Let us begin with a few deep breaths.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling from the mouth,
Allowing our bodies to settle into being in this practice.
Gently turning our awareness to the breath,
Noticing its natural rhythm and flow.
Now begin to notice the pause between breaths.
First pausing on exhalation,
Two to three seconds,
Before returning to the natural inhalation.
Gently expand the amount of time you spend in the pause between exhalation and inhalation,
And then between inhalation and exhalation.
Notice the spaciousness in between that inhalation and exhalation breath,
The stillness and calmness that appears in that gap.
Now gently turn your attention to the mind.
Notice all the materials,
Thoughts,
Or emotions that might be residing in your mind right now.
Imagine this material like clouds passing through the sky.
Let go of this material.
Try to rest in the stillness.
Visualize yourself lying down on the ground,
Gazing up at the sky,
And the clouds passing overhead.
These clouds,
These mental thoughts,
Images,
Projections passing as you gaze upon them.
Notice the sense of spaciousness and openness that arises.
Sense your body settling into the spaciousness of the ground and the sky.
Settling into each breath.
Feeling yourself expand into the areas of where the clouds and your thoughts are drifting.
Now turn your attention back to your body.
Imagine inhaling and exhaling through all of your body,
Through your skin,
Your eyes,
Your mouth,
Your nose,
All your pores becoming expansive.
Filling you like a balloon.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Noticing the physical spaciousness of the body.
Become present to a lightness in your body that allows you to connect with the sky and the clouds above you.
This expansive awareness of body spaciousness.
Now link the practice of mind spaciousness with that of body spaciousness.
Gazing at the thoughts as they float by in the expanse of awareness.
Noticing how your body expands to receive the air,
The breath,
And as it exhales as it merges with all the expanse of the space surrounding you.
As thoughts arise gently let them float by.
Notice with each breath as your sense of spaciousness and opening up increases.
Now bring your awareness back to your body and your breath as it enters and exits your nose and your mouth.
Noticing the breath on your upper lip and your nostrils.
Drawing yourself back to the present moment.
In our final minute of our practice let us take a moment to offer some gratitude.
Gratitude for ourselves for showing up for this practice.
Gratitude to those teachers in our lives,
To those beings,
Members of our family and loved ones,
For all those who encompass our space.
When you hear the bell take a moment to sit in this spaciousness and stillness before returning.
