Allowing yourself to settle into the posture that you've chosen.
Allowing yourself to feel that shift by either closing the eyes or turning the gaze downward that you can begin to turn the attention into the inner landscape.
And just like in nature,
All things come and go and change.
Every moment in our own internal landscape is different.
So just seeing if in this moment you can really feel into what's arriving with you in this practice this morning.
Allowing yourself to feel into how the mind is.
Maybe with the start of the day it's a bit quiet still.
Or maybe it's already moving,
Already anticipating,
Planning,
Forwarding to the day.
And also just allowing yourself to really feel and sense inwardly that experience of your body.
Your body arriving with you rested and restored.
There's your tension,
Your tightness,
Tiredness.
And also just allowing yourself to feel into how the heart is here in this moment.
Is there openness,
Is there spaciousness,
Is there lightness?
Maybe there's a bit of heaviness.
Thanks.
And however you find what's here as you settle in,
Just let yourself kindly and gently meet it.
No need to judge it or push it away,
Do something with it.
Really allowing yourself to appreciate the opportunity to connect and be present to what's here for you.
Maybe a gentle nod,
Inward bow,
Whatever these conditions are,
They are here and they'll come and go in whatever way they do.
And so then allowing now your attention to just begin to feel your body and the posture you're in.
Taking the care and the time to just feel how your body is placed and connected to support.
And as you feel into that,
Seeing if you can really let your body rest or receive that support.
And also allowing yourself to scan through your body.
Is there tension you're carrying and holding?
Sometimes it's really subtle.
It might just be the subtle movement of the jaw or the neck,
Shoulders in some way.
It just makes a little more space.
It allows your body to feel a little more relaxed.
And as you arrive into feeling and sensing these inner conditions and supporting,
Feeling grounded and relaxed,
I invite you to really let yourself open to sense into the surroundings that are here supporting your inner landscape.
So maybe this is to begin to just feel into the sounds that are here.
Not needing to identify or figure out the sounds,
But rather just feeling and sensing their direction-ness as they're here with you as you settle in.
Noticing how the sounds can land in the inner landscape and support or aid in some way that's allowing you to be present.
Maybe also feeling into the sensory quality of what's arriving at your body from around you.
The temperature,
Moisture,
Dryness in the air.
And the way that the air may feel on the skin or the way a touch of clothing might be here to support you too.
Also just to be curious to the felt sense of maybe even scent or smell.
The quality of that in the air,
Even if it's neutral,
Very subtle.
So all of that around and within you being here to support you,
Studying you and attending to what arises moment to moment.
So now I'll invite you to just begin to connect to the breath.
People beginning to attend and feel each breath.
Noticing as you breathe in what it's like to take air in from around you and how that inhabits itself in the body.
And then as you release the air,
Allow it to move out of the body,
Back into the environment around you.
So I invite you to just steady your tension on feeling this movement and experience of breathing.
And remembering the mind is likely to wander or be distracted by experiences like thinking,
Or sounds that may capture our attention.
And let that be here too.
There's no need to push it away.
Just honoring,
Oh,
That's what's arising in this moment.
And then come back to the breath.
You attend to the breath,
I invite you to just be curious about the qualities that are here that feel easeful,
Supportive,
Relaxing.
And see how you can feel or notice that in the experience of the breath.
Let's say something,
The prayer begins now.
The mind gets a little caught around trying to figure out what is easeful or how it feels relaxing.
Let go.
You need to try to figure it out.
It's just sensing what might be here.
And continuing to attend in this breath,
Let it be the support to steady being here.
It's a way to really support our presence and experience with whatever is here.
So tethering again and again,
Just feeling the moment of just breathing.
Let go.
And West- tendencies.
And as you move away from the breath feeling,
When that happens and the strength and the choicefulness you have to recognize that's what's happening and then return to this moment.
Feeling what it's like to usher the attention back to care for this moment with presence.
And sometimes difficult states,
Experiences will arise.
The mind getting caught to body sensation making itself known,
Distraction.
Again,
Those are also points in which to feel into.
How do you meet that moment?
Is there resistance in it?
Is there wanting it to be different?
Can you bring your awareness to sense,
Oh,
It's like this and let the breath steady you to meet that too?
Breathing,
Present.
And as you attend to this breath,
Allowing yourself again to remember that this breath is intimately interconnected to everything that's arising around us as well as this vitality of aliveness within us.
And so being curious to feel and sense with each breath.
As you breathe in,
The sounds,
The temperatures,
The movements of that which is around you as well as that which is metabolized and experienced and expressed in your own body.
Feeling how this breath is intimately interconnected to each moment within and around you.
The waves of sound permeate movement in the breath.
The coolness of the air invigorates as the warmth in the air settles.
Just a simple connection to the breath.
So many opportunities to just feel our presence,
Our connection.
And to allow yourself to feel and sense the supportive qualities that arise taking care in this way.
Breathing alive,
Present with.
And as we arrive here into the last few minutes of our practice,
I invite you to really allow yourself to choose,
Pointing the awareness to where it feels most steady,
Supportive,
Healing.
Maybe that's to anchor in the sense of the soundscape that's supporting you being here.
Maybe it's to continue with the breath.
Then you have the qualities of the body,
The aliveness that's around you.
Whatever it is,
Settle and orient.
Allow your awareness to just stay connected to feeling that goodness that's arising from your practice and supporting it.
And as we close,
Just a kind gratitude for your choosing to show up for yourself like this to tend and cultivate this inner landscape in this intentional and loving way.
Just allowing yourself to offer gratitude,
Appreciation.
And then also closing with gratitude for community or support to practice.
How we're meeting in this virtual connected space,
But also to the community that surrounds you right where you are now.
All of the life of people,
Sense of the tribe or community that you're a part of.
And how in this moment,
That's you too,
Supporting you to be here.
So a moment of gratitude,
Appreciation.
May the efforts of our practice be to the benefit of our well-being,
To the well-being of others.
