Sit with your feet flat on the ground

and your back straight, yet relaxed...

Take a minute to stretch so that you feel as comfortable as possible in your body... Now allow your eyes to close.

 

Take a big letting-go breath, and then switch into belly breathing, feeling or imagining your belly expanding as you breath in, and relaxing as you breath out...

Continue until you feel relaxed and present in your body... This is one of the many ways to breathe. Now we will learn another way called the breath of bridging earth and heaven. We will imagine breathing energy from the sky and the earth simultaneoulsy into the heart.

 

Let's start with breathing in the sky energy. Feel or imagine the energy of the sun above you - it doesn't matter whether it happens to be day or night when you do this...

As you inhale, draw this energy in through the top of your head and into your heart. Breathe out a sence of spaciousness as if your breath could move out the edges of the universe...

Try this for several breaths...

 

Now we will breath in the energy of the earth. Feel or imagine the earth energy beneath your feet... As you inhale, draw this energy in through your feet and up into your heart.

Breathe out a sence of spaciousness as if your breath could move out to the edges of the universe...

 

Now we'll try the full breath of bridging earth and heaven. As you inhale, draw the sky energy down at the same time that you draw the energy up...

Let them meet and mingle in your heart. Breath out a sence of spacious awareness into the universe. Try this for a minute or two until you begin to get comfortable with it...

 

Now open your eyes and look out at nature. See the earth and the sky as you continue to do the brathing exercise. This brings you into the present moment and blesses the universe with your peaceful presence.

 

Take a moment to stretch so that you feel as fully present in your body as possible... Now, allow your eyes to close and take a big letting-go breath... Shift your breathing either to the belly or to the breath of bridging earth and heaven...

 

Now, allow yourself to become aware of your body. There are probably some very comfortable areas, while other places may feel tense or painful...

Choose a tense or painful area, and imagine that you can breathe directly into that spot... Let the breathe come and go from that place while you notice everything you can about the sensations there...Be like a detective, noticing every nuance of feeling, of energy flow... You can do this without mental commentary or judgement.

 

Try letting the sensations just be rather than labeling them as good or bad... Just be present to what is... Continue this exercise for a minute or two until you feel ready to come back and open your eyes.