EQ-Your Breath Is Your Stable Emotional Support (3-18-26)

We often try to think our way through emotions, but they are often sensations just asking to be felt. Stay for a while and let your breath move through you, and create space for your emotions to do the same. From the meditation: "What is more you than the breath that moves through you?... Feel the sensation in your body, beyond words (perfectly timed cat's meow)."
(P.S. You'll hear my sweet kitty chatting in the background a few times.)

Transcript

All right and good morning everyone. My name is Larissa. We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes. As always, Just a few moments to settle in. Check in with your body. Make sure you have the right amount of support. Any posture works. There's not a particularly correct quote-unquote posture. It just depends on what supports you. Very often having an upright spine helps us with that gentle awakening so that we can have a gentle concentration. But if you're reclining or standing or choosing any other posture, It's just a matter of checking in with yourself. Does this feel good for me? Do I have that balance of effort and ease here? And as you're settling into your body, You're welcome, Of course, To close your eyes or just simply set your gaze downward, Letting your eyes become a little bit more still. And it's such a simple thing, But as your eyes become still, It invites your mind into a bit of rest as well. And we always go slowly here, Just tapping into the sensation of being in your body. Your body is always present. Our mind might be moving, Jumping back and forth, Future, Past, Planning, Etc. Our mind might start to settle into a bit of dullness, As it's called in meditation, A bit of sleepiness. No matter where we are, If our mind is busy or a bit sleepy, We just hone this gentle concentration to the present moment because your body is always present and we always begin here. The smallest little movements can give you support, A reminder that you're taking care of yourself, That you're not forcing yourself to be still, That you're not forcing yourself to try to be calm. You're just taking care of yourself as you stay. A tiny neck roll can help you find, Is there tension in my neck and how can I relieve that? A deeper breath and a sigh can help you release some energy. And then taking a few moments here in silence, Just noticing your body. What do I feel here in this moment? What are the physical sensations? And always, Somewhere within our physicality is this movement of breath, A bit of expansion, A bit of softening and it just comes and goes, Just like our thoughts do. Just witnessing how your breath so easily comes and goes, Nothing you have to try hard for. Just witness that for a few moments, This ease of coming and going of your breath. And here's your breath again. You don't have to travel far, You don't have to be a different kind of person, You just notice your breath. It's right here, It's present with you always. And as you get to know your breath, You innately get to know yourself. What is more you than the breath that moves through you? We have all of these things that we've claimed in our lives, These identifiers, I am this, I am not this. And they can be feelings or titles, Associations, Experiences, The work we do in the world. Here with our breath, There's a deep purity, A surrender to what is simply present, Letting go of who we're supposed to be or who we think we are. And we just get to land in the simplicity of, I am this breath. And we just allow the beautiful complexities of our mind to be simple for a moment. Let me be breathed here, Let me find the ease of my body taking care of me, So watching the comings and goings of my breath. And it is breath by breath that we stay. A gentle invitation to just notice your breath, Receive that gift of life as you inhale, And give it all back every time you exhale. It's reciprocal and abundant, This breath. And when we slow down, Just to be able to witness the stillness of the breath, The still movement of our breath, This slow and steady witness of the life that we have within us. We also start to open our eyes to the many layers of who we are. How do we feel? And not just the, How are you? And we kind of shout out something like, I'm fine. But that layer of feeling that only you can truly know. I feel alive and awake and a tinge of anxiety and a tinge of excitement. And I feel this when a bird song comes to my ear. And then suddenly I feel like this when a particular thought lands in my brain. And then suddenly I feel like this, And it shifts and changes just like our breath does. But very often we tend to claim something, I am this. It's a fault in our English language that we tend to say things like, I am sad, I am angry. Instead of the beauty of other languages that might say, I have sadness, Or sadness has fallen upon me. And in that way, We can hold it tenderly rather than making it who we are. And in that way, We don't have to fear any single emotion that comes, Because we trust it will come and go just like our breath. There's a deep intelligence in there to be able to witness every emotion that comes and trust that it's telling us something. It's not something we have to resist, Nor something we have to cling to, Fearing the loss of some happiness. That there's a deep contentment inside every single breath. And in the steadiness of this breath, We can just witness the comings and goings of our mind, Of our emotions, Of the I am that I claim. And just come back again and again, I am this breath. Let me watch it move through me. It's just one breath at a time, We stay with ourselves. And it's exactly like that with our emotions. They come and go. The ones that feel difficult, We hold them with tenderness, Just like we hold with tenderness emotions that feel lovely to us. We don't have to cling to joy, We don't have to resist anger or suffering. Just with the same open heart, The same open hand, We hold our wholeness with tenderness. Just like we know that we need both the inhale and the exhale. There's a wisdom in trusting we can hold both sorrow and exquisite joy. And we need both to inform each other. And we need not fear either one. There's a really beautiful line from a poet, Author, And artist. Her name is Ingrid Jeff Madoff. And she says, The divine spoke today in flowers. And I, Who was waiting on words, Almost missed the conversation. The divine spoke today in flowers, And I, Who was waiting on words, Almost missed the conversation. And sometimes our emotions are like that. They come in a flood of sensation, And our mind's so desperate to categorize. We miss what is it that our body is trying to tell us. And so just taking a moment right now, Bringing your palms together, Maybe placing your hands over your heart, Any of your own closing habits or practices. And just giving yourself a moment to feel the sensation in your body beyond words. And trust all of this is simply information for you to tend to. We'll end with our loving kindness phrases. Just repeating these back as they make sense for you. May I remember to hold everything that comes gently. May I trust myself to hold everything that comes. May I be tender with myself and others today. And 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, Just whenever you feel complete. Flutter your eyes open, Find a little movement, Take a moment to thank yourself just for showing up. And as always, Thank you for being here, Being a part of our sangha, Our community.

Reviews

Just wonderful. I often have my elderly cat on my lap when I meditate and I extra enjoyed also having the company of your feline best friend 😻