So let's find our posture that feels comfortable for us for these next few moments.
Maybe noticing what it's like to elevate the heart,
To feel yourself grounded.
Noticing what's connecting you to your seat.
Seeing if it's possible to soften throughout the jaw.
Feel your tongue completely relaxed in your mouth.
Bringing awareness to the temples,
The forehead.
And noticing if it's possible to invite a sense of ease to move through that space.
Feeling alert throughout the spine and letting go of any rigidity.
Drawing in a deeper breath,
Witnessing the path of the breath,
Wake up the body.
And then sigh it out.
Let go of all the tension along the arms,
The neck,
The fingers.
Once again,
Slowly breathe in,
Filling up the whole body.
Pause for a moment at the top,
Feeling the beat of your heart.
And then sigh it out,
Let go of all the tension.
Letting yourself then one more deep breath in,
This time to squeeze out as much air as you can,
Slowly exhale.
Notice once you've come to the end of your exhale that you've attempted to remove all stagnant air that sits at the lower lobes of your lungs.
Bringing the lower belly back towards the spine and slightly up towards the ribs.
So that then you can feel as if you're threading the breath in from the pelvic floor,
Abdomen,
Ribs,
Chest.
And expand,
Take a slower,
Longer,
More intentional breath in.
And then a slower exhale.
Inhale slowly,
A gentle thread throughout the body with the breath.
Nice long exhale.
Three more rounds like that,
Letting yourself transition the breath with more ease.
Witnessing the full spectrum of the breath and letting go of tension,
Letting go of needing to get it right.
And then,
Witness the moment by moment expression of the breath.
Once you've completed your last cycle of rhythmic breathing in and out,
Letting yourself return to your natural breath.
Checking in with a soft palate in the back of the throat,
Seeing if it's possible to relax that space.
And then come back to witnessing the breath as it is.
Regardless of the sounds in the room,
The thoughts in your mind,
In this moment you can feel the breath.
And then the next moment.
Because the nature of the mind is thinking thoughts.
We don't try to control it.
Instead,
We notice that it's possible to become more curious,
To acknowledge the thoughts.
And then come back to witnessing the sensations of breathing.
And to see what it feels like to come back to the breath.
It's possible to simply begin again.
This time with more compassion,
Less judgment for having thoughts.
Notice these next three subtle breaths as they are.
Either through the abdomen,
The chest,
Or the nostrils.
Discover and explore all of the sensations associated to the breath in and exiting.
And now begin to notice all of the body.
Noticing where you can still let go,
Where you can soften and relax.
Noticing all of the cells in your body and their potential ability to feel as if awareness is saturating each of those cells to feel fully awake.
Noticing where it might feel more dense,
Where it feels more spacious.
Without trying to make anything happen.
Getting rid of any experiences.
Instead,
Shifting to curiosity.
Discovering.
If your mind keeps getting drawn to a thought or maybe to a part of your body that feels more tight,
Letting yourself become curious instead of trying to change it.
Feeling awareness come back to all of the body.
Or letting yourself discover the sensations that make up the tension,
Tightness.
Starting to witness it without reactivity.
Noticing the arising and passing away of all phenomena.
Every sensation appearing,
Existing and disappearing.
Noticing if there's a desire to move the body that you can witness that urge.
Noticing the sensations that make up that experience.
And if you still feel consumed by the thoughts of needing to move,
Then allowing yourself to do so with ease,
Without reactivity.
And then continue the journey.
Adventure through your inner landscape.
Notice where you feel your awareness in this moment.
And can you continue to explore?
Explore the volume of the body,
The matter,
The whole body as a field of sensations.
Withow life.
Opening to all that makes sense.
Hey,
Good being.
And each time you notice the more pleasant sensations,
Also being careful not to perpetuate more craving,
More clinging to wanting it to continue this way.
Noticing that pleasant sensations are also an opportunity to practice equanimity.
We don't always need it to be perfect or pleasant.
We can also witness its arising and passing away with ease.
And now letting yourself feel into the breath once again.
As if it was possible to breathe through the center of the heart.
As if it was possible to feel the breath warming the chest.
Every exhale an opportunity to dissolve the tension we hold around our heart.
To invite it to melt away as we naturally exhale.
Noticing the aliveness of the heart and the warmth of our exhales.
And then allowing yourself to recognize an image of yourself,
Bringing that to mind and seeing if it's possible to surround that image of yourself with kindness,
With the warmth of your exhales.
Feeling yourself bathed in this kindness,
Light,
Warmth.
And maybe repeating to yourself,
May I live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Bringing this image of yourself to mind and being able to see what it's like to have a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Bright,
Warm,
Caring.
Seeing your essence with compassion.
Seeing yourself and your ability to have equanimity.
Seeing yourself with more minor challenges in our lives and being able to hold those challenges with tenderness,
Kindness.
Kindness towards ourselves,
Spaciousness.
May I live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Being that we are perfectly imperfect.
That it's not natural to be happy all the time.
That we can still stay open and curious.
That we can come close to those smaller challenges with curiosity.
May I live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Letting yourself witness and observe without trying to make sense of it all.
And then maybe just repeating the word peaceful heart.
Bringing to mind someone that's easy to care for,
A pet,
Grandparent,
Child,
Nephew.
Bringing this person to mind.
Bringing their essence to mind as if you can feel them sitting directly across from you.
Someone who embodies joy easily.
And then letting yourself feel as if you're opening the warmth of your heart to this person.
Surrounding them in metta.
May you live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Seeing them in your mind.
Feeling their essence as if directly in front of you.
A peaceful heart amidst it all.
And then expanding that to the sentient beings that you'll be seeing today or this weekend.
Expanding that towards those in your household,
Neighbors,
City.
We so easily at this point in our community share our challenges because we trust each other at this point.
But we don't hear the challenges of our neighbors and of those other beings nearby.
But acknowledging that we each have our own set of challenges.
And then allowing ourselves to remember the warmth of our heart.
To become curious.
May we all live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Witnessing your fields of sensations in this moment,
If there's anywhere you've started to tighten.
Witnessing your next exhale,
Relax that space.
May we all live with a peaceful heart amidst it all.
Thank you all so much.
Namaste.
