So, welcome to our next segment. And the next segment of this course is called body as temple, really learning to recognize and feel yourself this body these bodies that we travel around in as a temple. So how is the body a temple? Well, we we are responsible for it. We care for it, we feed it, we bathe it, we give it enough sleep. Hopefully, I was reading recently that sleep is the number one thing that you can do.

So to to really Maintain your body maintain yourself. So these bodies, so I'm just going to invite you to just give your body a little squeeze this body as temple. You know the body is temple and there are so many practices from yoga to Tai Chi to chew gum to very intricate practices that you can do to cultivate awareness to cultivate self love inside of your body. So just beginning with a little bit of touch, so let's just actually kind of wake up or meridians just with your hands, just tapping your head and you can soften your jaw. Maybe coming down the face and just do it lightly. actually do it in a way that feels good to you.

Unreleased the job and come down And tapping Chazz coming down the belly. This is a Taoist practice of really tapping on your belly. And then coming down, make a soft fist floppy wrist and just tap down your arm and the outside of your arm and then coming up inside your arm, over the shoulder and coming down, other arm. And this is something that you can do regularly and if you're ever tired, you're feeling a little sluggish. is an excellent thing to do. This tapping your back, then just go down, go down one leg, go down the other leg.

You can do this sitting or standing coming around the back and then just get a little blush Unless you do just sense Oh, my body is a temple body temple might even say that internally. Let's say that internally. So just breathing. Just feel now that you've tapped and woken your body up a little bit, you might feel some tingling, might feel some energy moving, may feel some warmth. Just trust whatever you're feeling. And know that in this practice of body as temple, we really are bringing our mindful attention to the physical body, to the physical body.

So, maybe just again, settling in, you can do this sitting, standing, or laying down whatever feels right for you. And I just want to underline That anything I'm offering, please modify it so that it is aligned and it suits you. That is the most important thing. Listen to your body, listen to your body. And in order to listen to your body, you really need to develop a relationship with him. Kind of get it to come online, get it to wake up.

So we're just gonna pay attention to the body. Right now the body is temple. You know, it's like in different traditions, say in a Buddhist tradition, Tibetan Buddhist tradition, they light butter lamps, and, and incense and we light candles and offer flower petals, in churches or temples. We sing songs in mosques, these are temples and what I really want to note is that these bodies are temples we had to live in them. for who knows how long we really don't know. And if you're listening to this right now, somehow you've been drawn to cultivate a new relationship with your body.

And the relationship with the body is complex, very complex, because we have often ideas, life should look a certain way it should function a certain way. And sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. So, regardless of where your body's at, can you invite this relationship of, of sacred, of sacred loving, of caring, of caring for yourself of caring for this physical body? That is a home for your lifeforce, for your energy for your for a lightness, for consciousness, call it what you will And I also just want to say that if I'm using any words like consciousness or spirit or God, please pick the one that you can relate to. Please insert another word from your tradition, I really want you to be able to receive, receive this teaching receive this transmission. So if you find yourself getting a little hooked on a word, see if you can unhook and just come back to this body is the temple, my body's temple.

Because really, the primary relationship that we have is with ourselves. And when I say self, I'm talking about larger consciousness of self capital S. And within that, we have these physical bodies and these physical bodies can be tremendous hours for us to be able to navigate the ups and downs and all the practicalities of life and all the wonderfulness of life. If you're really in your body, you will get more out of your life. And the way our modern very fast crowd is structured is such that many of us spend a lot of time in our heads a lot of time in our heads. So how can you come down out of your head and into your body? What I'm most suggest in this practice is just to really, once again, close your eyes because with closed eyes, you can get all of your attention to yourself.

And this is for you. You're doing this for you. And then for everyone that you You're in contact with because it will make a difference and how you relate. So just closing your eyes and maybe just noticing, just feel place a hand somewhere on your body, maybe on your belly, maybe on heart and just feel, feel the temperature of your hand. Close my eyes as well. Just feel the temperature of your hand, resting your body and know that as you last hand on your body, you are making contact with this temple called the body that houses spirit and houses universal love that is a vessel or a vehicle for universal love to move about through the world.

So just feel yourself making this connection and I'm going real slowly on purpose, so you can really feel oh I'm in contact with myself and again, feeling how you're held from underneath. You keep reiterating that you're being held by the earth you're being held by gravity. Just feeling this form for coolness. Okay, overhand touching the body You can just gently put your hand relax, your hands relax, and just notice. Notice what it feels like to be in the spy. Right now, the hand having moved and resting somewhere else.

Just know that when you touch your foot, you rest your hands somewhere in your body. You're touching sacred ground, really sacred ground. And in fact, when you touch another person, whether you shake their hand or put an arm around them or give them a full hug your meeting Heart to Heart, you're meeting body to body and you're meeting, temple to temple. temple to temple, you're meeting. And how wonderful is that? To me in this way, first meeting yourself in this way and then meeting others in this way.

So beginning with body as temple is a foundation for relating for really healthy relationships. So that when you touch someone, even in casual touch, or an intimate touch of putting your hand on someone's cheek, that it's done with this reference that it's done with the care. So cultivating self love. By mindful touch mindful touch with your own body and then offering the same to others. So, that is second practice is your body as temple just by resting hand. Now, it seems very, very simple and it is and it takes practice.

So, again as with each of these practices, they require engagement. So, supporting you to engage this practice daily or on regular basis, you can create your own structure for what works for you. So, that is the end of Segment Number two, which is practice number two, which is bias temple