Hello,
This is Beth.
Welcome to a practice that assumes you have some experience with meditation.
Enough to know how to drop into the body and quiet the mind without all the usual entry guidance that can become quite stale and actually take us away from something deeper.
So make yourself comfortable.
Take a minute to do what you do to settle into this moment,
And I'll continue shortly.
There are so many formal ways to meditate and many approaches.
Let's let them all go.
Now with your attention fully present and your focus on participating in our practice together,
Rather than doing anything to meditate,
Instead simply allow each moment to unfold.
In fact,
Don't even attempt to tune out the world as we sometimes believe it is necessary to do.
Instead,
Be really present.
Be really here.
Sometimes just sitting can result in discomfort or agitation.
If this occurs,
Notice that too,
And let it be.
It's another unfolding in the present moment.
If the moment makes you squirm,
Notice the squirming.
If an impulse causes you to stir or open your eyes,
Notice it and resettle.
Notice any resistance to being here.
In fact,
Is it possible to keep your eyes open and your mind still?
To be fully aware,
Free of expectation.
To be without having to do.
To see without thinking,
Without judging,
Without storytelling or narrating.
Nothing out there needs to change.
Everything that is happening is happening inside you.
Notice your breath.
Allow spontaneous expressions.
Smile.
Cry.
Laugh.
Scratch the itch.
Notice the thoughts unfold.
Don't follow them.
Don't add to them.
Let them be.
Let yourself be.
What's here?
Feel how you may have shifted by simply being present.
Your eyes,
If they were open,
Might even have closed without you realizing it now.
Notice stillness deeper than the body.
Notice silence deeper than any surface sound.
Notice if you feel more dropped in,
More at peace in that noticing.
Don't believe or follow any thought,
Any judgment.
Just let it pass.
Notice how one thought,
One sensation,
Changes into another thought or a different sensation.
Something else is always making its way to the forefront of our attention.
So what is the forefront of our attention?
What is it that always stays the same?
I'll give you a hint.
It was there when you were born and it's there with you now.
It can't be your body.
That looks nothing like it did when you were born.
It's changed.
Likewise,
It can't possibly be that ever-changing stream of thinking,
That mental activity.
If you're not your body or your thoughts,
What are you?
You know you're here.
It's a bit of a mystery.
A silent,
Still,
Spacious mystery.
Let's remain in that silent,
Still spaciousness now for several minutes and you'll hear a gentle bell when it's time to close.
But feel free to continue your practice after that for as long as you desire.
Thank you for joining me today.
Let's now continue in silence together.
