my awareness there.
I observe what I experience in each part of my body,
Acknowledging any agitation,
Tension,
Stress,
Discomfort or pain.
And as I do so,
I consciously relax each part of my body.
So I spend a few moments doing this body scan,
Observing the body,
Experiencing the body,
Being aware of the body and consciously relaxing the body,
Inviting the body to the practice.
Now bring our awareness to hearing.
Deeply listening to all sound,
Sounds within the body,
Within the room,
And even sounds that are very far away.
Choosing to not have preference for pleasant or unpleasant sound,
But to simply rest an awareness of whatever arises with an attitude of acceptance,
Allowing deep listening to be the practice in the moment.
We'll spend a few moments here.
Now bringing our awareness to the breath.
Not so much thinking about the breath,
But actually feeling the breath,
Locating the breath.
Feeling the breath as it enters through the nostrils or mouth,
Noticing its qualities.
Feeling it as it circulates through the body and then feeling the breath as it leaves the body through the mouth or nostrils,
Noticing the difference between the two breaths and giving equal importance to both the in-breath and the out-breath.
As you breathe naturally,
Still maintaining a focus on the breath,
Allowing that breath to descend more deeply into the body so that the belly starts to rise and fall with the breath.
You may wish to actually put your hand on your belly in order to sense this more fully.
Now bringing awareness to the heart center in the center of your chest.
And as we reflect on the loving kindness of Mother Earth,
Reminding ourselves that we're held every day unconditionally.
We allow the noble feeling of loving kindness as well as compassion and unconditional love to be born within our heart center.
And as we breathe in and out,
Focusing on the heart center and the breath,
The qualities begin to radiate light and color.
And this light radiates outward and fills the entire body with light.
And so for the next few minutes as you breathe,
See yourself as a body of light.
Focusing on Mother Earth,
We now send the loving kindness in reciprocity,
In thankfulness,
In gratitude to Mother Earth.
And as we send the energy down through our legs,
The light and colors of loving kindness,
Compassion and unconditional love,
Start to take on a rosy and reddish hue.
And as they reach the feet,
They reach into the earth and they start to form roots 360 degrees all around us.
And so we see ourselves standing on this ball,
This blue marble which we call Earth.
And the roots are full of loving kindness,
Compassion and unconditional love.
And the feeling of thankfulness or gratitude or appreciation sends the roots even more deeply into the earth until they reach the core of the earth,
Sending a pulse of reciprocity,
Of kindness,
Of thankfulness,
Of appreciation.
So we'll spend a few moments just breathing this way,
Breathing in through the heart center,
Sending the loving kindness through our legs,
Through our feet to the roots,
To the earth,
And allowing those qualities to nourish the earth.
And in turn the earth pulses back and sends vital life energy through our feet,
Through our legs,
Back up to our heart center and nourishes our environment.
