Allow yourselves to find your seat.
Allowing your spine to be in a comfortable position,
Straight,
Aligned,
Supportive.
If your eyes have been open,
They may remain so.
Or if it's more comfortable for you,
You may allow the eyes to close.
If they have not been closed already,
Just gently allowing the eyelids to drape over the orbs of the eye.
Slowly,
Carefully noticing,
Allowing.
Simply being with this space,
This moment in time.
With your feet on the ground,
Whether you are seated or standing,
Notice the earth rising to support you.
Notice the ground embracing you,
The gravity holding you downward.
Notice the way the earth holds you in place mentally,
Physically,
Grounding.
Allow the shoulders to relax,
Draping downward from the ears.
At a pace that is comfortable for you,
Take another breath inward.
And again release the breath outward at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Allowing the body to breathe itself.
No control,
No thought,
Simply breathing.
Slowly being with the body,
Grounded to Mother Earth.
Notice the shoulders.
If they have slowly creeped up toward the ears,
Allow them to drop downward gently.
Noticing the spine,
Allowing it to remain in a straight,
Aligned posture,
Whether you are sitting or standing,
As comfortable as possible for your body that allows you to be alert and is supportive.
Notice the body breathing itself as you take a breath inward.
And release that breath outward.
Notice if any tension is held in the jaw.
You might slide the jaw carefully from side to side,
Forward and back,
Releasing any tension held within that space.
Noticing the body breathing itself.
With the feet grounded,
Resting on Mother Earth.
Or if seated,
Noticing the sit bones resting on the chair or resting directly on the floor,
Grounded into Mother Earth.
Noticing the slight tug,
Pull of gravity,
Centering us downward,
Holding us,
Resting us on Mother Earth.
Allowing the body to breathe itself.
Noticing gravity to gently tug us downward,
Holding us,
Caressing us,
Resting us on Mother Earth.
Really noticing the breath,
Allowing the body to breathe itself as the breath moves inward into the body and is gently released outward at a pace comfortable for you.
Noticing the body breathing itself,
Allowing the rhythmic structure of the breath to continue,
Breathing inward at a pace comfortable for you.
And then allowing the body to breathe itself,
Releasing that breath outward when that is comfortable for you.
Joy is our birthright.
Joy in every moment,
In every day is ours.
It is our birthright.
And in these moments,
Even within the space of the difficulty,
As we allow ourselves to feel our feelings,
As we allow the viscera to process the emotion,
As we allow the emotion that arises to carefully be experienced compassionately within the body,
As we allow the emotional experience to flow within us and through us,
Passing through us and over us like a wave,
Noticing,
Allowing,
And letting,
Being self-compassionate with ourselves as we go through it all,
Being compassionate with others as they too may process and experience emotion,
Allowing this natural human gift of the emotional experience to flow freely from us through the space of the body,
Through the mind,
The heart,
The chakras,
The belly,
Throughout the pelvic seat and the pelvic bowl,
Through the body,
Through the legs,
And into the ground resting on Mother Earth,
Allowing,
Experiencing,
Finding the space to allow our emotions to be just as they are,
Witnessing the experience that is here for us as well as for each other,
Allowing this moment to be just as it is,
Taking a breath inward at a pace comfortable for you and your body,
Noticing the spine carefully aligned,
Supporting us,
While releasing the breath out through the mouth of the nose at a pace comfortable for you,
Allowing the body to breathe itself,
Noticing the body supported by Mother Earth,
Noticing the sensation of gravity compassionately holding us,
Caressing us,
Allowing us to be with this space and time,
Allowing,
Being,
Holding.
Joy is our birthright,
Even within the space of moments such as this one.
Joy may be chosen if that feels comfortable for you,
If that reflects the space,
The emotional well-being where you're at in this moment.
But remember,
Joy is a choice as well,
Even through the hardship,
Even through the space of agony and toil.
Our ancestry has shown us from the enslaved on plantations,
From those holding enslaved people,
From the abolitionists to those being liberated,
From those held within the belly of ships crossing the Atlantic.
Within the space of the collective horror,
We have all known joy.
We have all known the space for joy,
And we have all known the choice for joy is ours.
The spirituals of the African diaspora people sung while enslaved,
While pulverizing the land,
While hoeing and sowing seeds,
Soil as enslaved people,
While those witnessing the toil watched despair,
Agony,
Horror.
We also saw spiritual practice,
Families being born,
Children raised,
Marriages as women identified people and men identified people or others,
Jumped over brooms and performed other rituals,
Embracing love amongst the toil,
Amongst the shock,
Amongst the agony.
We have the choice,
The space for joy.
It's within our DNA.
It's within our birthright.
It's within our spiritual,
Mental,
Physical well-being.
We hold the choice,
And we are given this choice always.
It is our birthright touched upon in moments such as these as well as others.
In the space of this grief,
In the space of change,
In the space of unwellness,
Do not forget joy is our choice as well.
Joy comes in the morning,
And we may feel the effects of joy in this moment very well,
And so it is.
Amen.
