Begin by finding a quiet space. Sit or lie down comfortably. Let your eyes gently close. Take a slow breath in through your nose, and exhale softly through your mouth. Let your body begin to settle, like a feather drifting to the earth. Again, breathe in… and breathe out.

Feel the ground beneath you — not just as surface, but as presence. Let it hold you like an ancient friend. Beneath you lies a living, breathing earth that has witnessed storms and stars, oceans and fire. You are resting upon something wise.

Now gently bring your awareness to your body. Let your attention drift from the crown of your head down to your toes. Where is there tension, tightness, or holding? Perhaps it’s your jaw, your shoulders, your chest, your belly, your hands. No need to change anything. Just notice. You are witnessing the body’s deep intelligence — its instinct to protect.

Imagine now that this tension has a shape. What does it look like? Is it jagged, dense, heavy? Is it dark, or glowing, or muted? This is the geometry of resistance — a sacred architecture created by your nervous system. It is not wrong. It is a part of your story. It once helped you survive.

Silently, gently say to this shape: “Thank you for protecting me. You may rest now.” Take a soft breath into that area. And as you exhale, imagine the edges beginning to dissolve. They don’t vanish; they simply soften, like mist in the morning light.

Now bring your attention to your heart. Imagine a warm light glowing there — gentle and circular. It may be golden, rose-colored, or whatever tone your soul instinctively trusts. This is the geometry of surrender. Not collapse, but opening. Not giving up, but letting go.

With each breath, let this light grow. It expands from your heart into your chest, your shoulders, your arms. It flows down through your legs, up into your face and crown. Soon, it begins to radiate out beyond your body — a sphere of soft light that gently surrounds you. You are luminous.

Repeat silently to yourself: “I am safe to soften. I am safe to receive. I am safe to trust.” Let these words become like ripples in a still lake, moving outward from your heart into the silence.

Now lift your awareness beyond your body. Rise gently above the space you’re in — above your room, your home, your city. Let your consciousness ascend above the earth, floating lightly in the star-filled stillness of space. See the earth below — spinning, glowing, alive. You are part of this wonder. You are not separate. You never were.

Feel your heart shining in harmony with this vastness. This is not imagination; this is remembrance. You are the meeting point of spirit and form — a sacred expression of the infinite.

If any resistance returns, that’s okay. See its shape. Breathe into it. Soften its edges. Meet it with kindness, just as you did before. You are not here to fix anything. You are here to listen, to open, to return.

Now take one more deep breath. Inhale clarity. Exhale softness. Inhale light. Exhale trust.

Begin to return. Gently descend back to your body, like a soul returning to its temple. Feel the ground beneath you again — quiet, strong, awake. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Bring movement back with reverence.

When you’re ready, open your eyes slowly. Look around. Let the world come into focus.

And carry this spaciousness with you — into the next breath, into the next moment, into the sacred rhythm of your life.

Nigel Lott …teaandzen.org

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Let the body be still. Let the breath soften. And for a moment… do nothing at all. Let the silence rise up from beneath you.

Let it settle around your shoulders, like a robe made of dusk. Feel your heart. Not with your hand — but with your awareness.

With your presence. As if listening to something ancient and holy within the cave of your chest. Let this truth return: I do not beat this heart.

It beats within me — as if from somewhere else. Somewhere closer than breath. It began long before I had a name.

Before story. Before time. Before I forgot.

It moves without asking. It moves without question. A quiet rhythm, calling me from the unseen into this moment. And back again. Not a machine. Not a task. But a signal. A remembering. A vow kept by something that has never once left.

Listen… Each beat is a whisper: I am here. You are here. We are not separate.

Even now, as you sit in stillness, the heart continues. Not because you command it, but because you are still being loved into existence.

When the last beat comes, you will not be lost. You will be returned — to the One who’s been with you all along.

And until then…let the heart be enough. Let the breath be enough. Let this silence be enough. Rest here, as long as you need. The Presence will keep beating within you.

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

This is a work of the soul — an offering of presence through Tea & Zen, tending the unseen spaces of love and awakening. Your support allows these streams of silence and grace to continue flowing into the world.