All that is required to realize the self is to be still.
Ramana Maharishi.
This is one of my favorite practices for coming back to a sense of being,
Of presence.
I sometimes find this helpful if I can't sleep.
I'm now inviting you to find your comfortable meditation posture.
You can sit,
Lay down on a bed or on the ground,
In whatever way helps you to embody a sense of stillness and comfort.
And taking a nice deep breath in,
All the way down into your belly.
Breathing out.
Allowing your body to settle,
Feeling the weight of your body going down into the ground.
Knowing that this is your time,
A time to be with yourself,
To allow all the fragmented parts of yourself to find their place and settle.
And just for this time,
Letting go of your name,
Your status,
Any troubles that you might have or worldly concerns,
Letting this be a time to fall back into stillness.
Now inviting you to feel your breath moving in and out of your nose.
Feeling the cool air coming in and the warm air going out.
Just feeling your breath.
And with each in-breath,
Imagining your breath going deeper and deeper down into your body.
Each time creating a little more space for stillness.
And inviting your body to be as physically still as feels comfortable.
Feeling that the movement of your breath holds a stillness within it,
As it brings your body back into rhythm.
Then getting a sense of I am,
A sense of being just I am,
All the while letting go,
Allowing yourself to fall into stillness,
To fall into the spaces.
And now shifting your awareness to your heart space and feeling the space and stillness in there.
And notice any emotions that come up here,
Sometimes they can be awoken when we move here.
And letting them be,
No need to push them away.
And as you rest here,
Notice anything that needs healing right now.
Whether it's pain,
A strong emotion,
Sadness in your heart.
Feeling in stillness,
Giving it space to be,
Just for this time.
And stillness is a door back to our source,
Back to our beginning.
Stillness underneath,
But also part of.
And allowing yourself to drop a little further,
Going deeper,
Falling back into stillness.
A stillness that exists beyond boredom,
Beyond underlying tension,
Behind mind.
So still now,
Almost barely there,
An invisible breeze quietly moving through everything.
Stillness in sound,
In emotions,
Stillness in self-doubt,
Stillness in fear,
Stillness in love and joy and happiness.
A force like gravity,
Always finding its centre,
Always grounding,
Filling your soul with a deep sense of love.
You are not more than or less than,
You're perfect just as you are,
As awareness,
Space,
Love,
So quiet,
So still.
