Take a moment to arrange your body in such a way that you can look up at the night sky comfortably.
Maybe you're sitting down and leaning back.
Maybe you're standing up or lying down,
Perhaps even on the grass.
Find a posture that feels comfortable,
Balanced,
Aligned,
Relaxed,
And importantly that you're warm.
And then purposefully,
Consciously begin to soften your body.
Relax your face,
Your forehead,
Your eyes,
Your mouth,
Your jaw.
Softening your hands,
Your belly.
Relaxing your breath.
When you first step out of the light into the darkness,
It can take up to 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust.
So as you begin looking up and your pupils gradually dilate,
Notice how more and more stars seem to appear out of the dark.
There's no need to look around and move your eyes.
Just centre your gaze on one part of the sky,
Maybe a star,
And become aware of your whole field of vision,
The centre and the periphery.
Just look.
Allow your eyes to be filled with the vista of this dark sky,
This starry night,
With a kind of wide-eyed curiosity and wonder.
Mindfulness means being aware,
But it also means not judging what you find to be good or bad,
Or something you want or don't want.
So if a few clouds float past,
Or if it starts to cloud over completely,
It can be easy to fall into the mind state of,
God,
I wish these clouds would go away,
Or I wish it was clearer.
But as you're looking,
Doing your best to just let things be as they are,
As they are,
Tonight,
Right here,
This beautiful night sky,
This moment.
Really enjoying this act of looking.
How would it be to look with your whole body?
How does it feel to look in this way?
Now if thoughts arise about exactly what you're looking at,
Which constellation is it,
Which star is it,
Etc.
,
We don't need to work that out.
You can find out later.
Gently put those thoughts aside and just come back to looking.
And indeed,
If any other thoughts arise about anything else,
Just putting them to the side.
How does it feel to look,
To be with the night sky like this?
And it may be that more and more stars are beginning to appear as your eyes fully adjust.
Maybe you notice the glow on the horizon.
Maybe you notice trees,
Other parts of the landscape,
Buildings.
Do what you can to really immerse yourself in what you're seeing with this curiosity,
This interest.
And as you do this,
Making sure that you stay comfortable,
You stay soft and relaxed.
And you can spend as long as you like looking up and marvelling at this incredible vista the night sky.
