Peace Begins Within

Good morning and welcome to your practice.

To begin this morning,

I'd like to invite you to place a hand on your heart,

Maybe two hands on your heart.

Just taking a few rounds of deep belly breath.

If it helps,

Placing one of the hands on your belly.

Tracking that deep breath in.

Inflating,

Feeling the rise in the body on the inhale.

And the slow release and letting go on the exhale.

Softening the muscles.

Allowing yourself to land into the space.

And letting go of any noise or busyness in the mind.

And offering yourself the space to just come inside.

Take your awareness inwards for these 20 minutes or so.

With an attitude of kindness,

Gentleness,

And care for yourself.

And after a few rounds of deeper breath,

Just sitting back as the observer of your natural rhythm of breath.

And just noticing how it feels.

Remembering there's no right or wrong way to breathe.

The body simply breathes itself.

Just noticing if it's comfortable,

The breath.

And of course,

As always,

If the breath is uncomfortable for any reason,

Choosing an other anchor point that you can rest your awareness on.

For a few moments now.

A place that represents safety,

A home base.

A refuge to come back to.

Whenever you want to just create a pause,

Some peace,

Some ease.

Steadiness.

Just being with maybe the anchor of your breath.

The rise and the fall.

Simply noticing it with gentleness,

Maybe even appreciation,

Kindness.

The aliveness of sensation wherever you're placing your attention right now.

And knowing that this home base,

This refuge of peace is always available within,

Throughout the day,

Not just in your practice.

So really sensing into it now for a few moments.

And then when you're ready,

Gathering the attention to the crown of the head as we begin a scan of the body.

As we begin our day,

Our week,

This vehicle that will take us through it all.

So just checking in with it,

Listening to any messages that it might be giving to us that might have been overlooked in our doing,

The noise of the world.

So starting at the crown of the head and the forehead.

And as we scan down through the body,

Just starting to let go of any tightness or tension,

Contraction that you might notice and offering a softening and easing with a breath or a gentle smile.

So starting at the crown of the head,

Smoothing out the forehead,

Softening the cheeks of the face around the eyes,

Maybe around the jaw,

Unclenching the teeth,

Softening the tongue,

Noticing how the throat is.

Maybe you notice the breath.

And down through the shoulders,

Just smoothing and softening,

Relaxing and releasing as you go.

Shoulders dropping down away from the ears,

Shoulder blades onto the back.

Maybe maintaining that little inner smile,

That gentleness that it can bring to the whole body.

Feeling the arms drop down by your sides,

The length and the volume of the arms,

Through into the hands and the fingers,

The thumbs,

Letting go of any tightening or gripping that the hands might be holding.

And it's not until we bathe our bodies in awareness that we might notice this holding.

So just offering a softening to the hands.

And the mind might have wandered off.

And again,

No need for any judgment.

This is what minds do.

Just as the heart beats,

The lungs breathe,

The minds will think.

And just for now,

The intention is to be with the body.

So just gathering the awareness back,

Letting go of the hands and the arms and placing the attention on the body.

The attention maybe into the chest and the heart space.

Simply noticing what's here.

Acknowledging that whatever it is is welcome,

Pleasant or unpleasant.

Softening,

Creating space around any tension or tightness.

Maybe noticing as you offer space and allowing that the sensations might change and dissolve.

Everything just coming and going.

Feeling the shoulders,

Any burdens being carried around the shoulders that could be let go of.

Just by way of bathing your shoulders in awareness,

Breathing into them.

And down into the belly and the lower back.

Maybe sensing the shoulders.

The internal organs,

Digestion,

Movement,

Sound coming from this region of the body.

And just noticing as the mind going into commentary again.

And if it is just coming back,

That's the practice.

Gently gathering the attention back onto the felt sensation of this region of the body.

And allowing whatever is here to be here,

Acknowledging whatever it is,

Maybe naming it.

If it's unpleasant or emotionally charged,

Maybe soothing it with a gentle touch or kind word.

Taking care of it.

This too shall pass.

Just listening to the body.

Down to the hips if you're ready.

Remembering my guidance is just an offering.

So always choosing what's right for you.

Staying with something if it needs to be looked after.

Maybe feeling into the steadiness of the seat onto the chair.

And the thighs.

Feeling the length of the legs.

Maybe making contact with the ground,

The floor,

Through the feet.

And just feeling the sensations present in the legs as you bring your attention down through.

And again,

Maybe a moment of appreciation for how the legs allow us to move through life.

And then just noticing maybe the whole of the body.

Sitting here or lying here,

Simply breathing and being without judgment,

Without criticism.

Acknowledging whatever is here and allowing it to be here with kindness and gentleness.

Being at peace with the body for whatever is present.

And for the next few moments,

I want to take a little practice in this.

In cultivating a sense of kindness and gentleness with ourselves.

Offering ourselves some phrases.

And if these phrases don't resonate with you,

You just choose your own.

Maybe placing hand on the heart again,

If that feels good for you.

And we're simply practicing to be at peace with ourselves.

Acknowledging our humanity.

Allowing ourselves to be as we are.

So maybe offering the phrases,

I allow myself to make mistakes.

I allow myself to be imperfect.

I allow myself to be a learner in life.

And just breathing with the phrases,

Noticing what comes up,

Sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

And just noticing,

Not judging any of it.

I allow myself to make mistakes.

I allow myself to be imperfect.

I allow myself to be a learner in life.

And just breathing through.

If anything intense arises,

Knowing you have the anchor to rest your awareness.

Just bringing your awareness back on.

And just practicing with the anchor.

I allow myself to make mistakes.

I allow myself to be imperfect.

I allow myself to be a learner in life.

And then if it's okay for you,

Maybe calling into your awareness someone or some being close to you.

And offering them the same phrases.

And the same peace and ease.

And when you have a picture of yourself,

Or a picture of them in your mind's eye,

Maybe offering,

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

Maybe feeling the breath underneath the hands on your heart.

Or wherever you feel.

And again,

Calling to mind or into your awareness this person or being.

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

Acknowledging that no matter how we appear on the outside,

We can all feel fearful,

Sad,

And lonely on the inside.

We are all human.

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

And again,

If it's okay for you,

Allowing this person or being to dissolve in your awareness.

And bringing in someone who's neutral.

Someone you mightn't know very well.

Someone in a shop.

Someone you pass on the street on occasion.

And acknowledging that they too just want to feel happy,

At peace,

And at ease,

No matter how they appear on the outside.

So maybe offering them the same phrases.

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

Maybe adding,

Just like me.

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

Just like me.

I allow you to make mistakes.

I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you to be a learner in life.

Just like me.

Just acknowledging any sensations,

Thoughts,

Or emotions that arise for you.

Being with them with kindness and gentleness.

And supporting yourself by that refuge of the anchor whenever you need it.

Coming back to the sensations of the breath and the body.

That safe space.

Allowing everything to be here as it is.

Without any judgment or criticism.

And to close our practice this morning,

A poem by Dorothy Hunt,

Called Peace in This Moment Without Judgment.

Do you think peace requires an end to war?

Or tigers eating only vegetables?

Does peace require an absence from your boss,

Your spouse,

Yourself?

Do you think peace will come some other place than here?

Some other time than now?

In some other heart than yours?

Peace is this moment without judgment.

This moment in the heart space where everything that is,

Is welcome.

Peace is this moment without judgment.

This moment in the heart space where everything that is,

Is welcome.