Brother Richard

Breathing out I breathe out love.

Breathing in peace.

choosing love, breathing in peace, choosing gratitude.

And if I'm still struggling with willed intent of love towards my body, I can take a moment or two to list the good things, powers or actions of the body.

I can think of my ability to move, my ability to rest and sleep, my ability to eat and drink and to draw nourishment from the same, my ability to show love and affection to others through my body, my ability to care for myself and to care for others through my body.

my ability to express joy, sadness, and so many other emotions through my bodily existence, recognizing all of the many powers of the body, all of the many abilities with which the body is filled, regardless of whose body it is,

recognizing that I can come home to my body, to this body, home to the breath that has sustained me from the first moment of my stepping into this world until the last moment of leaving this world again.

And gently, inwardly, if you wish, you can say to your body, I have a body,

I am more than my body, but my body is an essential part of who I am.

And I will try and be more thankful for the gift of my body.

And I will live with a willed intent of love towards my body.

Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.

Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out.

Breathing in, I receive my breath as sacred gift.

Breathing out, I breathe into my body the sacred gift of my breath.

Gently then we begin to draw our awareness back to the room around us.

We can give a little movement in our seat, shifting our weight perhaps from one side to the other, moving fingers, thumbs, toes, taking a moment to just dwell in gratitude for this time of meditation.

taking the intention of loving the body with deep awareness and compassion into the future, and then allowing the sound of the bell to draw us back to the activity of the day.

Welcome back.

In our meditation today, we're going to revisit the inner sanctuary, the place of perfect peace, stability, and awareness that is present at the very heart of our being.