The inner journey.
Close your eyes and settle into yourself.
Take a few moments now to connect to yourself exactly as you are without interfering in any way.
Just experience what it is like to be you.
Now make an attempt to visualize yourself as you sit here in this moment.
Perhaps seeing yourself as though you are outside of you.
Notice what it looks like to be looking at yourself in this way.
Be curious and explore what you look like from an outside perspective.
What you look like from an outside perspective in this moment.
Imagine now that you rejoin with this seated version of you.
No longer experiencing yourself as an outsider looking in,
But instead as an insider looking out.
Bring full awareness to your physical body.
Make a mental scan from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head.
Take a few moments to do this.
Notice textures and temperature.
Feel the seat beneath you,
The air on your skin,
The temperature of the space you are in,
The clothing as it touches your body.
Try not to assign value as in I like this,
Or I dislike that.
Practice noticing your physical body without any judgment or interference.
Go deeper.
Begin to investigate the sensations that exist below the surface of your skin.
Pay particular attention to the connection points of your body,
Your wrists,
Elbows,
And shoulders,
Your ankles,
Knees,
And hips,
The muscles and tendons of your neck.
Notice any tension in these areas and work to release it to the best of your ability.
Do not try so hard that the effort causes more stress.
Be very relaxed and easy about this work.
Dive deeper.
Feel the organs of your body that can be experienced inside of conscious awareness.
Notice the movement of your lungs as air comes in and is pressed out.
Do not interfere.
Feel the essence of what it is like to do this act we collectively call breathing.
Be very gentle here.
Aware of your breath without pushing away any competing thoughts or emotions.
Aware of your breath without clinging to the awareness.
Be aware of your breath without clinging to the awareness.
Be aware of your breath without clinging to the awareness.
Now,
Feel the beat of your heart.
Locate it as it pumps blood from its origin inside of the walls of your chest cavity.
Notice how the expansion and contraction of your heart creates an always moving state for your physical body.
Be with the beats and the movement for a few moments in an easy,
Effortless way.
Not pushing out distraction,
Just letting yourself rest primarily in the awareness of the feeling of your heart doing its natural job.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Go deeper.
Experience the thoughts and emotions that are occupying what we commonly refer to as your mind.
As you identify various thoughts or emotions or lack thereof,
Ask yourself the question,
Where do these thoughts come from?
Ask where are these emotions hidden when they are not appearing to me?
Ask these questions and just sit with whatever does or does not arise as an answer.
Ask where are these emotions hidden when they are not appearing to me?
Dive all the way in inside of your lungs,
Inside of your heart,
Inside of your brain,
Beyond the movement,
Beyond the sensations and the forms.
What exists inside of these organs?
Sense the spaciousness and emptiness that make up the parts that you know of as yourself.
Notice the empty space inside of your lungs.
Notice the empty space inside of your heart,
The empty nature of your thoughts and emotions which cannot be held and which arise from nowhere.
For just a few moments in silence,
Without pushing anything away,
Without clinging to anything,
Simply be with this empty nature.
Take a deep breath in.
Breathe out long and slow.
Let the sound of the bell open your eyes and go about your day.
