The Body: May 21 - 27

As the body holds the breath, so the earth holds the body. Breath, body, and earth are three realms where I dwell. It is essentially a matter of awareness. The breath brings my focus inward. The body brings my focus to the immediate. The earth brings my focus outward. I live in the breathe. I live in the body. I live on the earth. Each connects me to the other and each can be a doorway to the present moment.

Too often I take my body for granted or criticize my body for not being strong enough or thin enough. In truth, it is always my home, my guardian, and my teacher. It is through the body that I discover and integrate the scattered parts of myself. If I want to really know who I am, I need look no further than to my body. It can tell me everything I need to know today and every day.

Practice

Let’s begin by taking three deliberate breaths to settle into here and now. Sense your seat supporting you, the ground under your feet as gravity holds you. Maybe place your hand on your belly as it rises and falls with the breath.

Can you sit and know that you are sitting? Can you sense your hands and feet, not by thinking about them, but by experiencing them from within? Be with the body. You might wish to do a body scan. You might offer gratitude for the feet that carry you, the heart that pumps blood, the lungs that breathe, the brain that thinks. Be with the body in whatever way you like. Listen deeply. What is the body saying?