So,
Just inviting that comfiness,
That coziness in.
Allowing the body to really relax and become heavy.
Just arrive.
And imagine what would it be like if your body was water.
And if your body is water,
How would that change how you are in this very moment?
We can for a moment just entertain and invite in ideas about the qualities of water.
Soft,
Yielding,
Infinitely adaptable,
Utterly clear.
Just the fluency,
Fluidity,
The shapes that water makes.
How it takes on the form of anything,
Any vessel which it is within.
And when it's left up to its own devices it has its own surface tension.
That curve of a raindrop,
A dewdrop.
If you're into your gardening,
If you look at the leaves of alcamel and molluscs,
Like big hand-shaped leaves,
And the rain catches and is held there in silvery balls.
What is it like to be like water?
If you think about the qualities of water and how we experience it in our everyday.
And here in the north of an island in the north of the northern hemisphere,
We experience it quite a lot.
The rain.
You think about how water nourishes wood.
All of the plants from the tiniest little bright green seedlings peppering the earth around the base of the trees.
To sturdy oaks,
Tall majestic pines,
Beautiful silver-limbed silver birches.
Water.
You think about how long water has been circulating the earth.
Millions upon millions of years.
And so in our very selves,
Water flows.
We are upon average mainly water.
The same water that's been flowing around the earth.
Eon after eon,
Epoch after epoch,
Era after era.
And so when people say,
Trust your bones.
So when people say,
Trust your gut.
When we are encouraged and invited to trust ourselves.
Could it be that we actually simply let the whispering of wisdom,
Millennia,
We simply tune into that and listen.
In Qigong and Five Elements,
Daoism,
Imbalance comes when there's too much yang or yin.
Inflammation,
Irritation,
Anger,
Inability to sleep,
Disease.
Generally too much yang.
And water is yin.
So what is it like to imagine that we are water?
How can we be watery right now?
Think of a still pool,
A calm pool of cool water and a tree overhanging.
Maybe it's a weeping willow,
Maybe something else.
And a fresh spring shower starts to fall.
Hear the sound of the pitter patter of drops falling on all of the leaves.
And if we look at the pool,
We can see drop after drop falling into the still calm pool.
You see each drop creating ring after ring in the water,
Little ripples.
Drop after drop into the pool,
Nourishing the roots of the trees that line the banks.
Drop after drop rippling out into every tree ring.
And so in the coming days,
If you can,
Be water-like.
Invite in times of stillness,
Of listening,
Of responding to what you find when you do.
Knowing that we are made of water that is millennia,
Millions of years old.
That has seen it all come and go.
All we need to do is lean in and listen.
And so as we ease towards the end of this watery relaxation,
Drawing on the power of the yin qualities of water,
Soothing the body,
Breathing up and down the spine in a soothing,
Comfy flow.
As if with every breath out,
We can ease into that water state a little bit more easily.
And so as we ease our way,
Set our little boat for the shore,
Just thinking of ways this week that we can all find courage within ourselves.
If we think about the quiet power of water and its ability over ages to carve valleys out of mountains,
To split rock in half.
How can we tap into our own quiet determination to show up for ourselves,
To be courageous for ourselves in ways that truly support and nourish us?
And then welcoming in a deeper,
A longer breath,
Starting to move fingers and toes.
Welcome in the dew of this wonderful watery Monday morning here in Glasgow.
And if you're listening to this at another time or even in another place,
Welcoming in the very essence of the present moment with joy.
Hugging your knees,
Gently rocking from side to side,
And then just rolling onto a side and just allowing yourself to be there for a moment.
And this practice of relaxation of a watery,
Yoga nidruri type thing is now over and complete.
Thank you very much for listening.
