Resting With Red-Winged Blackbirds (8-Hour Sleep Edition)

Peace and welcome.

Grateful you're here as you are.

You're hearing hundreds of red-winged blackbirds in the background.

And most of this invitation will lean into listening and inviting the wisdom and the medicine of red-winged blackbirds.

But first,

I want to ground us together,

So let's bring our attention into our bodies.

Just being mindful of our hands and our shoulders and our knees and our feet.

Being mindful of our foreheads and our cheeks and our ears.

Being mindful of our existence,

Of our aliveness.

Being mindful of our breathing.

And let's take three deep,

Spacious breaths together.

Breathing deeply in,

Opening our hearts and our lungs deeply in,

Slowly out.

And let's do another deep in-breath,

Inviting compassion as we breathe deeply in,

All the way in.

Slowly out.

And let's do another deep in-breath,

Just honoring breath itself,

Gratitude for breath.

Deeply in,

Slowly out.

Invite you to be with the red-winged blackbirds.

Inviting them into your mind and into your heart,

Into your body.

Existing with them,

Breathing with them.

Honoring the gifts of these birds,

The way they communicate to each other and to the world.

Honoring all the grasses and the trees that they rest on and play on.

Honoring their flight,

Their patterns,

Their belonging.

Let's take another deep,

Spacious in-breath to honor this time together,

To honor the journey ahead,

To honor our own stories as we are.

A deep,

Spacious in-breath to close the space.

Deeply in.

Slowly out.