As we arrive to our practice today,
Find a comfortable seat,
One where you feel like you can be at ease,
At rest.
Maybe ruffle your feathers a bit.
Take any last movement you need to get comfortable,
To find that sense of being settled.
As you find your posture,
Allowing your eyes to softly close.
We'll begin by feeling the shape of the body in space.
Getting into contact with the felt sense of the body here sitting,
The feelings of touch,
Pressure,
Warmth and coolness.
We tend in all times to carry this subtle energy of resistance in the muscles,
This continued sense of holding in some way.
And so if you can,
Inviting the body to really become heavy,
Softening any tension you find in the muscles of the face,
The shoulders,
The hands.
Almost feeling as if the body is sinking,
Melting into the surface beneath you.
That we feel supported and uplifted.
We can recognize this sense of weightedness as a feeling of arrival.
Body and mind again becoming one,
Present in this space and time,
Alive to this breath.
You're welcome to bring attention to this felt sense of the body breathing.
Feeling the gentleness in the way the body breathes for you.
The expansion and movement of each and every rib,
The stretching of the muscles between them.
Even the soft texture of your clothing as the body moves with breathing.
That way your shirt tends to caress the skin with this gentle undulation of breath.
And so it's here in the way we begin to plant seeds into the infusion of our attention.
We begin to cultivate the intention of love.
Love in the simple way that we turn towards our own experience.
Breathing with the eyes of love.
Bringing a loving gaze,
Attention or awareness to the aliveness in this body.
And I invite you to look with a deep curiosity,
A microscopic lens,
A magnifying glass.
Feeling into the vibrational energy of your body.
Are there places where you can feel pulsing,
Tingling,
Vibrating?
The invitation is to fall awake into the stance of aliveness.
Not needing to seek out any place or feeling in particular.
Simply softening all tension and melting this awareness of love into the aliveness in your body.
Breathing with eyes of wonder as if gazing at the stars for the first time.
Come to hold this body in the felt sense of reverence.
Notice how it comes alive when you're willing to give it all of your attention.
When you're willing to make it with your time,
Your investment,
Your curiosity.
Thank you.
Soften,
Soften as you find tension returning to your muscles.
Be at ease.
Release,
Relax,
Let go.
There's nothing to wait for.
No greater experience coming in the next moment.
It's all here,
Right here.
Let go.
And if thoughts come,
Simply acknowledge them as the workings of your beautiful mind.
Thoughts and thinking are never a problem unless we allow ourselves to get swept away by them.
As we see them arise,
We simply greet them at the door.
Thank them for being here as part of our experience and continue resting in this moment as you see the thought you're still right here.
Anytime we get swept away,
Finding gratitude for already having returned in this moment of noticing,
Come back to yourself.
Reinvite that playful curiosity,
The loving attention,
Feel this body as it's alive right here.
Let go of concept,
Of the feeling of knowing what's here and come to discover what's really alive right now.
Take good care.
Take your time to allow each of the senses to come away from you.
Wake to open.
Widening your space of awareness to include sound,
Smell,
Taste.
Even sight is the play of light behind the eyes.
No longer contained by this body.
Your awareness becomes as vast as that which you can perceive.
Finding a sense of feeling into each and every sense.
Feeling sound,
Light.
In this space,
Becoming aware of everything that's coming and going without creating or conceptualizing.
Realizing in the raw experience the energy of what's here moment by moment.
Starting to infuse our perceptions with love,
Marinating the mind in love.
As you feel the space between sounds,
The space between sensations.
In this space,
The fabric that connects all of experience is love.
Feel that love.
Let the heart open.
Let the mind and awareness infuse into the space,
The space of emptiness.
The space between thought,
Between concept,
Between sound,
Between sensation.
It's in this space of stillness and silence that we find love.
Unconditional,
Eternal love.
Become infused with it.
Visualize your already existing unity with this love.
As we turn our gaze towards it,
It's already here.
There's no beginning and no end to this love,
Only the arrival of our attention towards it.
Become awash with it.
Like a breeze,
A wave rolling over you.
Feel this love cover your body.
Open your heart.
Soften your breath.
Let the body,
The bloodstream infuse with this love.
As it washes over you and inside you,
Feel the most subtle shape of a smile pervade the corners of the mouth,
The lifting of the eyes.
You need not even move to feel the smile.
As this love fills you,
Washes over you,
Out of you,
Notice how it calls you to love.
To love others.
To express love.
To be a beacon of love.
To let this love flow from you with freedom uncontained.
This is unconditional love.
Limitless love.
Love that knows no bounds,
No container,
That needs no refilling.
Love that's always here in the softest place of your stillness.
Love that is your birthright.
That is the core of who you are.
That drives you towards goodness.
That lifts you out of your darkest moment.
This love is the truth of who we are.
As we rest here,
We know undoubtedly we've touched source,
Freedom,
Truth.
My offering,
My dears,
Is to rest here in this space of love for as long as you desire.
Marinate in it.
Infuse with it.
Breathe it.
Taste it.
Let it become alive in your fingertips and in your toes.
Let it flow from your heart's face.
Rest here as long as you would like,
My dears.
And when you make the choice to open your eyes,
To stand,
To move back into the world,
Do so with the intention of this love,
This open-heartedness,
This reflection of our deepest nature,
Our truest freedom.
Namaste.
