Welcome,
Friend.
Thank you for joining me.
This reflection is intended to focus our awareness,
Our common humanity.
Today we'll be practicing acknowledging the similarities between ourselves and others.
We often focus on differences,
But realizing that even people who seem very different from us in fundamental ways are just like us can become the basis of a new connection with ourselves and with others.
Before we begin,
Let's share a minute to enjoy the rain.
Listen for a moment to the raindrops.
Can you hear some are bigger,
Some are smaller?
Now consider that whatever their size,
Inside,
They all transport the same living water of life.
Try to see each drop falling as clearly as you can.
Then as you hear it land,
Silently send gratitude for the rain,
For the gift of life,
For the gift of cleansing,
And for the gift of renewal.
Now as we begin,
Allow your body to settle into a comfortable position,
Inviting a sense of ease and relaxation throughout the body.
Please close your eyes if that feels comfortable.
If you choose to leave your eyes open,
Focus your attention on your feet and let your gaze softly rest there.
Allow the eyes to rest and the focus to soften.
Start to notice your breath.
Each inhale and each exhale.
Notice where your body is making contact to fabric,
To surfaces,
To the air.
Feel how the air flows and how your stomach or chest expands when you breathe in and how the air moves out when you exhale.
We'll deliberately slow our breath to allow the body to relax even further and to awaken the parts of our brain that help us stay calm,
Focused,
And aware.
Our count will be in for a count of three and out for a count of six.
We'll complete six cycles.
If you're ready,
Let's breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
In,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
In,
Two,
Three,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
In,
Two,
Three,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
In,
Two,
Three,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Last one,
In,
Two,
Three,
Out.
And return to an unforced breath.
I want you to notice how still the body is and how quiet the mind can be.
Thank you for taking this time for self-care and thank you for joining me in a story.
In today's reflection,
I want to return your kindness and allow me to take care of you.
Allow me to give you a reminder that you might need.
Simply take in my words,
Listen to my voice,
Take my message to heart.
To enjoy the old musicals like Oklahoma or State Fair,
Rodgers and Hammerstein also wrote the musical South Pacific.
In that show,
There's a song that contains the following lyrics.
You've got to be taught to hate and fear.
You've got to be taught from year to year.
It's got to be drowned in your dear little ear.
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight.
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught.
Now let's put that thought away for now and we'll come back to it soon.
But right now,
It's time to take our rest a little deeper.
Begin by sensing the whole body in a complete state of rest.
Feel completely safe and secure.
Witness your body completely at peace,
Resting in stillness.
You can let go of all thoughts,
Worries,
And tensions.
Listen to my voice.
Follow my instructions.
Here there remains nothing to do or to achieve.
Here you need only do nothing.
As you inhale,
Feel the body being filled by the air around you.
As you exhale,
Return air to the space around you.
Start to notice any sounds you can hear happening around you.
The sounds might be near or far,
Loud or very soft.
Listen to a sound for a moment or two and then find another sound.
Keep sending out your awareness in all directions.
Keep listening to sounds for a few more moments.
Rotating your awareness from sound to sound.
Begin to feel out the contours of the room.
Breathe.
Now expand your awareness to include the building and breathe.
Find your awareness to include the community that surrounds us.
Now feel the whole town and the city.
And now expand out even more to include the whole state or region.
Then expand even bigger to feel and visualize the whole country.
Continue to expand until you're aware of the entire continent that you're lying upon.
Now become aware of the whole northern hemisphere and now the southern hemisphere.
Become aware of the western world and the eastern lands until you are aware of the whole entire planet earth that you're resting upon,
The whole earth.
And though it may feel like you're lying still,
The planet is spinning at around a thousand miles per hour.
At the same time,
We're flying around the sun at about 66,
000 miles per hour.
And while we're orbiting the sun,
The whole entire solar system with our sun in the center,
We're all spiraling together around the galaxy.
Even in what seems like chaos,
There's peace.
Within this moment of stillness,
We're actually moving at a speed that is incomprehensible.
Within this moment of solitude,
We're sharing a ride with seven billion souls,
A patchwork of hearts that share in our connection to this time,
To this place,
And to one another.
I'd like you to bring your awareness to the 350,
000 babies that will be born today.
Send them your silent good wish with each out-breath.
Send healing energy and love.
Anne Hampton Calloway wrote a beautiful song at the same time.
Her lyrics ask us to think of all the children being born into this world at the same time.
Now think of all the hearts beating in the world at the same time.
Think of all the love pouring from our hearts at the same time.
Think of all the light our love can shine around the world at the same time.
Using your breath,
Focus on the out-breath,
And as you exhale,
You may imagine touching their souls with your light.
You may imagine surrounding them with a protective energy.
Bring the breath to send your well wishes so that they have what they need,
Acceptance,
Peace,
Kindness.
And then as you share a warm positive feeling,
Know that someone somewhere remembers your face and smile today,
Sending warm positive feelings to you.
Accept them into your heart as you breathe in.
And let's bring both together so that when you breathe in for yourself and as you breathe out,
You breathe out for the others.
So in for me and out for you.
Let's practice that again.
In for me,
Out for you,
One for me and one for you.
And if you'd like,
You can adjust the ratio.
Feel free to breathe in more for yourself,
Or ten for me and one for you.
Take what you need and give what you can.
Just be sure to always include yourself in your circle of compassion.
As children,
We were taught to see the world before we were six or seven or eight.
As adults,
We choose the world we see.
You do not seem to doubt the world you see.
Even though you learned a very long time ago,
Your senses do deceive.
We can see separation and our differences,
Or we can see our wholeness,
But we cannot see both,
And both cannot be true.
How can you judge when the judgment rests on the very senses that have proven false?
You cannot judge.
You can only believe in your mind's judgments,
All of which are false.
Hear not this voice.
Your life is not a part of anything you see.
You stand beyond the body and the world and within the one.
Within the one,
I am whole and perfect.
I cannot be different or apart from you or anyone.
How can we be separate?
Our hearts beat at the same time.
Our light shines at the same time.
The rain pours down in the same way at the same time.
The same rain falls on all of us,
And that same water sustains all of us.
The tear of a newborn,
All the joys and sorrows of life,
Are in every falling drop.
Inside each drop and inside each cell,
Our love binds us together across space,
Across time,
Beyond all we know and have yet to discover.
The different drops of rain were once a part of the same ocean or river.
The differences are there only if you choose to see them.
Water,
In all its forms,
Ice,
Steam,
Or liquid,
Is still water.
In this moment,
We can see the love beyond the hate,
The constancy and change,
The full circle of compassion,
And the blessings of this world.
Let your awareness rest there,
Like you're soaking in a warm bath.
Now while breathing in slowly and deeply,
Take a moment to appreciate yourself for taking the time to invest in you.
Breathe in and bring your face to mind.
Breathe out and send yourself some silent gratitude.
You've completed the final stage.
The most beautiful day awaits you,
The day after the rain,
When all is fresh and clean and new again.
Tonight,
You will sleep deeply,
And tomorrow,
Wake up full of energy.
But now,
We must return.
I leave you with three wishes.
May you be at peace.
May you awaken to the light of your own true nature.
And may you be healed and be the source of healing for others.
We'll end as we begin.
Become aware of the sounds and the spaces around you,
Which sound is closest,
Which is furthest away.
Awaken your body by gently wiggling your fingers and your toes.
And give me a little jazz hands.
We did some Broadway after all.
Celebrate your success.
Move your shoulders.
Give yourself a little hug.
And when you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
