Welcome to this moment.
Settle.
Be still.
Sense a heaviness in your eyes.
Allow them to close or soften.
Awareness can arise in calmness and even in chaos.
It's always here.
It's always waiting.
In the words of Hermann Hesse,
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time.
There's an old story of a monk who tried to scoop the moon's reflection from a pond.
The more he stirred,
The more it disappeared.
But when the water stilled,
The moon revealed itself once again.
And so too within you.
When you grasp for life,
The less life will reveal itself to you.
But when you return to stillness,
Life returns stillness to you.
And in that process,
The turbulent waters grow quiet and your path becomes clear.
This is that time.
This is your sanctuary.
Bring attention to the crown of your head.
Imagine a dome of stillness above you.
A shelter of calm as vast as the sky and as steady as moonlight.
Feel it drift downward,
Smoothing your forehead,
Cheeks,
And jaw.
Softening the eyes from within as though they've been tucked in to rest.
Within you,
There is a stillness.
Let yourself enter it here.
Now notice your shoulders.
Let them drop their guard.
Sliding out of effort and clenching into ease.
Allowing awareness to spill down your arms.
Fluid as melted wax.
Shaping itself to every contour,
To every fingertip.
As the chest rises and falls,
Awareness moves with it.
A steady witness to your rhythm,
To your life.
For here is the refuge of belonging.
Not built of stone,
But of love and breath.
Within you,
There is a sanctuary.
Feel it here in the heart's quiet room.
Like the moon in the water,
Your heart's light is revealed when it rests.
Bring your attention to your belly.
Feel it soften into spacious ease.
Open.
Unguarded.
Unrestricted.
Free to simply be.
And now notice your hips.
Not just joints and bones,
But a deep foundation where memory and emotion often gather.
It's a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time.
Even here,
In this deep bowl of holding,
Stillness remains open.
Like the moon above the water,
Awareness is never lost.
Presence is always here.
Only waiting for the surface to be still.
Move your attention downward into your legs.
Pillars that carry you without question.
Step after step.
And day after day.
Finally notice the steadiness and the safety of the ground beneath you.
Like large,
Smooth stones resting upon the water's edge.
Rest here.
And now you've covered your body in awareness.
Perhaps you might notice to enter this refuge within is no different than to give yourself grace.
Grace is the soft covering you offer when the mind is harsh.
Grace is the shelter you return to when your heart feels bare.
Grace is permission to pause.
To breathe.
To simply be.
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary.
And grace is how you step inside.
And in that stepping,
Remind yourself,
Here I return to stillness.
And here stillness returns to me.
So when your breath feels tight,
When your shoulders rise without you knowing,
When your thoughts speak louder than your truth,
And when your body asks for stillness,
But you keep moving,
These are the moments to return.
Not to a place outside you,
But to the sanctuary within you.
And before I leave you to dwell here on your own,
Know that when thoughts ripple the waters,
As they always do,
You need not scoop or stir or grasp.
Simply slide down into stillness and the moon's reflection becomes clear.
For within you there is space,
Wide enough to hold it all,
Without holding on.
So gently whisper to yourself,
As you do,
I return to stillness,
And stillness returns to me.
I return to stillness,
And stillness returns to me.
Return now to my voice and the space around you.
As Herman Hess reminds us,
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary,
To which you can retreat at any time.
And as the story of the monk teaches,
The moon is never lost,
Only hidden by restless waters.
When awareness grows still,
The reflection returns.
So carry this truth with you.
Shelter what shakes,
Soften what's bare,
And return to stillness,
My friend.
Because stillness repairs.
May your mind,
Body,
And spirit be abundant with peace and stillness today and every day.
Namaste.
