Beginning to direct awareness down into the points of contact with the ground.
And paying particular attention to the sitting bones and the whole of the pelvic floor,
Noticing any sensations there,
Rooting down through these points of contact into the earth,
Feeling connected there,
Opening to the quality of stillness in the ground.
With each breath,
Just gently inviting the body to trust the earth a little bit more,
Rendering the weight of the body into the ground.
From this place of connection with the earth,
Beginning now to connect with the breath and the belly.
If you'd like,
You could even place your hands on the belly,
Feeling the movement there as air comes and goes.
Noticing any other sensations in the whole area of the lower abdomen as you breathe.
As we become aware of the belly also,
Noticing any thoughts or emotions that may be apparent,
Giving them space to be just as they are.
Breathing alongside those thoughts and emotions.
On your next in-breath,
Connecting now with the heart center.
You may also find it useful to place a hand on the heart as a way to bring in a sense of compassionate touch.
Noticing any sensations here.
Connecting as well with the center,
Both in the front of the body but also the sides and the back of the body.
You could even imagine breathing into the back of the heart,
Giving it space.
And also attending to any thoughts and emotions that arise as we do this.
And then for a few breaths,
We're just going to reconnect with points of contact with the earth,
The pelvic floor,
The belly,
And the heart.
So aware of the whole of the lower body and torso.
Getting a sense of how these three areas are connected as we breathe.
And without losing touch completely with those three centers,
Now coming in,
Again,
You can use the breath here to the throat.
And again,
If it feels good to put a hand there,
Feel free to do that.
Noticing sensations here as you breathe.
This is a part that we often hold quite a bit of tension,
So also noticing if there's any movement towards softening without forcing anything.
Just noticing if awareness and curiosity can support an opening here,
Ease.
And creating space,
Perhaps imagining breathing space into and around any thoughts or emotions that may be here now without getting caught up in them,
Just allowing them to be as they are.
Just noticing.
And then beginning to bring awareness now into the very top of the head.
You could imagine breathing into this space.
Noticing any sensations here.
And you might find it useful to imagine the very top of the head sort of reaching towards the sky,
Connecting with the sky and the qualities of spaciousness in the sky.
And as we connect with spaciousness,
Beginning now to allow that quality to stretch out all around us,
So not just above but in all directions and even below.
So feeling ourselves held by the earth but also connected with this open,
Boundary-less space stretching in all directions.
Just sitting in this broad,
Open awareness for a few minutes,
Allowing everything to arise and pass within this space.
For the last few moments of this practice,
Just dropping any effort you might be making,
Really resting back now.
You might want to even lean back a bit in the posture,
Take a deeper breath.
You can enjoy turning the hands,
Palm facing up in the lap or on the floor beside you if you're laying down.
Really resting back in whatever conditions have been created by this practice,
Whatever fruits there are.
You might even want to gently open the eyes,
Maintaining a soft focus and just taking in light and colour.
And then dedicating the practice.
You could dedicate this practice to any individual that's suffering just now or a group of people or the whole world.
So just doing your own dedication.
And then we'll listen together to the sound of the bell to close the practice.
