So we begin by simply arriving at the beginning of the song.
Begin by simply arriving,
Arriving here in this body,
Shifting and moving the body in any way you need to to find a comfortable seated position.
Resting at ease and embodying dignity as we set our intention for this practice,
Setting the compass of our hearts.
As we offer,
May this be of benefit,
May this be of benefit.
And feeling this intention land in the body,
Knowing that you're taking care of yourself right now.
And so we begin by simply gathering our attention here now in this moment.
Arriving the attention right down into the feet.
You can wiggle the toes and simply feel the tender underbelly of the feet,
The heels,
The ankles.
Feeling the calves and shins and knees.
Feel the thighs.
Feeling the hips,
The genital area,
The buttocks.
Feeling the tailbone.
And then drawing the energy up the spine.
Feeling it all the way up the spine.
And then spreading out over the shoulders,
Pouring down both arms.
And feeling this awareness pool in the palms of the hands.
Perhaps feeling a warmth or tingling in the palms of the hands.
Feeling the aliveness that your awareness brings.
And then shifting the awareness to the belly,
Softening the belly.
Noticing the subtle movement of the rise and fall of the breath in the belly.
And then just allowing the awareness to travel up through the belly into the chest.
And pausing for a moment here in the chest and see if you can feel the beating of your own heart.
In fact,
Just placing a hand on the heart and see if you can feel this pulsing,
This vibration.
Feel the heart sending oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in this body.
Feel how the body and the heart know exactly how to take care of you.
And as you're ready,
Letting this go,
Moving up through the throat into the face,
Softening the jaw,
Softening the eyes and the temples and the forehead.
And just allow the face to rest.
Just tilting the chin down a millimeter to lengthen the back of the neck.
And then draw the awareness up the back of the neck,
The sides of the head and the top of the head.
And feeling the entire back body,
See if you can lean your awareness back and down.
So often we're leaning forward into the future,
Resting back and feel the volume of the body.
Feeling the back body and the front body,
The right and left sides of the body,
Top and bottom,
As we just get a sense of the whole body sitting here,
Feeling the aliveness,
Letting this aliveness flow through you,
Nourishing you.
And notice that you're breathing.
Feeling the breath as it naturally flows in and out of the body.
Just like the heart,
The breath knows exactly how to take care of you.
So simply receiving,
Softening into the breath as you allow it to be an anchor into the present moment.
Using our nervous systems to down-regulate,
To recalibrate to a space of greater ease,
Greater vitality.
We can be relaxed and alert at the same time.
So softening the body 5% more and at the same time,
Heighten your awareness.
We have this laser-like attention in this easeful body.
And if you notice the mind beginning to wander,
Gently bring it back to the breath and instead of judging ourselves for wandering,
Celebrate the fact that we're back,
That we're present.
The moment you notice your mind has wandered is a moment of awareness.
So welcoming yourself home each time and back,
Welcome home back into this body.
Using your capacity to be with whatever is here,
Welcoming it.
Simply feeling whatever arises in your field of awareness,
Being with the waves of sound,
Sensation,
Emotion,
And thinking.
Allowing our experience to be exactly what it is and actually being interested in it.
What does it feel like to be alive right now?
This moment matters.
In this moment,
What we're practicing right now is growing and strengthening our capacity to be present,
To be awake,
To be kind.
Infusing our awareness with kindness,
With curiosity,
With acceptance.
And just feeling the wholesomeness of attending in this way,
Knowing this is good for you,
You're taking care of yourself.
And feeling how there's something in you that already knows how to do this.
There's a wisdom and a resonance already here,
Trusting yourself.
And thanking yourself for taking the time to practice in this way.
Again,
Offering our intention that this be of benefit.
May this practice be of benefit.
And as you're ready,
Taking a deeper breath in and out.
Knowing that even as this meditation begins to end,
This awareness,
This mindfulness continues moment by moment.
And as the bells ring to signal the end of this meditation,
Allow the vibration to flow through the body and merge with your breathing.
