Hello and welcome.
I would like to share a special practice for a special day of the year,
The St.
Valentine's Day.
It is a practice to be done together with your partner,
So I would invite both of you to sit facing each other,
Close enough to feel the other's presence and yet far enough to feel yourself.
Let your body soften,
Your jaw relax,
Feeling the ground beneath you and noticing the breath flowing in and out of your body.
Today's practice is about choosing presence,
Is about noticing,
About being seen and about seeing.
Valentine's Day doesn't need to be big or loud.
Sometimes it's simply breathing together in the same rhythm.
Sometimes it's allowing yourself to be held in the presence of the other.
Let's take a deep breath together now,
Inhaling through the nose and exhale through the mouth and gently close down your eyes.
I will guide you through two rounds of connected breath,
Through the nose,
It's an inhalation without forcing the breath in and exhaling without holding or controlling,
So let the breath flow in a circle,
No pause at the top,
No pause at the bottom.
So take a preparation breath in,
Softly out and at the beginning start by following this rhythm,
Inhaling and out,
In,
Out.
In the first part of this practice,
Stay with yourself,
Bring all your attention inward,
Staying with the rhythm,
Staying with the cycle of your breath and keep coming back to yourself,
To the present moment and even with the eyes closed you can sense your partner breathing with you,
Your breath is synchronized,
You can feel the energy that is in the space between you.
Stay with the eyes closed for a little moment more and allow yourself to synchronize with their presence while staying rooted in your own body,
Noticing your heartbeat,
Noticing your rhythm and feeling the shared space,
The shared energy without controlling it.
Keep breathing and when you feel right you can slowly open up your eyes and let your gaze meet your partner gaze,
There's no need to stare,
No need to smile,
Simply look into each other's eyes and keep breathing together through the nose,
Slow and connected.
Your partner is a mirror for you,
So while you look into each other's eyes,
Don't get lost in the other person's,
Keep coming back to yourself,
Keep coming back to your breath and to your presence and notice what it's like to be seen,
What it's like to be fully seen without masks by the person you deeply love and respect and notice what it's like to see the other with openness,
Without judgment and with empathy.
Staying with the breath and allow the breath to synchronize you even more,
Going a little bit deeper and start to feel the subtle shifts in your system,
Perhaps some tension,
Perhaps some openness and now gently close your eyes and slow down your breath and return to a natural breathing rhythm and simply be with nothing to do but noticing the sensations in your body and coming back once again to the energy in the space around and between you two.
What can you feel about yourself?
What can you feel about your partner?
And when you're ready,
We'll begin with the second round,
Same as before,
Connected breathing again in and out of the nose,
Keeping your eyes closed,
Let the breath be a little bit deeper and yet bring some pleasure in it,
It doesn't have to be forceful,
It doesn't have to be tense,
Let it flow from your pelvic floor all the way out to the top of your head and in this round the invitation is to feel even more the presence,
The openness,
The sheer energy between you two.
Stay grounded in your own body while you sense them,
Observe any tension,
Any resistance or comfort,
Maybe body sensations are becoming more evident,
Maybe some emotions are rising,
Allow them to be,
Allow yourself to be completely open,
Authentic and real,
Open up your eyes and look into your partner's gaze and stay with the breath and breathing together in and out,
There is nothing to achieve,
Nothing to understand,
Just staying in each other's presence,
This moment is worth all the challenges,
All the rough time that you went through together,
It's a moment of connection without words,
Where the two souls are meeting,
Keep coming back to yourself,
Sharing the space and treat those eyes in front of you like a mirror,
Once again without adjusting,
Without supporting the other person,
Be yourself and stay with yourself,
Allow the breath to do the work for you,
And as you keep breathing,
As you keep diving into your partner's eyes,
You realize the depth of the love and the connection between you two,
Realize that strength in a relationship is about creating the intimacy,
The emotional and energetical intimacy,
Allowing yourself to be fully seen,
To be fully felt in all your shapes and forms,
Slowly close your eyes and return to a natural breath,
Allowing all the sensations to fill your body,
Relax your shoulders,
Relax your belly,
Your jaw,
And in the stillness if you can feel even more your partner's presence and radiancy and love,
And finally to close the space I would invite you both to open your eyes,
Place your right hand on top of your partner's heart,
And your left hand on top of your own heart,
And in this final connection repeat these lines after me,
And the woman can start,
I see you and I feel you,
I respect all that you carry,
I honor you exactly as you are,
I love you and I'm here for you,
I love you,
And one more time the same person letting this word coming from your own heart,
Speaking it from your own source of love,
I see you and I feel you,
I respect all that you carry,
I honor you exactly as you are,
I love you and I'm here for you,
Now both of you close down your eyes,
Notice what is going on inside of your body right now,
How did it feel to say these words and how did it feel to receive them,
Let this feeling be with you,
Let it expand,
It's the beauty of real connection,
And then when you're ready open up your eyes again,
And the second person now can repeat after me,
I see you and I feel you,
I respect all that you carry,
I honor you exactly as you are,
I love you and I'm here for you,
And now one more time,
Again speaking from your heart let these words coming from the center of your love,
I see you and I feel you,
I respect all that you carry,
I honor you exactly as you are,
I love you and I'm here for you,
Close down your eyes,
Come back to yourself,
Stay with this energy,
Stay with these emotions,
With these sensations that are filling up your body,
Let's take one final deep breaths together,
And thank your partner silently,
For his or her presence,
And willingness to connect on a deeper level.
