Good morning,
Good morning,
And welcome to your morning check-in practice.
Take a moment to find a comfortable seat.
See if you can find a way to sit up with your spine erect yet comfortable.
Maybe that means that you will be sitting on a couch or somewhere where you have a support behind you so you can lean back and you don't have to hold yourself up.
Maybe it means that you take something to sit on,
So maybe that could be a little cushion if you're on the floor or anything that lifts your hips up a little bit.
No matter where you are seated,
Take a moment to land here.
You don't have to sit cross-legged.
You can,
But really find a way that is comfortable for you.
As you land in your seat,
Take a moment to feel into the support beneath you,
The support that is always there.
Mother Earth.
Feel how your body touches the surface beneath you.
Whatever you're sitting on goes all the way down to the Earth as she holds you right here.
You can gently start to scan from your feet so you can feel into both soles of the feet.
Feel the top of your feet,
Lower legs,
Knees,
Thighs,
Hips,
Buttocks touching the Earth.
The whole lower body,
Both legs,
All the way to your hips,
Getting heavier as they lean into this unconditional,
Never-ending support from the Earth.
You are so held here.
And from this space of being held and supported,
You can put all your attention on your sacrum.
So that's your lower back,
The lowest part of the lower back,
Your sacrum,
Bone.
Take a moment to feel into it,
Sense into it.
Perhaps it feels very unfamiliar to do so.
You can just visualize or imagine this part of your body that is your sacrum.
And you start to trace from the sacrum upward,
Tracing your spine.
So allow your attention to move from the sacrum upwards,
Feeling the spine,
Feeling and sensing into the lower part of the spine,
Middle part of the spine,
All the way up to the neck and the back of your head,
All the way to the top of your head.
And this time you will trace your spine from the inside.
Maybe that doesn't mean anything to your thinking mind,
But let your body-mind just follow the guidance.
So once again,
Put your attention on to your sacrum,
That big bone at your lower back.
And this time it's like you're on the inside of the sacrum and you start to gently move your attention,
Tracking your spine from the inside.
See if you can go even slower,
Slow,
Gentle tracking of the spine,
Lower part of the spine,
Up to the middle part of the spine.
And when you come to the part of the spine where your ribs grow out of,
Just pause gently and feel into or sense into or visualize or imagine your ribs from the inside of the spine,
Gently growing out,
Creating this sacred casing,
The sacred cave for your heart,
Your precious heart.
Protected so lovingly by your ribcage,
Snuggling up there together with your lungs,
Precious heart.
Maybe you want to put one hand on your chest to feel your heartbeat.
To sense your lungs breathing.
Take a little moment to just feel how your chest moves with every breath.
Allow the palms of your hand to receive this heartbeat,
Your precious heart.
You can keep your hand there or let it gently fall back wherever it was,
Wherever it feels comfortable.
We'll take a little moment here to feel,
Sense and connect to your heart,
This extraordinary organ.
And sometimes we don't think about or we don't notice that the heart has a bottom,
It has sides,
It has a top and a front and a back.
Breathe into the front of the heart,
Deep breath in through the front of the heart.
And exhale,
Stay in the centre.
Deep inhale through the front of the heart.
And exhale,
Stay in the centre.
Feel into the front of your heart.
In some wisdom traditions,
This is where the personal lives.
This is often where we give from,
From the pure heart.
And as you keep breathing,
See how it will feel like to breathe into the back of your heart.
The space between your shoulder blades.
Deep inhale through the back of the heart.
And exhale,
Stay in the centre.
Breathe in through the back of the heart.
And stay in the centre as you exhale.
It is often said that the back of the heart represents the universal,
The mystery,
The unseen.
This is where we receive.
You can receive the breath one more time through the back of the heart.
And land in the centre of the centre of the centre of your heart.
And as you land here in the centre of you,
Your heart,
Take a moment and ask her,
Ask your heart,
How does she feel?
If your hand is not on your heart,
Maybe you want to put it back.
Maybe not,
It's optional.
As you ask your heart,
How does she feel?
Maybe you put your other hand on top of that hand that is holding your heart.
As you ask her,
What do you need?
You need precious heart.
You can keep your hands there,
Maybe you release them down.
Still all your attention on your heart space in your heart.
As you ask her,
What is ready to be released?
What are you ready to release?
Inhale through the front.
And exhale,
Release it through the back.
Back to God.
Feel deeply into your heart.
And ask her,
What is there to celebrate?
Let's celebrate.
Heart,
What do you want to celebrate today?
Deep breath in.
Exhale into this celebration of life.
What is there to celebrate today?
If nothing else,
That your heart is beating,
Your lungs breathing,
And that you took this moment to care for you,
To take care of you.
To start your day by putting your palms together in front of your heart,
Or perhaps once again,
Hand on heart.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for practicing with me.
I wish you a beautiful day.
