Alright,
So for most of you who are sitting,
Let's get comfortable in your seat and move around what needs to be moved around before we sit for a few minutes.
I want to set two intentions for this morning's session.
One is this idea of expanding our awareness so that we can be more like a lake.
And the metaphor is that if you have an espresso cup filled with water that has a tablespoon of salt in it,
It will be undrinkable.
But if you pour the same tablespoon of salt into a lake,
It's easier to swallow.
So as we expand our awareness,
The practice of that helps us to swallow things that are difficult and salty.
And the other intention that I want to set for today is to help make room for more equanimity and balance.
The definition of equanimity for any of you who are thinking,
What is equanimity?
Is mental calmness and composure even in difficult moments.
So we're going back to the first chakra today.
And so I thought we could go back and revisit these basic intentions and just to inspire us our motivation for coming and practicing as much as we can and want to.
So let's begin with our senses,
Our vision,
Our sight,
Looking around the room and finding something that you've not really noticed or paid attention to before.
And just noticing,
Noticing the colors,
The shapes,
How it makes you feel.
And when you've had enough of that,
You can allow your eyes to close and tune into some of your other senses.
What do you hear in your room?
Is there some actual noise?
Is there some ambient noise?
Is it just the sound of your own breathing?
The creaking of your chair?
And this isn't to judge,
It's just to become aware.
Are there any smells in the room?
Are there different tastes in your mouth?
What are you feeling?
What's your skin touching?
Can you feel your skin touching the seat?
The bottoms of your feet touching the floor?
Where's your clothing touching you on your skin?
And now tuning into your natural breath and feeling the way the abdomen rises and falls.
How that feels on your skin.
Can you feel your heart beating when you really tune in?
And now making the breath a little bit more intentional,
A little deeper.
Feeling the air coming in through the nose.
Cool air.
And the air coming out through the nose.
Warmer air.
And you can use that as an anchor to keep your focus.
Saying to yourself,
Cool air in.
Warm air out.
If that doesn't speak to you,
You can use the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen.
To focus your attention.
I like to think of my whole torso as a bellows that's opening up and allowing all this air to come in as everything expands.
And then as the muscles in chest and abdomen relax,
It's like it pushes the air out.
Whichever one feels more accessible to you.
Let's breathe in this way for a few minutes.
And when your mind wanders,
Just acknowledge that it's wandered.
Acknowledge that you are thinking or you are planning or you are worrying.
And push it to the side and go back to focusing on your breath.
And again,
If you get distracted,
Just nod to the distraction.
Say,
I will deal with you later.
And bring your attention back to your breath.
So while you're breathing,
Bring your focus to the tip of your tailbone.
And again,
See if you can bring some energy down to the bottom of your spine.
Do that by just bringing your attention to that place.
Imagine that it's generating some light or some heat.
This is the root chakra,
The first chakra,
The beginning of our cycle.
The root chakra is your foundation,
Gives you grounding,
Stability,
Sense of security and safety and connection to the earth.
So see if you can imagine right now from this little buzzing ball of energy that you have created,
If you can imagine a little green shoot coming out of your tailbone.
And growing like a root downward toward the earth.
Even if you're on the third floor,
Imagine that root is powerful and courageous enough to break through all the floors and the basement and the foundation of wherever you are.
And going into the earth.
And when it gets into the earth,
It divides and divides and divides so that it gives you this wonderful foundation and grounding and stability.
And also gives you nourishment from the earth as you give the earth some of your loving energy.
And imagine now that our roots are all intermingling,
Connecting.
And see if you can multitask and feel this connection through your roots and still breathe.
And now it's like we're all breathing with the earth.
And again,
When your thoughts start to wander,
Don't judge them.
Just notice that your thoughts are wandering.
And let them go off to the side and go back to your roots and your breath.
On your next breath,
Let's imagine that you coming out of your roots are a tree standing upright and really strong.
And from your tree come branches that reach up.
And from your branches sprout tons of little green leaves that make shade and shelter.
And imagine all your people,
All the people you love,
Standing under your your tree.
In Hebrew,
We would call this a Sukkot Shalom,
Literally a canopy of peace.
So now imagine your Sukkot Shalom being available to people you don't know.
Anybody who needs a little kindness.
Other creatures.
Maybe even people you don't like very much.
But that you offer this canopy of peace to everyone in equanimity and balance.
So as we begin to come out of our beautiful tree,
Bringing our roots back up into the body,
Taking a couple of cleansing breaths,
And maybe wiggling your fingers and toes,
Moving around.
Let's try to take this feeling into our day,
Into the world.
This is a weekend.
It's always accessible if you need it.
And I'm going to leave you with my tree metta prayer.
May you be solid and nourished.
May you always feel connected.
And may you be able to sit under a canopy of peace.
Thank you.
