Welcome,
Take a moment to arrive,
To land softly in your body,
In this breath,
In this moment.
You're invited now into stillness,
Into presence,
Into peace.
Find a comfortable position,
Either lying down or seated,
With your spine gently upright.
Let your shoulders soften,
Unclench your jaw,
And if you haven't already,
Allow your eyes to gently close or have a soft gaze.
Now,
Begin to breathe slowly,
In through your nose and out through your mouth,
A little longer,
A little slower each breath.
Let go with each exhale,
Let it all fall away,
There's nothing you need to do but simply be.
Now in your mind's eye,
Imagine yourself lying on your back in a beautiful,
Open meadow.
The earth beneath you is warm and supporting.
You feel completely safe here,
Hell and secure.
Above you stretches an endless sky,
A sky that feels soft and spacious,
Like it's been waiting for you.
The air is still,
The light golden,
And in this sky clouds begin to pass.
Let your breath gently move with this scene,
Inhale and feel the spaciousness of the sky,
Exhale and let yourself rest into the quiet of the earth below.
And if the clouds gather,
Remember,
Above them the sun is still shining,
Always there,
Always lit,
Even when you can't see it,
It's never gone.
Now gently begin to notice the clouds above you,
Some are soft and white,
Drifting easily,
Others are heavy and grey,
Lingering with a quiet presence.
Each one of these clouds represents a thought,
A memory,
A worry,
A judgement,
Or simply an idea.
Some carry emotion,
Others are light and passing.
Rather than fighting the clouds or holding on to them,
Simply let yourself watch,
No cloud has the power to define the sky and no thought has the power to define you.
You may notice the urge to follow a thought,
Or to get tangled into it,
And that's okay,
It's natural,
But this is your opportunity to do something different,
To choose not to engage,
To simply watch the thought like a cloud pass by in its own time.
This practice is not about pushing thoughts away,
Or forcing your mind to be quiet,
It's about giving up the struggle and realising you were never the thought to begin with.
So let them pass,
Even the loud ones,
Especially the ones that insist they matter most.
You don't need to argue,
You don't need to solve,
You can simply let go and trust that peace lives in the letting go process.
And even when the clouds feel thick or endless,
Remember this,
The sun is always there,
Just above you,
Your peace is not gone,
Only hidden,
The sun is still shining and its light has never left you.
Now let yourself shift from cloud watcher to the sky itself,
You're not the fleeting worries,
You're not the inner commentary,
You are the calm,
Expansive space beneath and behind it all,
This is who you really are,
Not the weather,
But the sky.
You see when you identify with a thought,
It's like becoming the cloud,
But when you rest as the sky,
You remember your natural clarity,
Your connection to the universe,
Your capacity to hold everything without being disturbed by anything comes from becoming sky.
Even if storms arise,
The sky never disappears,
Even when it rains,
The sky is still there,
Holding space for change.
And above every storm,
The sunlight remains,
Untouched,
Unwavering,
Let that truth settle within you now,
You are the sky,
Still,
Spacious,
Calm.
As you inhale,
Feel the openness inside,
As you exhale,
Rest in the steady,
Unchanging stillness.
Even as you rest with your breath,
You might find that your mind still is talking to you,
Narrating,
This is peaceful,
I'm doing this wrong.
I can't stop thinking.
Whatever it's saying,
It's okay,
The mind is just doing what it's used to doing.
But you don't need to follow these labels or thoughts,
You don't need to believe everything you think,
Instead,
Picture these thoughts and labels falling away like raindrops from a leaf,
Rolling off and dissolving into the earth below.
What's left is just this moment,
No judgement,
Not explained,
Just experienced.
Let it be enough.
Now come home to your breath,
Let it be your anchor,
The gentle breeze through your inner sky,
Feel it move through your body without needing permission or approval.
You don't have to earn this breath,
It's always been yours,
Uncomplicated,
Forgiving,
Ever present.
Each breath brings you back,
Back to the now,
Back to your body,
Back to the stillness that has never left,
It brings you back home.
Now,
Silently repeat these words to yourself,
I am not my thoughts,
I am the awareness behind them,
Peace is my natural state,
I am not my thoughts,
I am the awareness behind them,
Peace is my natural state.
Let these words ripple through you like sunlight across an open sky,
Even if the clouds return,
These truths remain,
No matter what your mind tells you,
You are not lost,
You are always one breath away from the light behind the clouds.
Now gently begin to return to your body,
Feel the earth beneath you again,
The air on your skin,
The quiet rhythm of your breath,
Wiggle your fingers and toes if it feels good,
Maybe roll your shoulders or stretch or relax your jaw,
Whatever your body asks for.
As you slowly return to your space,
Know this,
You are not the clouds,
You are the sky,
And even on the cloudiest of days,
The sun still shines above the clouds.
When you feel ready,
Gently open your eyes,
And I look forward to sharing our practice with you again soon.
Namaste
