Welcome to this practice.
Before we move into meditation,
I'd like to share Mary Oliver's poem,
Sleeping in the Forest.
I thought the earth remembered me.
She took me back so tenderly,
Arranging her dark skirts,
Her pockets full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before,
A stone on the riverbed.
Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars but my thoughts,
And they floated light as moths among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms breathing around me,
The insects and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell as if in water,
Grappling with the luminous doom.
By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times into something better.
And so begin by simply noticing your breath.
No need to change it,
No need to force it.
You feel the gentle rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
Feel your body resting,
Supported by the chair or by the cushion,
By the floor,
By the earth beneath you.
Notice sensations at the jaw,
The sides of the face,
The whole scalp,
The sides of the neck,
Back of the neck,
The front of the throat.
Feel the air resting on your shoulders.
Sense and feel the weight of gravity at the shoulders.
And feel the length of the arms,
The warmth of the hands.
Sense the front of the torso and the length of the back.
Sense the heaviness of the legs and the warmth of the soles of the feet.
And sense and feel the whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Feel the whole body,
A field of sensation.
Notice feeling grounded,
Centered,
Stable,
And safe.
Perhaps even saying to yourself,
I'm here,
I'm supported,
I'm safe.
And then bring attention to your contact with the ground.
And you might sense the feet resting on the floor or your seat supported by the cushion.
And then sense the solid earth beneath you and feel gravity holding you gently,
Not as a weight,
But as a kind of embrace.
And just know you don't have to hold yourself up right now.
The earth holds you.
It's held you since the day you were born.
And it holds you now.
Feel how the earth offers its support freely.
It asks nothing from you.
It holds you just as you are.
Whether you feel calm or anxious,
Joyful or sad,
Confident or confused,
All of you belongs here.
Your imperfections,
Any regrets,
Even doubts,
All of you is accepted.
The earth says,
You are welcome,
Exactly as you are.
And now,
If it feels right for you,
Imagine the earth beneath you,
Stretching outward in all directions.
Mountains,
Oceans,
Forests,
Rivers,
The sky above you,
Open and endless.
Spaciousness of the universe all around you.
There is room here for everything you carry.
Every thought,
Every feeling,
Every sensation.
No need to push anything away.
Everything can be here,
Resting in this vast spaciousness.
Your fears,
Your hopes,
Your hopes,
Your fears,
Uncertainties,
All held gently within this vast,
Open space.
You are more than any single experience.
You are held.
And feel the breath once again.
With each inhale,
Sense the nourishment of the earth rising to meet you.
With each exhale,
Allow any tension to release into the ground.
Inhaling support.
Exhaling,
Releasing.
Breathing in,
Receiving.
Breathing out,
Letting go.
Take a few final breaths here.
Feeling the steadiness beneath you.
And the ground always holding you.
And then gently bring some movement to your fingers.
Some gentle movement and awareness to your feet.
And slowly circle the wrists and the ankles.
And allow for some fuller and deeper breaths.
Breathing at your own pace.
Again,
Sense and feel the surface supporting you.
And feel how you're held by that surface.
And then gently begin to bring some light to your eyes.
Fully arriving here and opening your eyes.
