Hi everybody and welcome to this guided exploration that is all about deepening our relationship with and sense of presence in whatever space we happen to find ourselves in in this moment.
And we'll start out with our eyes open.
Just take a few moments to look around whatever space you're in and take an inventory of it.
What objects are there?
What's the texture of the walls?
What's the temperature?
The floor like?
Just taking an inventory to build a model in your mind of this space that you're in.
Maybe even noticing details that you've never had a chance to notice before.
Maybe a crack at the paint or the specific angle of a leaf on a plant.
And when you're ready go ahead and find a way of sitting that feels comfortable to you with your weight as evenly distributed as possible.
And you can close your eyes if that's comfortable for you.
If not,
Soft focusing down at the floor works well as well.
And we'll begin our exploration just by bringing some really gentle simple attention to the breath.
Being very aware as you inhale that this is you inhaling.
And very aware as you exhale that this is you exhaling in this moment.
And you can play with elongating the breath,
Letting the breath take up more space on the inhale,
More time inflating the body.
And then really allowing yourself to luxuriate in the exhale and the release that comes along with it.
And you can even play with allowing your body to expand on the inhale as much as possible,
Seeing how much space you can take up in the room you're in.
And let's take a nice long breath together breathing in.
And releasing with a sigh.
And with that sigh,
You can come a little bit more in and out of your body.
And with that sigh,
You can come a little bit more into your body really allowing your weight to settle against whatever surface you're on.
And settle down through that so you can start to feel the presence of the earth beneath you.
Recognizing that the more of your weight you surrender to gravity and surrender to the earth,
And the more support can be sent up to you.
And as you allow your weight to continue to settle,
Be allowing your body to continue to settle,
Be allowing your hips to soften,
Your shoulders to soften.
And bringing awareness of the breath and energy moving through the body.
If you want to,
You can imagine each breath as a river of energy coming in through the nose or mouth,
Hitting the back of your throat going down into the lungs,
And pumping through each of the 700 million million million cells in your body.
And notice anything that comes into your awareness about this energy and about the breath,
You may feel it as a warmth in the body or a color.
Playing with consciously sending it to the arms and down into the legs.
And as you breathe you can,
For the moment,
Just focus your attention on the body and the boundaries of your body,
Feeling the air against your skin.
Feeling those places where your body connects with the chair or whatever you're sitting on.
And now really gently begin to expand your awareness to the space you're in.
Maybe starting with just the circle two or three feet around you.
What is in that two to three foot space?
And when you're ready you can expand a little bit further,
Maybe five to six feet around you.
Building out your awareness and your map of this space.
And as you expand your awareness,
What new elements enter into your field?
Maybe different objects,
Different details,
Or even different beings if you have plants or other animals in the space with you.
And as you expand your awareness,
What new elements enter into your field?
If you have plants or other animals in the space with you.
And if you haven't already,
You can expand your awareness to encompass the entire room,
Including yourself within it.
And as we build out this model,
Explore first regarding this room from your point of view.
Wherever you are in the room imagining gazing around it.
Taking in from this perspective what's in front of you.
What may be to your right.
Behind you.
On your left.
Above your body.
And below your body.
And now we can explore shifting the perspective to a bird's eye view looking down through the ceiling at this space.
And seeing yourself within it.
In relationship to all of the other elements there.
What is it like to see yourself from this perspective as you sit breathing,
Energy moving through your body in this space.
And as you view the room and yourself in it from this perspective,
See if there's another object.
A plant,
A book,
A stone,
A piece of art.
That pulls at your attention.
And when something feels interesting you can just gently bring your awareness into that object or being and explore regarding the room and your own body from that perspective.
How does this object or being perceive you?
And what do you notice about inhabiting the awareness or consciousness of this different perspective?
See if you can fully inhabit this other object or being imagining your physical form shifting to be held within its container.
So if you've adopted the perspective of a plant,
Allowing yourself to fold into its roots,
To experience each of its leaves,
What is it to breathe as this object or being?
What is it to experience this room or space as this object or being?
And when you're ready,
Sending gratitude to whatever perspective you've been exploring,
You can gently shift back to that bird's eye view looking down at the space.
Noticing anything that may have shifted or any new details that are making themselves known to you.
And then bring your awareness back into your body.
Noticing how if at all your experience of this space has shifted.
And you can gently bring your awareness back to the breath.
Just being aware as you inhale that this is you inhaling and aware as you exhale that this is you exhaling.
And then,
Being aware as you inhale that this is you inhaling and aware as you exhale that this is you exhaling.
And when you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes and allow them to fall on whatever object or being you inhabited during that exploration.
And take a moment to truly connect with this part of your space that you share breath with.
And as you look at this object or being,
What is it to also allow yourself to be witnessed by it in return?
And maybe take a nice long breath in relationship with this object or being.
And you may want to take a moment to write down any insights or observations that came to you.
If you want to shake out your fingers,
Maybe roll your shoulders a little bit,
You can return to this exploration as many times as you'd like and in as many different spaces and notice how it may help shift or deepen your relationship with these places.
Thank you so much for joining me on this exploration and I hope to see you again soon.
