G'day,
My name is Rachel Grace.
Thanks for joining me for this practice entitled Calm Strength.
In this short practice,
You'll be invited to connect with your inner capacity for calm strength,
A quality which can support your resilience during these very demanding times of the coronavirus pandemic.
So let's begin.
To prepare for this practice,
I invite you to find a sitting posture that allows you to feel both relaxed and alert.
As you settle into this posture,
I invite you to take a moment to notice the environment around you,
Looking at the space you're in and noticing the sounds around you.
Just giving yourself a moment to arrive at the space and place you're in.
And then I invite you to join me in taking a deep breath in,
Filling the lungs.
And then as you exhale gently and slowly,
Releasing all the air from your lungs,
Allowing your eyes to gently close,
Or if you prefer,
To have your eyes gently downcast with a soft gaze towards the floor.
And we'll make a start with the ring of the gong.
Just bringing awareness to your breath and noticing how it feels in your body as you breathe in and out in a natural and gentle rhythm.
Just noticing the physical sensations that accompany the breathing.
Rising of the chest and falling of the chest,
For example.
And now bringing your awareness to the body and how it feels in this moment.
Just noticing all the different sensations that are there to be noticed all throughout the body right now.
And then bringing awareness to the state of your heart and mind right now.
How do you arrive at this practice?
Just notice and hold whatever is there with a kind of gentle attention.
And then I invite you to let your awareness,
Your attention rest with either the breath or the feet.
Focusing your attention there,
Whichever feels most comfortable for you.
So right now,
Focusing on feeling the physical sensations of the breath wherever you feel the breath most easily,
Whether that be at the upper lip,
The belly or the chest.
Or if it's uncomfortable for you to focus on the breath,
Then I invite you to focus on the feet.
Feeling all the strong and subtle physical sensations that are there to be felt in the feet right now.
So wherever you choose,
I invite you to focus your attention there exclusively now and feel the sensations and notice how they change from moment to moment.
Just noticing where your attention is,
If it's drifted away from focusing on noticing the sensations of breath or the sensations of your feet.
The moment you notice your attention has wandered,
Just gently bring your attention back to focusing once again on the sensations of the breath or the sensations of the feet.
Feeling the sensations of the feet or of the breath,
Maintaining awareness there or when you notice the mind wanders,
Just bringing it back with an attitude of kindness and starting again.
I now invite you to let your awareness of your breath or feet to dip into the background.
As into the foreground,
I invite you to focus on following the instructions designed to help you connect with the resources of calm and strength within you.
During this next stage of the practice,
If you find yourself experiencing strong emotions or feeling spaced out,
Then you can always take a break from the instructions and return your attention to your breath or to your hands at any time for a time to steady the mind before then continuing on with the practice instructions being offered if you're comfortable doing so.
So I invite you now to bring a sense of curiosity to what it is like for you to experience a sense of calm strength.
What is that like for you?
Sometimes it might be easy and natural to feel calm and strong in the moment and perhaps you feel that now.
Sometimes it doesn't always feel natural or feel easy.
We sometimes feel just the opposite,
Agitated,
Scattered,
Fragile or volatile and perhaps that's more how you feel right now.
So however we arrive at this practice,
We can all take steps to access,
Experience and grow the capacity for calm strength within us and that's what we'll practice now.
So just bringing a time to mind where you felt strong.
Maybe you were outdoors,
Maybe you were exercising.
For some people it's helpful to bring to mind a time when they were strong for someone else.
So perhaps there was a time when you stuck up for a friend and that's when you felt strong.
Or a time when you were firm but fair as a strong parent or leader.
You might have a sense of strength in your own body,
A basic simple vitality.
You may even notice that right now you're sitting in a way that feels strong,
Not aggressive but strong,
Dignified,
Grounded and present.
I'll go silent now for half a minute or so.
As you bring to mind these moments,
Experiences and times from the past where you have felt strong or equally you connect with how strong you feel right now.
Just let those experiences sink in that felt strength as you bring those instances to mind.
Now imagining or sensing that the feeling of strength is increasing and growing.
Becoming increasingly aware of what feels good about it.
Drop by drop you are filling yourself up with strength.
Learning to be at home with these qualities of calm and strength.
With these qualities that support resilient well-being.
Dwelling in these aspects of resilient well-being now savoring this sense of calm strength.
Letting it sink in,
Feeling it fully as you think about and experience these moments where you felt strong.
As we move towards the end of our practice I invite you to consciously intentionally sustain whatever beneficial states of body and mind that you're experiencing.
Then to prepare for the end of our practice I invite you to once again bring attention to the breath or to the feet.
Focusing your attention there,
Feeling the sensations there at the breath or the feet.
And then I invite you to join me in taking a deep breath in filling the lungs.
And then breathing out gently and slowly releasing all the air from the lungs.
Allowing your body and mind to relax as you let it all go.
And we'll finish the practice with the ring of the gong.
Allowing your eyes to open and gently bringing your attention back up into the environment around you.
I'm just taking a moment to notice and savor the impact of this practice on the state of your body and mind.
May mindfulness and an inner sense of calm strength positively impact you,
What you do and all of those around you.
Thank you for practicing with me.
I hope you will join me again.
