We're going to practice together for about 30 minutes today.
Let's take these first couple of moments to get settled into your body.
Take a couple of deep breaths.
Maybe make some neck rolls.
Just tiny little adjustments that you make for yourself to make yourself comfortable,
To feel supported.
That's really the foundation for us to be gentle with ourselves,
To be kind to ourselves as we practice.
You're welcome,
Of course,
To close your eyes,
Set your gaze downward.
Slowly turning yourself a bit more inward.
And as you're getting situated,
Maybe still just making these small adjustments.
A little wiggle in your torso might help you sink just 2% deeper into your seat.
Maybe you want to stretch up through the crown of your head and elongate your spine a bit.
Or whether you're looking for a bit more of a gentle awakeness,
Creating that shape of awake in your body.
Or whether you're looking for a little bit more ease and comfort.
Just remembering that there is no right or wrong in it.
It's just checking in,
What does my body need?
On days that I feel super sleepy,
But I'm looking for a bit of concentration,
Sometimes leaning forward slightly is helpful.
And some mornings need the ease of rest,
Letting your head rest back on your chair.
Just making sure you're choosing something that supports you today in this moment.
Letting go of any shoulds or supposed tos,
Especially in our meditation.
The only thing that becomes right or wrong here,
Quote unquote,
Is how our mind judges something.
And we don't need to add more judgment to judgment when we notice our mind.
We just notice,
Oh yeah,
There's my mind,
Doing what it does,
Making a judgment.
Instead of recognizing that our brain is often defining things as this is good,
This is bad,
I like this,
I don't like this,
Can we just allow that openness to experience everything that comes and make wise choices along the way?
What we might name as some small irritation in our body might just be some sensation.
And the only intending it needs is just our awareness.
Oh yeah,
I'm feeling that sensation and letting go of any judgment around it.
Sometimes our body is sharing with us that we do need an adjustment.
Some pain points in our body.
Some particular thought in our mind that's a little sticky,
A little grippy.
And instead of changing our meditation,
Do I have to do something different,
We just notice it,
Oh yeah,
There's something happening there,
And then we tend to whatever is happening.
That sticky thought in my mind is causing a little anxiety in my body.
I'm excited for something and I notice that feels a certain way in my chest.
So no matter where your mind is headed,
You just bring it back down to the level of your body.
Let's take a few moments here just to notice,
What do I feel in my body today?
Just notice your feet touching whatever foundation is beneath you.
And from that steady place,
Notice the movement of your breath.
No matter how many times your mind moves,
Your body is just right here.
It's a gentle resting place for your mind to return to.
Because our body doesn't speak in the language of words,
Our body speaks movement and sensation.
Which means that our body is never giving us those judgments of mind.
Our body is a soft resting place.
Our body might hold the tension of an old judgment.
Our body might hold the stiffness of some old anxiety,
The tenderness of some grief.
That's why sometimes we might feel like we're doing great,
And a friend reaches out their hand and touches our shoulder,
And suddenly some emotion arises.
They're always right there.
It's our body that holds so much wisdom.
Can we allow our brain,
This beautiful,
Brilliant brain,
Always thinking in words and pictures and creations,
Can we just ask our mind to rest for a moment in this soft space of our tiny,
Warm animal body?
This tiny little speck of beingness in this vast universe,
And yet it's the one place that I can inhabit and to experience the world.
So might I just be here for a moment in my body,
Witnessing,
Experiencing,
Receiving life as it comes to me.
Just noticing this breath that enters my body and animates me.
Witnessing how my body is so abundant,
It just gives back the breath.
Every particle of oxygen I don't need,
It just gives it right back.
And there's nothing I need to do,
There's nothing I need to try hard for.
I can just sit and witness my body breathing for me.
Just inviting that in for a few moments here.
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment.
Every time we notice a breath,
It's an opportunity to get to know ourselves.
It's an opportunity to start to learn what it is your body is sharing with you.
Our brain is so quick to interpret everything into a word.
And very often,
The interpretations are just old stories.
Consider what it feels like when someone asks,
How are you doing?
Very often the response is habitual.
And if we really checked in,
If we responded,
How is my heart doing versus how is my body doing,
The response would likely be rather different.
And it's not to say that every time someone asks how are you,
You need to take the deep dive.
But here,
You have the opportunity to do so.
Take that deep dive with yourself.
Get to know all of the parts of you.
It can be so lovely when a meditation just lands and we can settle into that pool of calmness that just exists.
And there are other times we need to tend to ourselves.
Maybe it's a physical pain,
An emotional pain point,
A particular thought that just returns a million times.
But we cause ourselves more of our own suffering when we're trying to resist any of those things,
Push them away,
Pretend they're not there.
When we're trying to get to a state of calm,
We oftentimes accidentally hurt our own feelings.
But we're not trying to get anywhere.
We're already here.
What do you witness while you're here?
And to the best of your ability,
Can you witness yourself with tenderness,
With kindness?
It's creating this open space for your mind to come back to.
Letting your mind land in the warmth of your body,
The openness that exists within your body.
Your breath never judging you.
It just comes and goes no matter what's happening.
That's where we land again and again and again.
Because we've already set aside time to be still here.
This is an excellent place to just witness whatever comes up for you.
We're not trying to invoke emotion.
We're not trying to get a place of calmness.
We're just witnessing.
Sometimes in our still,
Quiet spaces,
That's an opportunity for our body to share with us what it's been holding.
It's also an opportunity for our mind to jump in and make judgments.
But that's part of the work here.
That wise effort to recognize,
Oh yeah,
There's my mind judging.
And it comes in a million forms.
I shouldn't be feeling this way.
They shouldn't have done that.
They always,
I never,
Et cetera,
Et cetera.
And the mind will just run with its story.
But when we can witness the story,
We can occasionally start to choose differently.
Just inviting our mind to rest in the center of a heartbeat.
We can really fully witness the experience.
That gentle concentration,
That's wise effort.
The ability to stay with yourself when something arises that's a bit uncomfortable.
That's wise effort.
Recognizing it's very difficult for me to hold whatever this thing is,
And I notice I'm getting caught in a story around it.
I'm gonna back away for a moment.
I'm gonna rub my palm together.
Or I'm gonna take a big deep breath and sigh it out so I can refresh my attention and let that go for a moment.
That's wise effort.
So our effort in meditation is never about perfect concentration.
Or being ever so calm.
It's being able to witness myself as my emotions come and go like waves.
As my thoughts load in and out like clouds.
As they occasionally get stuck.
As if my body is made of Velcro and that thought is the only thing that exists.
All of this is wise effort.
And can you notice just for a moment the wise effort of your body breathing for you?
That gentle rhythmic movement.
Our body loves rhythmic movement that's so soothing to us.
And it's already happening.
And we just get to witness it.
Can I feel this breath coming into my body right now?
Can I allow the softening of my exhale,
That natural,
Relaxive response?
As we stay,
We move from managing our mind,
Managing our emotions,
Into fully experiencing them.
It's not trying to manage what our body looks like or feels like.
We just really get to experience being in our body.
Management is so helpful.
Being able to manage our emotions when we're feeling overwhelmed,
When we have something important we have to take care of,
Is a very important skill.
But if all we know how to do is manage,
Eventually that feeling will overwhelm us.
It's like standing in Lake Michigan,
Or the ocean,
Where the waves are coming on a windy day.
And you stand firm and steady.
And you witness the waves and you can recognize,
Ooh,
That one's a little too big,
I'm going to have to move,
I'm going to run to shore a bit.
But sometimes it can be so playful just allowing the waves to crash over you.
It's also not something we do to just stand and judge the waves.
We don't stand and say,
Well,
That wave isn't good enough.
That wave shouldn't be here,
I don't like that one.
We just watch the waves.
When they're overwhelming,
We go to shore.
When they feel like we can hold them,
We stand steady.
And it's the same with our emotional waves,
Waves of thoughts that come and go.
Rather than judging them,
I don't like that one,
That one's too big.
When we recognize,
Ooh,
That one's a big one,
And we come back to the shore,
Come back to the safety of your body.
Not to run away from it,
And definitely not to stuff it down,
Pretend it isn't there.
But just a moment of refuge.
So that when you feel steady again,
You can stand and allow the waves to flow around your body.
They sway you,
But they don't knock you down.
And that's what it is to be emotionally resilient.
No matter what the emotion is,
We find the steadiness within us.
When we feel overwhelmed by emotion,
We can go back to the shore for a moment,
Not to run away.
And recognizing there's no way we could stuff the wave from an ocean down.
We just have to let it roll.
And there's a line from Anne Frank,
She said,
Believe me,
If you've been shut up for a year and a half,
It can be too much for you sometimes.
But feelings simply cannot be ignored.
It's coming from a person who literally would spend a year and a half in a small,
Tight space,
Unable to move her body.
And the wisdom that she shares there.
It can be too much when we've been shut up.
But feelings cannot be ignored.
And there's a real wisdom,
A real intelligence in what we're doing here,
Just setting aside time to witness ourselves.
To get to know your mind,
Your heart,
Your body.
And there's not a single feeling or part of you that you can shut up forever.
So can you just open yourself to witness all the parts of you?
And any time it feels overwhelming,
You come back to the shore,
Come back to the steadiness of your breath.
And you might even say to yourself,
I'm right here.
I choose to stay with myself.
I'm right here.
I choose to stay with myself.
I am right here.
I can hold whatever comes.
I am right here.
I trust I can hold whatever comes.
I am right here.
I am right here.
I invite you to place one or both of your hands over your heart.
It's this gesture of holding yourself.
And that contact,
That can be a beautiful muscle memory to come back to at any point.
I often just tap my chest throughout the day when I need a moment of remembering.
Remembering my practice.
And as you notice the weight of your hands,
I'll also share here just a few lines.
This is from a David White poem.
It's called The Old Wild Place.
He's talking about your body as a refuge.
He says,
After the last letting go,
And the calm breath where we go to rest,
We'll return again to find it and feel the body welcomed,
The body held,
The strong arms of the world,
The water,
The waking at dawn,
The old wild place beyond all shame.
And just remembering that's right here,
Right beneath your hands.
It's within you.
It's something we all carry with us,
This old wild place beyond all shame.
The calm breath where we go to rest.
It's just right here.
And we'll end as we often do with a few loving kindness phrases.
Just repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I remember my breath,
Especially when I need rest.
May I land in the warmth of my body,
Especially when I need comfort.
When action is needed,
May I choose to move with ease and peace.
And may the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
And go slow if you can.
Find a little movement in your body.
Flutter your eyes open.
Take a moment to thank yourself just for showing up.
And as always,
Thank you for being here,
Supporting each other,
Being a part of our sangha.
