So we're going to spend a little bit of time here,
Slowly opening to the deep gifts that the ground offers us.
So through the sensations of contact,
Tingling,
Warmth,
Pressure,
Throbbing,
Vibration,
Pulsing,
Numbness.
You can connect with the qualities of the ground.
Stillness,
Stability,
Holding,
Spaciousness.
And here we can encourage and support the whole body to just drop a little bit further into that support.
Softening,
Releasing,
Trusting.
As if the body is floating on an infinitely deep ocean of stillness,
Which we call the ground.
There's anything comforting about resting here and noticing all these qualities of the ground.
Just allow that sense of ease to spread throughout the body.
Comfort,
Relaxation,
Peace.
Maybe even allowing yourself to enjoy that.
As we start to connect with the whole of the rest of the body,
Particularly the upper body,
Opening and rising up towards the sky into space.
Broadening,
Softening,
And expanding.
And then let's connect a bit more with the breath for a little bit.
So this is all part of settling.
The breath can be a wonderful resource with its rhythmic quality.
And as we connect with the breath here,
Just allowing awareness to gently follow the breath more and more deeply into the body,
Into sensations.
And particularly into the changing nature of what's here.
With each breath,
Just noticing all the different sensations coming and going.
Bringing these two things that are always with us,
Awareness and breath,
Gently together,
Applying just enough effort to let them merge and become one.
Breath and awareness.
Awareness.
And then as and when you feel ready,
There's an invitation here to begin to broaden the awareness to include all of what's coming and going in the six senses.
So you might even imagine you're resting back in awareness and a broad,
Open,
Curious,
Loving awareness.
Opening to sounds.
Visual sensations.
You could even open the eyes,
Maintaining a soft,
Gentle focus.
Smells and tastes.
Physical sensations coming and going in the body.
And also all of what's coming and going in the heart line.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Images,
Memories,
Impulses.
So here it's a bit like we're sitting on a beach on a beautiful,
Warm summer's day.
We're just looking out into the vast,
Open space of sea and sky.
And allowing,
Simply allowing waves to form and dissolve ceaselessly in the open space of awareness.
The waves of experience.
Ever-changing.
Just seeing what it's like to be this open.
You can even imagine all the pores of the skin are totally open and receptive.
A bit like sea anemones in a nutrient-rich tide pool,
Just swaying in the tide.
Totally open,
Supple,
Soft.
And then it might be that there's something in awareness,
Like a particular pattern of thinking or strong emotion that needs a bit of space.
Room to roam.
So if there's anything like that happening,
The invitation is to give it a big,
Open field to muck around in.
A bit like a cow in a nice,
Green,
Grassy field.
Doing its thing.
If at any point you get really caught up in something,
You can also bring in a resource to support settling again.
Maybe taking a few deeper breaths.
Tethering the awareness to the breath for a little while,
Just steady mind and heart.
Maybe do a little shake.
Finding the ground again.
And then when you feel ready,
Opening again.
You can always start again,
Just hit the refresh button.
The intention here is to allow experience to simply arise and pass away without interfering with anything.
But inevitably,
We probably will notice habits of interference,
Indulgence,
Suppression,
Intoxication.
Falling into vagueness or overwhelm.
So if there's anything like that going on,
Particularly something that's quite persistent,
Easy to get caught up in,
You could imagine that you're taking out the kitchen scissors and then just snip,
Cut the clinging.
And see what happens.
Just have a few minutes now,
Quiet sitting.
Just keeping going with the simply allowing.
As Dogen says,
Allowing experiences to experience themselves.
Just as it is.
In a moment,
I'll ring a bell to mark the end of this practice.
And the invitation is to just emerge in a way that you know supports you.
Moving,
Stretching,
Caressing,
Patting,
Rubbing.
Just dropping any effort now and just resting in the most open way you can.
