This is for you…
If you are feeling a little disconnected inside this is a great practice to bring your mind and body back into the same space, which at the same time develops the wonderful healing sensation of gratitude.
Let’s start with a poem by Hafiz to gently remind you that you too are part of nature, not separate from it…slow down your reading, take a moment to visualise the words as you read them, see if you can bring yourself to feel the words as you read them.
“You don’t have to act crazy anymore,
We all know you are good at that.
Now retire, my dear, from all that hard work you do
of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.
Look in a clear mountain mirror, see the beautiful ancient warrior
and the divine elements you always carry inside
That infused this universe with sacred life so long ago
And joined you eternally with all existence.”
I often forget I am a human being enthused with sacred life.
I forget to look upon myself as a thing of beauty.
To take time away from my doing and grasping to simply sit and look at the divine elements I always carry inside.
I am learning though, just as you are, to return.
To stop reaching away.
To stop grabbing and rushing to some future me and moment.
I am learning, just as you are, to lean into the beauty of my being.
In conscious ways I am awakening myself to the magnificence and simplicity of who I am, of who we all are.
So, get comfortable, place your feet squarely on the floor, rest your arms and hands in your lap, relax your shoulders and take three or four deep belly breaths.
Notice the rise and fall of your chest, and the sound of your breath.
And as you relax your shoulders with each further outbreath create a softness around your heart. And slow your reading down again. See if you can visualise and feel the words.
And just rest as you are.
Breath.
Find relief at not having to do anything in this moment.
Set down beside you your individual world and worries.
You need nothing other than this body that carries you.
Come to meet your breath
Come to meet your heartbeat
Come to meet your natural rhythm and harmony
Breath here for a moment in gratitude of being able to see these words.
Give thanks, yes inwardly say thank you, for the sacred and natural element of seeing.
To be blessed with the ability to watch the world unfold in front of you.
Of seeing a smile erupt on the face of someone you love.
The gentle movement of the clouds across the sky.
The shadows that move across the ground.
These seeing eyes are for you my dear friend.
I give thanks for the gift of seeing.
Breath here for a moment in gratitude.
Breath here for a moment in gratitude of being able to hear sounds with your ears.
Give thanks for the sacred and natural element of hearing.
To be blessed with the ability to hear the world unfold around you.
The rush of a distant car, birdsong, the sigh of a sleeping dog, and the silence in between.
These hearing ears are for you my dear friend.
Yes for you.
I give thanks for the gift of sound.
Breath here for a moment in gratitude
Placing your hands gently over your throat we are going to give thanks for the sacred element of speaking.
I thank you for this gift of speech, for the gift of words, for the gift of being able to express love through sound and through song.
Breath here for a moment in gratitude
This gift is all yours my friend.
Now placing your hands over your heart, we are going to give thanks for the sacred element of our feelings. For the gift of tenderness, of heartache, of palpable joy, I thank you for all that squeezes and pushes against this loving heart of mine.
Breath here for a moment in gratitude. Feeling with your hands the warmth of your body. The tingling sensations in your fingers.
Can you see dear friend that you are enthused with sacred life?
This life is for you.
A flock of Sparrows lands on a tree overheard shaking seed and leaf from the bowing branches of the sycamore tree. Erupting a shower of sparkling light and chorus of bird song.
This is for you.
Are you awake to the gifts of other life, singing alongside you?
Your child runs in the room, talking in circles of one day how they will grow to reach as high as the sky. Their eyes so wide, open to a horizon of possibility inside them that they will love to follow. Their eyes so wide.
This is for you.
Are you awake to the joy and sound of a life still enthused in wonder and in awe?
The sun lowers in the sky, reaching out into the walls of your room, painting streaks of gold across each surface. A moving piece of art dances out in front of you. This is for you.
Are you awake to the light and life being offered to you?
Your partner comes home and wraps arms and heart around the swirling orbit that is you.
This is for you.
Are you awake to the warmth and love opening around your shoulders just for you.
The evening comes and with the dark a small loneliness opens inside of you, this too is for you dear one.
Are you awake to the company of your own being, do you offer yourself love when you need it most?
This life is for you.
This life is for you dear friend.
May I ask you, are you listening? May I ask you, are you feeling the gifts for the divine elements that you carry inside of you, always?
Now take a deep breath and listen to your sigh again.
Come again now to feel your body resting on the earth.
Come to waken, in some movement, in some stretching.
Body and mind back together again.
And seeing all your life with new eyes now.
Grateful for all the sacred elements of your being.
I thank you for taking the time to do this practice.
I am so grateful to journey alongside you my friend.
—
Andrew.