It's easily forgotten as we tread through our day-to-day worlds.
That we too reside within an animal body.
For we are made up of the same cosmic earthbound materials,
The sun,
Water,
Stars,
Air,
And moon.
A common thread between us and other creatures is this,
The ability to feel sensations.
Blood moving through veins,
A throb,
A pulse,
A flutter.
Sensation is the very physical imprint that reminds us we are alive.
It's in this very art of bearing witness to sensation.
And simply being with it.
That we are able to return to something more authentic than the self solely orchestrated by the meaning-making mind.
Something guided by impulse,
By signal,
By a deep intelligence that has always known how to keep us alive.
For many of us somewhere along the way,
We lose touch with this,
Not mistakenly or out of faults,
But because what happened was too much,
Too fast,
Or too alone to be fully metabolized at the time.
So we tuck sensation away.
We walk with heavy,
Tired steps.
Or we move quickly so quickly sensation can't quite catch up.
All intelligently guided for our survival.
Dear one,
You are not alone.
Here,
Together,
May we explore what it is to dip our toes into the pool of life.
See it's the kind attention of noticing sensation that what has felt like too much or too little can begin gently to reorganize.
To meet the alive self.
The rested alive,
The grounded alive.
And safely alive.
And finding a comfortable seat.
Or you may like to lie down.
Whatever feels most resonant.
Interesting slowness here.
Micro macro shifts.
And simply coming to meet sensation.
Not needing to move it.
Do anything with it.
Just me.
Perhaps here it feels true to allow your eyelids to softly meet.
Or just laying a gentle downwards open gaze.
And to begin perhaps just letting the mind wander.
Let it drift.
Narrate.
Be in its glory of what the mind does.
Yeah,
That's it.
Now as if within your mind's eye,
Lightly drawing your arms out to pick something up.
Something cozy and soft.
And then drawing that back in towards yourself.
As if grabbing the attention of the mind and bringing it into contact with your skin.
The outer edges of your body.
I'm just exploring this for a moment.
Maybe it feels kind to lend your hands to one area of the body.
And simply noticing what it's like to connect hands to skin.
And do the hands remain still or would they like to add a gentle rhythm of light movement?
Maybe a rub.
A trace of a finger.
A soft squeezing.
Noticing how that impacts what's happening underneath the palms.
What is it like to be touched?
To be gently held.
And perhaps allowing stillness to wash over.
And even noticing the difference between a little more movement through the hands.
And then stillness.
As if receiving and drinking it all in.
Touch may like to remain or simply sweep off.
It may be nice to lend hands to thighs.
To incorporate the lower half as well as the upper half into your field of awareness.
Or vice versa,
Hands to the outer upper arms.
Interesting that you always have this sense of support.
To come back to.
I'm curious as to the breath here.
Without any efforting.
Need to adjust.
I wonder where the breath resides.
Are you able to touch the area with your attention in which the breath moves the muscle?
Bone.
Tissue.
Perhaps the chest,
Diaphragm,
Maybe the belly.
And exploring what happens on the inhale.
How is the breath received?
How does the body move with the inhale?
And exploring what happens on the exhale.
Noticing how the body responds to a flushing out of the breath.
And perhaps hanging out with the breath just for a little while here.
You may even notice air travel in and out through the nose.
As you come into contact.
With different textures.
Different temperatures.
And naturally,
Attention fades off the breath.
Reminded of your seat or where you lay.
As if sinking and melting and contacting your back body.
Through the support behind you just a little more.
It's been a while friend,
The body mentions.
As we explore what it is to inhabit this,
Even just a little.
Still supported by your back body.
And the sense of a soft silky blanket draping over you.
Are you able to scan micro-moments by micro-moments?
What you notice along the way.
From toes all the way up to the head.
And this is solely for noticing.
And as you notice,
You may like to repeat internally what you notice.
As if you were describing to yourself a tree.
Without labeling a tree.
What are the textures,
The colours,
The different materials?
Perhaps along the way noticing a twitch in the toe.
Gurgle in the belly.
A bubble in the throat.
All in the art of fostering and offering curiosity.
As if simply taking in the view.
And then your own sweet slow time.
Are you able to track to notice from toes all the way up towards your head?
Taking your time.
And if it's feeling a little tricky.
A little unknown.
Allow that to be more than okay.
Perhaps even labelling to yourself.
I don't know.
Of recognizing all of this.
And then exploring with a beginner's mindset.
As if witnessing yourself for the very first time.
Ooh,
Okay.
What's here?
What do I know there?
Instead of searching,
Forcing.
Giving space.
For sensation.
The aliveness within.
To experience.
I wonder what would happen if you couldn't get it wrong.
Allowing the breath to expand,
To take up space.
Allowing for a sigh and open mouth.
And just allowing the attention to fade.
As we honor the tapestry within.
And often it arises.
As an abstract masterpiece.
Something that isn't so well known to the general eye.
But as pure life itself.
Is magnificent in many ways different to the familiar.
Honouring your tapestry.
Your unique abstract masterpiece.
Allowing the breath to extend here down to the toes.
And then back up towards the crown of the head.
As if infusing into every cell.
And perhaps offering a sense of touch here again,
Maybe a hand to the heart and the belly.
In the moment to notice.
To notice the residue of this time spent with yourself.
And this idea of Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
By Mary Oliver.
Allowing that to infuse.
In a way that feels true.
Taking your time to integrate.
In your own sweet,
Sweet time.
Perhaps the eyelids flutter open.
The gaze gently dances around the room.
So you recognize I'm here.
Thank you,
Body.
Thank you,
Body.
It's always a pleasure practicing together.
And I look forward to practicing again soon.
