The following practice is led by Sonia Lockyer,
Host of the Wellbeing Ritual Club.
So we're going to practice a chakra meditation of sorts this morning.
So let's start by settling into a comfortable position where your spine can be tall and your hips are higher than your knees.
And you know you can move at any time so if what starts as comfortable becomes uncomfortable just shift your position.
Your position.
And take a moment to notice the in-breath and the out-breath.
And rest your tongue up on the roof of your mouth.
Soften your gaze.
If you're keeping your eyes open just let the gaze become more of a landscape.
Gaze.
If you prefer to drop your eyelids then beneath your eyelids allow your gaze to soften.
As the breath starts to slowly deepen could it be that the breath is more than just an in-breath followed by an out-breath?
Perhaps the breath is in fact a relationship with all things.
Maybe breath is an expansion beyond our imagination in all directions with everything.
And far from emptying the mind we're observing.
Watching and witnessing without trying to attach meaning or judgment.
This is a good thought,
This is a bad thought.
They're kind of stepping out of all of that.
Perhaps our thoughts are more of a collective indication of the tone of our life.
Our perspective rather than an individual story.
Perhaps we can even make a space for more than just mind to be seen.
Perhaps we can sense body thoughts.
And I wonder can we stay in relationship with whatever is coming up from body and mind?
Sensing the tone,
Allowing it to pass through.
Sensing our grounding energy connecting to the earth beneath.
This great big rock of earth with fire at its core.
Can we sense that gravitational pull holding us to the rock?
Can you sense this midline channel within the very core of your body?
Almost like a slipstream of light.
There's many names,
The primal streak,
The midline,
The shashumna.
But rather than listening to how other people name it or describe it,
Can you get a sense of it now for yourself?
A midline channel of light.
And at the top of the spine,
Where the spine connects to the skull,
We have this ridge,
The occiput ridge.
Can you feel how it is there at that space?
A sense of openness and expansion.
Almost like an emptiness.
You may have your own words,
Your own way of articulating it,
But what do you sense there now?
Can you stay in relationship with all of that,
The rock,
The midline,
The occiput?
I'll bring some movement in,
Dropping right ear down to shoulder,
Slowly taking chin down to chest.
Come left ear across to left shoulder,
Coming up and over.
Stay in relationship to the movement,
Change directions.
So when you find yourself back at centre,
Very slowly,
Subtly starting to circle the shoulders.
You might choose to circle elbows or you might want to take full arm extensions.
And staying open to the body thoughts that the movement brings.
And then maybe taking slow circles with the heart,
Depends if you're lying down,
Then it's not so easy.
If you're sitting up,
Getting the heart circle just as the moon circles around the earth and the earth circles around the sun.
So switching directions when it feels right.
I'm coming back to centre.
I'm going to share a practice with you that I learnt whilst I was at Karuna and I really enjoyed.
So I'll give you my interpretation of that practice.
It's a heart activating practice.
Start by bringing your palms together in line with your heart.
In a traditional prayer pose,
The fingers are wide apart and the palms are pressing into one another.
This is a practice for building strength and confidence.
With your palms pressing into one another like this,
Observe what is rising for you.
So then bring your palms,
Place them over your eyes so that you create darkness.
And allow yourself to look into the darkness.
So so bringing your arms down to your side,
Your palms into your left.
Take a moment to just observe,
Staying in relationship with what arises.
And then bringing your palms back to your heart,
Activate your heart once more.
So fingers display,
Palms pressing against one another.
A steady expansive breath.
So so and then bringing one palm to the sternum and the other palm around to the small of the back.
And find the place that feels good for you.
That back hand might feel more comfortable a little higher up towards the back of that heart.
You can explore and find the spot.
So so so and then bring your arms back down to your side resting your palms.
Just take a moment to attend to whatever is rising and to rest.
So we'll do one more round.
So bringing your hands to your heart again,
Activating your heart by pressing the palms together,
Fingers apart.
So sense what arrives,
Maybe it's heat.
So so and bringing one hand behind your head to the ridge of the occiput and the other hand laying it on your forehead.
So so so bringing your arms back down to your sides,
Resting palms.
Taking our time to rest,
Attend to what has risen,
To observe.
So so so letting the breath deepen,
Maybe allowing a gentle subtle smile.
Offering up the fruits of our practice always to the collective so that everyone may remember how it feels to come back to the truth of their own essence.
Namaste.
