One of the simplest and most beautiful things about mindful practice is the lesson that you can always,
Always begin again And this is as true for sitting,
Lying,
Resting in practice and trying to stay in the moment As it is in life While there is breath in your body While your heart is beating You can always,
Always begin again Settling Arriving Bags down No notifications No expectations Approaching this as though it was the very first time Beginner's mind Noticing the weight of the body against the surface it's resting on Noticing how the body feels right now And if there are any sensations,
Any feelings in the body that are calling your attention Noticing what that is Gently Not trying to change anything It's noticing And when the mind wanders Coming back Being curious Beginning again With a lightness Soft hands Heavy legs Soft belly Shoulders that carry so much At ease Jaw open soft Brow smooth And when the mind dances down that rabbit hole Coming back Beginning again Where and how is your body being moved And rocked by the breath What's the breath like?
You don't need to change it The beautiful body knows how to breathe And when the mind dances away Down this or that rabbit hole When the clouds form When the to-do list calls Gently coming back To this moment Comforted By the fact that you can always,
Always Begin again In life As in practice We move away from ourselves We are busy We are always busy Some of us Move away from taking care of ourselves Some of us are pulled this way and that By other people's agendas and priorities Sometimes we lose ourselves But the moment of awakening The moment of clarity The moment when your inner voice says This isn't me This isn't for me I've gone off track I don't feel comfortable This isn't me I'd like a change These are magic moments These are moments of awareness These are just like the moments When we realise in practice That our minds have wandered These are the moments That can remind us If we're open to the loving,
Tender Invitation that is filled with grace And filled with the understanding Of the fact that we are imperfectly human The invitation that you can always,
Always,
Always begin again You can always commit Affirm Small steps In a different direction You can always,
Always reach out for support You can always research new ways of doing things You can always,
Always begin again As in mindful practice As in life Gently With love With a lot of grace and understanding Knowing Telling yourself Reminding yourself That you can always begin again Ever so gently coming back to the space around you When you're ready,
In your own way and in your own time And thank you so,
So much for practicing with me today
