So let's begin.
I have two intentions for this session.
The first intention is to spend a few minutes just expanding our awareness,
Expanding our awareness of this moment and of where we are.
And also to,
In that expansion,
Make room for bringing in balance and peace into our lives,
Into our heart.
And equanimity,
Which is the buzzword of the season,
Equanimity is mental calmness and composure and evenness,
Even in times of difficulty.
So those are my intentions for this morning.
So let's start with our eyes open and noticing the space around you.
See if you can notice one thing in your space that you haven't really looked at in a long time.
Notice that thing.
See if it makes you feel anything.
If you can notice the colors differently.
And when you feel full of that,
You can let your eyes close.
And notice if you hear anything in your room.
Is there ambient sound?
Is there a racket going on outside?
Is it so quiet that you can hear your own breath?
And this is not to judge anything,
But just to acknowledge,
Notice,
Awareness.
And any of the other senses in your head,
Do you taste any tastes from the morning?
Do you smell anything?
And now bring your awareness to the sense of touch,
Where your clothing is touching your skin,
Where your body is touching your seat,
Where your feet are touching the floor,
Or your legs or your couch.
And now think about expanding your awareness to under your skin,
Your muscles and fascia,
Your bones,
All those areas.
All those beautiful organs that we don't often bow to,
Especially when they're working,
You don't even notice them.
And when you bring your awareness to your ribcage,
Notice how all of those structures feel as you breathe naturally.
The expansion of the skin of your chest,
Your abdomen,
The gliding movement of your ribs as you naturally take in air and then let it out.
Don't force anything.
Just experience what your natural unresponsive unforced breath feels like.
In practicing quiet and mindfulness,
It's been described like the difference between having an espresso cup filled with water and a lake.
If you put a tablespoon of salt in your espresso cup,
The water will be undrinkable.
But a tablespoon of salt in a lake is not noticeable.
Like the salt wasn't even there.
So by practicing,
We can be more like a lake.
Even if it's just sitting for five minutes and noticing your natural breath.
Now let's make our breath a little more intentional and deepen the breath as it comes in.
And feel it all flow out as it goes out.
As the breath comes in,
Notice that the air coming through the nose is cool.
And as the breath goes out,
Notice that the air going out is warm.
This is a wonderful anchor to the breath.
And it's a great anchor to come back to when your mind wanders.
Another one is to feel the abdomen and chest expand as if you were a bellows.
And as the ribcage expands,
The air just rushes in.
And as the ribcage and abdomen and the muscles contract,
The air just rushes in as if you were a bellows.
So whichever one feels more at home for you,
Let's breathe for a few minutes.
And when your mind wanders,
You can just acknowledge where your mind just went.
I'm thinking again,
I'm planning again.
No judgment.
I'll talk to you later and come back to the breath.
While you're breathing,
See if you're holding tension in any part of your body unconsciously.
Your stomach,
Your legs,
Your shoulders.
And ask your body just to let that go.
So I'll ask that you focus your attention now on your throat.
For those of you who haven't been in this circle before,
Each week I talk about one of the seven chakras.
And so we focus on that chakra for a few minutes as part of this practice to clear away blockages,
Debris,
Whatever you want to call it.
And today we're on the fifth to where we left off,
The throat chakra.
So see if you can bring your attention to your throat.
If you have the inclination,
See if you can charge up some energy there.
Imagine a ball of light forming in the throat.
Little stars circling around your throat.
Warmth.
Don't stop breathing while we're doing this.
And the throat chakra is your communication center.
It's all about the flow of expression.
So today I was thinking that how we express ourselves to others is really important.
But it's also important to express ourselves truthfully to ourselves.
So let's continue breathing.
While you're feeling this energetic heat or light in your throat.
And when you get distracted,
See if you can really put a name to what is distracting you.
An honest name.
This is fear.
This is grief.
This is anxiety.
This is just planning dinner later.
Because when we can name what we're feeling and acknowledge it,
We can separate from it.
And it does not become who we are,
It becomes what our mind is doing,
What our mind is playing with.
So let's breathe in,
Into the throat chakra.
See if you can feel some of that energy clearing out whatever needs to be said.
And if this is all inaccessible to you,
Just imagine a river.
It's just always flowing,
Sometimes loud.
Knows who it is,
Doesn't get distracted.
Imagine yourself standing on the bank of the river,
Just reveling in that energy,
That flow.
And again,
When your mind wanders,
See if you can name where it's gone.
Notice it,
Acknowledge it,
And then go back to your breath.
So I'll have you take one really deep breath.
And as you breathe out,
Start to wiggle your toes,
Your fingers.
And when you're ready,
You can allow your eyes to open.
So thank you all for being with me today.
And I hope you have a warm,
Cozy,
Beautiful week.
And let's see,
Here's my little meta fifth chakra prayer.
May you always walk in the flow.
Thank you.
