Finding a comfortable sitting position.
And connecting with your posture and the sensations of contact between the body and the surfaces supporting you.
Establishing a stable base.
And inviting the spine to grow tall.
Upright and alert.
Relaxed and present.
And from this mindful presence.
Opening to what's here right now.
Acknowledging our experience in mind and body.
And connecting with the breath.
Allowing it to be an anchor for our practice.
If it's helpful,
Intentionally deepening the in-breath.
Allowing the out-breath to lengthen.
Facilitating a soothing breathing rhythm to support our practice.
And allowing your mind to be bright like a mirror.
Reflecting whatever shows itself.
And knowing that we can return to the breath at any point during the practice.
If we feel lost or scattered or overwhelmed.
And remembering there is no need to force the breath to be a certain way.
Allowing is the key word here.
Allowing the breath to flow freely in and freely out.
Allowing the body to open all its pores to receive.
And let itself be filled and give away.
Every breath cycle an effortless exchange with the environment.
A welcoming and an offering.
And if you notice the energy of threat or drive,
Resisting or striving.
In allowing a mindful presence and a soothing breathing to return.
So now choosing an area of suffering in yourself that feels manageable to explore in this practice.
Something you feel the space to work with right now.
It may be a physical or an emotional pain.
And as you sit relaxed and upright,
Embodied.
Connecting with the inner space stability and resilience in yourself.
And imagining this pain in front of you.
Allowing your imagination to play with this.
Imagine this pain occupies space.
Seeing it situated in front of you.
What do you imagine it looks like?
What visual qualities does it have?
What colour?
What shape?
How does it feel when you touch it?
Does it have a texture?
What other sensory qualities do you imagine it has?
What smell?
What does it sound like?
Let yourself be surprised by what your imagination comes up with.
And now you're invited to do something that may in the beginning feel strange.
Imagining breathing in and welcoming this pain.
Allowing it to be transformed inside you in this inner space of stability.
Allowing it to transform inside you into a softening healing quality which you breathe out.
Allowing it to happen without effort.
Letting your imagination do the work.
You don't need to try hard.
Allowing for curiosity and playfulness.
So for example,
If you breathe in darkness you may breathe out brightness.
If you breathe in black smoke you may breathe out white or golden light.
Or breathing in muddiness.
Breathing out clarity.
Breathing in heaviness,
Coarseness or harshness.
Breathing out lightness,
Smoothness or softness.
Breathing in heat.
Breathing out coolness.
Breathing in stench.
Breathing out fragrance.
Breathing in dissonance.
Breathing out harmony.
Breathing in fatigue.
Breathing out vitality.
You can also inhale the dark emotional atmosphere of anxiety,
Anger or sadness.
And exhale the light emotional atmosphere of comfort,
Tranquility or joy.
Breathing in and out.
And if you lose the soothing breathing rhythm,
Noticing whatever shows itself.
You may be trying to ward off the unpleasant and notice the energy of the threat system.
Or you may be striving for results and recognise the drive system.
Acknowledging your experience kindly and allow the calming breath to return.
Before you move on with the imagery practice.
If you notice a lot of resistance you can either choose something less painful or practice with the resistance itself.
You might experiment with visualising the resistance in front of you.
Imagining its qualities which you breathe in.
Changing into softening qualities which you breathe out.
Breathing in and out.
Breathing out and out.
You can expand the compassionate breathing by adding mindful movements.
Stretching out your arms and hands towards the pain in front of you.
And with every in breath you move your hands in a receiving gesture towards your heart.
With every out breath you extend your arms and hands in a giving gesture.
So you connect these movements with every breath cycle while you imagine breathing in what hurts.
Breathing out what heals.
Adding the movements into the practice as you wish.
And now kindly exploring the effects of this practice.
Whether pleasant or unpleasant.
How does it affect you?
What is your experience in mind and body?
Remembering that there are no wrong experiences.
And we can kindly adapt the practice to our needs.
So now letting go of imagining the pain in front of you.
Letting go of breathing in the difficult.
Breathing out what heals.
And simply coming back to the body.
To the contact of the body against the chair or the floor.
To the stable base of support.
Strong back,
Soft front.
And coming back to the breath.
Noticing where we feel the breath movements in the body.
And opening our senses.
Becoming aware of the sounds inside the room and outside the room.
Opening to smells and tastes.
And in your own time,
Opening the eyes,
Raising the gaze.
Fully present as we are just now.
Chop your fingers.
