Welcome,
Today's practice is a quiet remembering,
A remembering that your presence here in this body,
In this lifetime,
It's not random,
It is deeply meaningful.
You are not in this body by chance,
It's a vessel chosen for a reason.
You don't need to understand it right now.
You don't need to agree with it or prove it.
Just let yourself feel into it,
Just see how it feels.
Let's begin.
Let's start by settling in.
Find a position that feels steady and supportive.
You can sit,
Lie down,
Anything that lets your body feel supported and relaxed.
Let the surface beneath you carry your weight.
Let yourself be heavy.
Allow your shoulders to drop,
Your jaw to soften and let your breath just be whatever it wants to be.
Begin to notice where your body touches the ground.
Feel the points of contact.
Notice the weight.
Let yourself feel held by what's beneath you.
Now,
Take a moment to notice your breath.
The air moving in and out.
Notice it without trying to change anything.
Just let it be how it is.
Noticing the inhale and noticing the exhale.
This breath connects you to everything.
To the trees,
The oceans,
The people and animals around you.
The oxygen in your lungs right now was once part of a tree,
Part of an ocean,
Part of a neighbor.
And what you breathe out,
It feeds the world again.
This breath is not just yours.
It's part of the world,
Part of life.
Now begin to notice your heartbeat.
Just sense the rhythm in your chest.
It might be subtle or strong,
Slow or fast.
Your heart,
It listens to the world and responds to it moment by moment.
It changes with sunlight,
It slows in the stillness of night,
It adjusts when you feel warmth or tension or ease.
Always responding to the light,
The temperature,
The emotions you carry.
Your body is not separate.
Your body is in quiet conversation with everything around you,
All the time.
It knows when to slow down,
When to run or protect,
When to open up and relax.
It keeps rhythm with the season,
The light,
The land.
It holds a wisdom,
Order and language.
Your body doesn't just belong to the earth.
It belongs to you,
Your spirit,
Your essence,
Your soul.
It is how you get to experience this life.
Your body is as old and ancient as life itself,
Because it is made of life.
The minerals in your bones were once part of mountains.
The water in your cells flowed through rivers,
Through oceans,
Through the bodies of others who came before you.
The breath in your lungs has circled the globe,
Through trees,
Through animals,
Through people you've never met and never will meet.
And somehow it all came together into you.
Everything that makes up your body has all along belonged to the earth.
You are not separate from nature.
You are nature.
You are made of the exact particles that this planet is made of.
Your heartbeat and your breath aren't separate from the world.
They change when you step outside and feel the sun.
They shift when you are around others.
They respond to warmth,
To stillness,
To light.
Your body is constantly in quiet relationship with life.
This body,
With all its feelings,
Rhythms and changes,
Is how your soul connects to this world.
Not through thought,
But through sensation,
Presence and breath.
It is how you take part in this life.
How life moves through you.
Your body is not something to fix.
It is something to nurture.
It is your home.
Now I invite you to just let this all land.
You don't need to understand it right now,
Or to agree with it.
Just let it all sink in and notice how it feels in the body.
Does it feel true,
Familiar,
Or does it feel strange?
How does it feel to hear all of this?
You didn't land in this body by accident.
You didn't end up in this lifetime by chance.
You are here in this body because it is the exact body you need for your path,
Your purpose and your unique expression of life.
No one else could live this life but you.
So,
Just for now,
Let that truth sink in.
Let it land in your chest.
Let it settle in your belly.
No need to figure anything out right now.
Just breathe with it.
Feel your body and be present.
When you are ready,
Slowly begin to deepen your breath again.
And start to bring some movement back into the body.
Maybe circling the wrists or stretching.
Just waking up the body.
And then open your eyes.
I thank you so much for practicing today.
And for showing up for yourself.
I hope to see you again tomorrow.
