As we begin,
Taking the time to really settle into a posture that will support your practice.
So finding a way to sit that allows you to feel the support of the body,
And then seeing if you can offer yourself the gift of relaxing,
Even just a little bit.
If it supports your practice,
You might close your eyes,
Or soften your gaze,
And inviting awareness into the physical body.
So allowing yourself to drop your attention into the felt sense of the body,
Noticing maybe how it's already being supported by the chair,
Or the cushion,
The floor,
And then the invitation is to relax into that support.
So seeing if there's the possibility of resting in the physical body.
From this place of support,
Seeing what it's like to set an intention for your practice today.
So that may be simply showing up for yourself with some kindness,
With presence,
Allowing yourself to be just as you are in this moment.
Maybe it's bringing curiosity or a sense of lightness to your practice.
Whatever it is,
Just taking a moment on your own to connect with your reason for being here today.
And in this practice,
We're going to begin to notice as best we can the emotions,
Thoughts,
And feelings that rise and fall when we quiet the mind and settle the body.
So if it's comfortable for you to do so,
You might try putting your hand over your heart for a minute or two as you listen to my voice.
So making that connection with the heart space.
And as you feel your heartbeat beneath your hand,
Just checking in to see if it's possible to open the heart to this moment in time.
And as you continue connecting with the heart space,
Hand over heart,
Inviting the breath into your awareness.
And as you sense your breath,
Just seeing if you can connect in,
Feel into a sense of breathing into the area of your heart.
And just pausing here,
Allowing some room to quietly continue settling in,
Softening into your experience,
Really taking this time to arrive in the present moment.
So practicing on your own for a few moments here as you continue to settle in.
And once there's a sense of being a little more settled in the body,
Maybe just checking in to get a sense of the flavor of the experience of this moment.
And so doing this by just noticing what is showing up as part of your practice.
You may be able to notice any thoughts,
Feelings,
Emotions that are rising to the surface.
And just gently,
Lightly noticing,
If you can,
Naming what's here.
What is showing up in awareness?
And then is it possible to make space for whatever is here?
Again,
The invitation is in allowing,
Making room for belonging.
And so first,
We can practice noticing.
Just noticing what's here.
Again,
Naming.
And then we might be able to pay attention to how we're meeting our experience,
How we're responding to or reacting to what is here.
And we can check in and see,
Is there any room to soften here,
To let things be without needing anything to change?
So as we notice the emotions or thoughts that are present,
We can see if there's any sense of allowing that exists,
And if not,
Any softening that we can do,
Any room to widen around the thoughts or feelings,
Trusting that there's space to hold it all.
As we begin to notice the nature of our experience,
We can see if it's possible to let things rise and fall just as the breath rises and falls,
Aware of the movement in things,
The space.
So noticing what is here and seeing what it's like maybe to breathe into that space,
Maybe settling back into the body,
Letting our awareness rest in the felt sense of the body,
Letting things be,
And doing your best to soften and open to whatever's here.
Even when we want them to be,
We can remember that emotions aren't permanent.
They're moving and changing.
You might see if you can begin to notice how you label your emotions.
So maybe you are able to see that there's a tendency to label emotions like anger or frustration or anxiety as somehow wrong or unwanted.
And if you notice this tendency in the mind,
You might see what happens in the heart and in the mind if you can shift the label to painful or even just noticing the ouch of the emotion.
So is it possible to be aware of whatever's showing up in your practice without judgment present?
When you notice joy or happiness are present,
You may also begin to see how quickly the mind wants to label those emotions as good.
And so here too,
You can check in to see what would it feel like instead just to label these as pleasant or full of ease.
Is there any difference that you can sense into there?
If we can release some of our identification with the emotion,
We may be able to see this as a way to offer ourselves some compassion.
So your practice may become simply noticing the way you label emotions as good or bad.
Just paying attention to this.
And sensing into what it might feel like to just let emotions be.
When you notice the mind is adding on to the emotion with stories and carried away,
What is it like to come back to the direct experience of the moment?
Noticing what is happening right now in this body with the breath.
What does it feel like?
So in making space for our emotions and learning to watch them come and go,
We're creating some distance.
We don't have to identify so strongly with them.
And when we create that space,
We make that room for the space to arise,
For that pause to happen.
We can maybe just continue to check in.
What is needed in this moment?
Is there any softening that can happen here?
And so checking in,
What are you most longing for right now?
What is most needed?
And just making some space for whatever answers come to arise.
So much of our practice is remembering.
Remembering to bring awareness into the present moment,
Noticing what's here.
And then we can check in.
And we can do this in our daily lives,
In moments.
What is happening in the heart and mind?
What is needed?
And so as we get ready to end the meditation,
As we come closer to the end,
We can widen awareness once again.
So letting our focus shift to include the felt sense of the body.
Again,
Maybe feeling into that connection,
That support of the body sitting or lying down.
Maybe noticing if there's anything that can be softened,
Even now,
Anything that can be released.
Taking a moment just to appreciate your willingness to practice today,
To give this a try.
I thank you for your practice.
