For those of you who are able to rest a little from your usual responsibilities in this time period, we would ask that you take a few moments each day to be fully present in your bodies.

One place you might do this is in the shower, or bath.  Rather than let your mind run while showering and bathing, take a few moments to be fully present in the pleasurable experience.  Feel the warmth of the water, and how pleasant it feels for your physical body to be bathed and cleansed.  

Connect with your feet, your legs, your hips and backside, your sex, your belly, your chest, your breast, your armpits, your shoulders, your arms, your hands, your neck, face, head, and the hair on your head.  

Touch and feel every part of yourself, even if only for a second.  Luxuriate in the feeling of the warm water, and being in your skin.  Be in your body.  Feel its shape.  If thoughts arise — particularly thoughts of guilt or discomfort — return to the pure sensation of the warm water against your skin.

Even if you can remain conscious for only a few moments as you bathe, this can do great good.  

If there are parts of your body that experience physical pain and discomfort while bathing, we would ask that you especially hold your attention in these areas.  Rather than rushing or hurrying through the pain, we would ask that you gently hold your awareness in that area.  All that is needed are a few extra moments of attention.  Feel the warmth of the water.  Feel the goodness of your body.

We are not talking about the shape of it, the weight, the age, the difficulties you may experience.  What we are talking about is the essential goodness of your body.  Your body is good.

If you have ever shared a special connection to a beloved animal, we would ask you to bring this to mind.  That feeling of goodness you associate with a favorite pet — that warmth you feel — we invite you to perceive your physical body in the same way.  

Your physical body is an animal.  It possesses its own consciousness.  It is devoted to you in the same way that a beloved pet is.

Your pets are good.  Even when they act out, or get in trouble, or get sick, or old — your pets are good.  Can you feel that?  Your body is good in the same way.

So in this time of rest, we invite you to bathe, and love your body fully as you as you bathe.  Your body is good.