Welcome to The Daily Insight.
My name is Sarah Blondin and I'm a teacher here on Insight Timer.
Today's practice is about learning to nurture and connect with your loving nature.
It can be useful for times when you may feel disconnected,
Lonely or isolated and will help you in feeling more connected to the loving current alive in your body.
A poem by Hafiz.
There is a beautiful creature living in a hole you have dug.
So late at night I set fruits and grains and little pots of milk beside your soft earthen mounds and I often sing,
But still my dear you do not come out.
I have fallen in love with someone who hides inside you.
We should talk about this problem,
Otherwise I will never leave you alone.
To nurture is to care for and encourage the growth or development of,
To provide,
Attend to,
Look after.
Not many of us have been shown how to nurture our nature,
How to tend to ourselves in a way that helps us grow and develop.
Because of this we can begin to feel alien and alone in our lives.
We wilt as a flower does without sun and water.
What we do not realize is what we are most often lonely for is our own loving.
There is a beautiful creature that hides inside of you.
This someone needs your nurturing,
Your caring.
So today's practice we will be learning how to nurture this being tucked away inside.
You may sit or lay down for today's insight.
Close your eyes.
Breathe deeply.
Inhale long.
And exhale slow letting out a sigh.
To begin softening we must disarm.
To disarm we must let go.
To let go we must trust.
Let your body fall into a surrendered state of rest and non-striving.
There is no thing here in this moment that you need to hold other than yourself.
Become a warm embrace.
Let your stacks of worry and concern be blown by the wind of your presence.
Let them fall at your feet.
And see a clear horizon open before you.
This here now.
Trust this moment.
With your eyes still closed.
Rub your palms together until you feel heat and warmth being generated.
Once warm place your hands on your cheeks.
Hold your face gently.
Resting the weight of your head in the palms of your hands.
Breathe here.
Deep in here.
Let your own touch begin to tenderize you.
These are your hands.
Your touch.
You are not alone.
Placing both your hands now on your heart.
Putting a slight bit of pressure there enough so that you connect with your heartbeat.
Climb down into your soft center.
Fuse with your heart's rhythm and current.
Breathe here.
Deep in here.
Let your own heart tenderize you.
This is your heart.
Your anchor.
You are not alone.
Move your hands now to your lower belly.
Feel and notice it's tide,
Your tide.
How it rises.
How it falls.
How this belly,
This breath breathes for you.
Carries you.
Accompanies you.
Breathe here.
Deep in here.
This is your breath.
Your air.
You are not alone.
Stretch now to touch your feet.
Holding the very soles of your body.
Feel how they open.
How they breathe.
How they are alive.
See if you can notice them tingling,
Pulsing,
Or rushing.
Breathe here.
Deep in here.
Let the soles of your very feet tenderize you.
This is your foundation.
Your mooring.
You are not alone.
This is what it is to nurture your nature.
Your life is alive and well under the chaos of it dear one.
Relax the body fully and scan to see if you can become attentive to the space you have created.
If your stomach feels soft.
If your shoulders have dropped and are resting.
See if you can become attentive to the beautiful creature living within you.
In our efforts and pursuits we muffle and quiet the sounds of this self within us.
The beauty of this practice is you have arrived at the foot of your own being.
To dip into and rest for a moment in your own waters.
Tell me dear one,
How does it feel here within you?
How long has it been since you visited?
Tell me dear one,
Why you are here?
What whispers have led you here?
See if you can follow the threads that have led you to this deeper,
More hidden aspect of you.
See if you can follow the threads that have led you here.
When the body and mind still.
When we quiet ourselves.
The mind will gravitate toward the holy.
If we still ourselves,
We can mirror the divine perfectly.
Something kind and beautiful has guided us inward to notice this.
To feel and awaken to this.
We see we are not alone.
That benevolence lives here on our heart's beat.
The bottoms of our feet.
The love and warmth of our very hands.
We carry all of this within our beings.
Connecting to this current will connect you to outer currents that match this.
Connecting to this current is to bring the body into homeostasis.
And so too,
Harmony and well-being.
I know it's easy to forget to nurture this self.
And to believe we need to protect and preserve this self.
But this life force inside of you,
Dear one,
Is a renewable resource.
Yours to offer.
Yours to enjoy.
Yours to radiate.
To drink.
To rest in.
To remember.
You may stretch now in your body,
Opening your eyes.
Hold close to you any newfound space and connectivity within you.
I encourage you as you go throughout your day to remind yourself of these loving anchors in your body.
Bring your attention to them when you are in need or when expectations from people and things outside of you are falling short.
Remember when things get strained,
You are most lonely for your own loving.
Thank you for joining me in this practice of nurturing your true nature.
I hope it was a restorative practice.
Sending blessings.
