So whether you're sitting or lying down,
The invitation is to just spend a little bit of time dropping awareness down into the points of contact with the ground,
Through the cushions,
The chair,
The floor,
The bed,
Dwelling there,
Feeling the contact,
The support of the earth,
Allowing yourself to feel held here.
And through those points of contact,
Opening to the qualities that the earth offers us,
Stillness,
Stability,
Safety,
Presence,
Non-judgmental receiving of what's here.
And in the spirit of the radical embrace,
We can allow ourselves to take this quality,
Particularly of non-judgmental receiving,
Being with,
Allowing into ourselves.
You can imagine you're drawing that quality of the ground up into the body with each in-breath,
And allowing it to spread throughout the body with each out-breath,
Making space for whatever's here.
And then just bringing a little bit of attention to the posture.
So whatever posture you're in,
Just sensing into the integrity of being in this shape right now.
And beginning to sense into the space that you occupy.
Feeling the body held in space,
Stretching in all directions infinitely.
And when you're ready,
Just starting to gather the awareness around the breath,
This constant flow of air coming and going in the body.
Ever-present,
Yet always changing.
A bit like the sense of self.
There's something here.
And it's changing all the time.
So let's just spend a bit of time getting curious about the qualities of the breath.
Firstly,
Just noticing the location where it can be felt as it comes and goes.
Aware of any change in temperature.
Maybe it's a bit cooler on the in-breath and a bit warmer on the out-breath.
Noticing the relative depth and breadth.
So how deeply and widely sensations of breathing can be felt in the body,
Maybe even beyond the perceived edges of the body.
Finally,
We can get curious about the texture of the breath,
How it feels as it comes and goes.
Silky,
Smooth,
Jaggedy,
Coarse.
Changing.
Sensitive to the whole body.
Breathing in and out.
Sensitive to the whole body.
So here we're allowing the breath to support a deepening of awareness into changing sensations in the body.
And particularly anything that feels like the beginnings of settling,
Quietening,
Ease,
Release,
Softening.
A bit to these sensations of calm,
Peace,
Ease.
There's an invitation here to begin to get curious about and look out for sensations that have the taste of freedom.
Could be as gentle as very subtle tingling on the surface of the skin,
On the back of the hands.
Or dropping down and a feeling of groundedness.
More presence,
Connection with the ground.
Softening in the belly.
Loosening of tightness in the jaw.
Sense of expansion in the heart center.
Colors dancing in the visual field.
Maybe there's a bubbling up of energy somewhere.
So anything like that,
The invitation is to notice it.
And then very gently start to turn towards and dwell there.
Really allowing the fullness of these sensations to come into fruition.
And also allowing yourself to fully have that experience.
Maybe even enjoy it.
For as long as it lasts.
So I'll stop talking for a little while and let you just explore on your own.
These sensations that have the taste of freedom.
Maybe that as you begin to open to these sensations,
You become aware of a part of yourself that wants them to stay.
Craves the pleasure there.
Maybe even is a bit prone to getting intoxicated.
There's a fear that if we open to this and it goes,
We'll be disappointed.
Or maybe you aren't able to get in touch with any sensations like what I'm describing and you feel like you can't do it or you're not sure if it's possible for you to So if there's anything like that going on or anything else,
Then the invitation is to bring in some self-compassion.
Appreciating all these different parts and what they're trying to do for you.
And then just let yourself be.
And also just appreciating the awareness with which you're able to see that that's there.
Whatever the habit is.
And then the invitation is just to simply come back,
Come back to anything that supports presence.
And then just let yourself be.
And then the invitation is just to simply come back,
Come back to anything that supports presence right now.
Could be the ground,
Could be space,
Could be the breath.
Seeing these parts and allowing them to be here is the practice.
It's not a distraction.
It's actually what we're interested in.
And also getting curious about what happens when we don't get hooked into these parts.
And we stop believing the stories they're telling us.
Maybe they're free to self-liberate.
Like clouds dissolving in a clear blue warm sky.
You have been able to open to sensations that have the taste of freedom.
And the invitation now is to just notice if there's any sense of a deeper joy or wholeness or sense of simply being okay just now.
And then just let yourself be.
Steadiness of mind and a stillness of body that we can attend to and allow to familiarize ourselves with.
Be just the very beginning sparklings of sense of our fundamental nature as totally okay.
Even with whatever else is happening.
See what it's like to trust that okayness just a little bit more.
See if there's any relief that this brings.
And then just let yourself be.
See what it's like to trust that okayness just a little bit more.
Take it to any relief that this brings.
Deeper ease,
Deeper peace,
Contentment.
So in a moment I will ring the bell to mark the end of this practice.
And the invitation is to move,
Stretch,
Yawn,
Rub,
Caress,
Scratch,
Twist,
Turn,
Rotate,
Anything that needs or wants attention just now as we emerge from the practice,
Taking care of ourselves in the transition.
