I-Thought And The Space In Between

Get comfortable.

You might want to find a bolster to go under your knees if you like to take the pressure off your lower back.

Maybe a blanket by your side if you feel like your body will cool.

Maybe something to go over your eyes just for an extra layer of darkness.

An eye pillow or a handkerchief or a sleeve if that feels right.

And just beginning to settle.

Kind of letting go,

Giving yourself permission to let go of the day you've just come from,

Just for this time.

Adjusting your arms and your legs.

Maybe shaking things out,

Just moving a touch here,

A touch there,

Getting really cozy in your body.

Feeling really comfortable,

Recognizing that you can always move to readjust during the practice.

Becoming aware of the room around you and of your senses.

Opening up to notice the air on your skin,

On your face and your arms.

Noticing any sounds in the room.

Any gurgles in the tummy.

All of it just perfect as it is.

Our bodies here with us as they are.

And let's invite in our mantra for the practice.

Just let it wash over you as I say it a few times.

I am always without I.

And taking a moment to acknowledge why you're with us here.

An intention for today's practice.

And as it comes to your mind,

Phrase it in the present.

I am here listening to my body.

Or maybe I'm present.

And give yourself a moment of gratitude for showing up and being with us here.

For continuing the practice of building your inner resilience for whatever life brings you.

And maybe consider for a moment that intention,

That thing that's so important to you,

Not just for this moment,

But what's important to you in your entire life.

What are you living for?

What makes your heart sing in this moment and beyond?

And welcoming in now the sensation of utter security,

That feeling of safety,

Of coziness.

Maybe there's an image that comes along with it,

That inner oasis.

A place or a loved one,

An animal,

Whatever that scene is.

Let it flow through your body so that you feel there in that moment.

Acknowledging that that oasis is there.

It's your safe place.

You can always come back to anytime during the practice or beyond.

Continuing with that sensation,

Let's deepen it through some body sensing.

Starting with the jaw.

Bringing attention to your jaw.

That spotlight in the mouth,

Left and right cheek.

Feeling the jaw outside the mouth,

Relaxing down through the neck,

Just releasing.

Giving your body permission to feel what it's feeling right now with attention on the shoulders.

Let that spotlight just shift briefly to the palms,

To the hips,

And to the feet.

Bringing presence through the body as we turn attention to the toes and the full foot,

Both sides together.

Noticing the ankles and the calves.

A spotlight on the thighs.

Holding in attention both legs,

The entire leg,

Right and left.

Tuning in to that hum or sparkle.

Running up and down the legs.

If it's helpful,

Turning to one,

Maybe the right.

Sensing from the hip down to the toes.

Shifting to the left from the toes to the hip.

And acknowledging both legs simultaneously.

And noticing the hips together and the space in between the groin and the buttocks.

The lower back.

The middle back,

That spotlight.

And the upper back.

Maybe inviting your breath to deepen just a touch to begin to flow down the back,

Down the legs.

And back up again with the exhale.

Gentle breath in its natural rhythm accompanying the spotlight,

That flow of energy lighting up the attention to the upper chest.

And the abdomen.

Sensing the front of the body along with the back.

And inside the torso.

The breath just washing through.

And the tops of the shoulders together,

Right and left.

Noticing that aliveness in the upper arms,

The biceps,

Triceps.

Through the elbows to the forearms.

That gentle wash of breath accompanying.

To the palms and the fingers.

Maybe acknowledging one arm,

Let's say the left,

From the fingers up through the arm to the shoulder.

That radiant energy following breath.

Maybe the right arm,

Shoulder to fingers,

That radiance following breath.

Holding both arms together.

That sensation coursing throughout the body inside from toes through hips and arms,

Neck to the top of your head.

That radiance glowing following breath.

I am always without I.

I'm always without I.

Sensation on the skin,

The boundaries of the body.

That radiance flowing across the front of the body and the back of the body.

That sparkle coursing across the skin.

Glowing,

Maybe glowing beyond the boundaries of the body,

Sensing that spaciousness around the body.

Following sensation out.

How far can you sense that spaciousness?

Noticing the mind if it beckons,

If it volunteers to envision that spaciousness and coming back to the sensation.

How far can you feel?

The sensation within the body,

Blending with the sensation outside the body.

Merging into fluid spaciousness.

I am always without I.

I am always without I.

Sensing that breath flowing in and out.

And following,

Allowing the breath,

That natural rhythm.

I invite you on the inhale to welcome in a mantra.

I am your name.

For me,

I'll say I am Jenny.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I am Jenny.

Inhale.

I am Jenny.

Exhale.

I am Jenny.

And then on the inhale,

We'll drop our names.

So we'll just say,

I am.

On the inhale,

I am.

On the exhale.

And then we'll do that a few times and come to I on the inhale and I on the exhale.

And then we'll let that go.

So let's start from the beginning.

Join me with your full name,

I am Jenny.

Let's do this for a few rounds and then I'll cue you for the next.

Just simply repeating that phrase.

I am Jenny.

In and on the exhale.

So that it becomes a natural rhythm,

Part of the breath.

And now might you drop your name so that on the inhale,

I am.

Same on the exhale.

Just a gentle tumble over the phrase as you inhale and exhale.

Now might you drop the am so it's just I as you breathe in and out.

Now drop the I and just be with the silence as you breathe in and out.

Sitting with that stillness,

That space.

The after.

The in between.

Let's repeat that once more.

That entire phrase with your name in it.

Let's take a few rounds on the inhale and exhale.

I am Jenny.

Replacing Jenny with your name,

Of course.

A few rounds.

Now let go of your name.

I am.

And letting go of am and staying with I on the inhale and the exhale.

Continuing to sense the body.

Can you feel that spaciousness,

That energy inside the body and out while repeating I with the breath?

And letting go of I.

To be with what's left.

The silence beneath the activity.

Sensing the spaciousness,

That hum,

That sparkle.

Maybe observing as the attention settles and then the mind wavers and tries to kick back in just observing that space.

That space that even as the mind tries to claim that space,

What is beneath the mind?

Sensation in the body.

Just basking in that rich silence.

I am always without I.

I am always without I.

Radiance.

That beauty of the stillness.

The mind doing what it's doing.

All the while the stillness.

Noticing that natural rhythm of the breath.

Flowing through the body.

From the top of the head through down to the toes.

Coming back to that intention for your practice.

Has anything changed?

Anything worth noting?

Giving yourself a moment of deep,

Deep gratitude.

Gratitude filling the space inside the body.

And outside the body.

Radiating around you.

Supporting you.

Supporting your practice.

Beginning to deepen the breath.

Inviting maybe a rise in the chest.

Noticing the fall with the exhale.

Beginning again to feel the air on your skin.

To sense with your ears the sounds around you.

Beginning to reintegrate to the waking state from this deep space of stillness we've been simmering in.

Maybe gently taking your time but blinking your eyes,

Opening them and closing them a few times.

And while your body is opening up again to this waking state,

Just continue to see if you can sense that stillness.

That spaciousness.

Can you connect to that somatic experience while watching the mind wake up?

And today we're going to close our practice without speaking so you can have all the time in the world to come out and to let that silence resonate between us.

So take your own time to come out today.

Maybe moving your fingers and toes when it feels right.

Maybe tipping yourself to your side,

Letting your body readjust to its boundaries.

And as you come back and go about your evening once you come out of your practice,

Just continue to touch in periodically to this space of stillness.

To cultivate every now and again to weave together those moments however brief they are of noticing the silence and the in between,

The after.

Maybe taking a moment to reflect,

I am always without I.

Thank you.