My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
Let's take a few moments here to settle in,
A little wiggle in your body to sink just five percent deeper into your cushion,
Into your posture that you've chosen.
It's remembering this foundation.
So we choose our body as a focal point because our body is always present.
It also helps us cultivate a relationship with our body.
Sometimes we,
Of course,
We're in our body all the time.
This is the only way we can experience life.
But sometimes we don't always cultivate a relationship with our body.
We just kind of like,
Oh yeah,
Body exists,
And we leave it at that.
Our yoga practice physically cultivating a relationship with our body.
Our meditation practice cultivating a relationship with our mind.
And everything is an opportunity for us to really land within our body,
Which is always present.
This is our major balancing point when we're talking about balance for the mind.
In order to balance our mind,
Very often all we need to is land back in our body again just for a moment.
So take that moment right now.
You might close your eyes.
Again,
That's a gentle invitation to land in your body.
Our eye is always searching externally.
So as your eyes soften,
You just begin to witness these different layers of sensation that are in your body right now.
And as you're deeply listening to your body,
You'll likely notice that your brain interprets everything into words.
Can you just notice the sensations beyond the labels that our mind will put on the sensation?
Or perhaps beneath the label.
There's just pure awareness,
Pure sensation.
And it's not always easy to experience that because we're used to our mind naming things.
We're used to our mind telling us all kinds of information in words.
But we all know what it feels like when you just get that rush of joy from listening to a loved one's laughter.
You feel it in your body before your mind even registers what's happening.
A tender moment when you witness a wildlife creature closer to you than might normally happen.
When we actually slow down enough to look at a flower,
To smell the lilacs.
These are experiences in our body.
Our mind might interpret them and name,
Oh,
That's a lilac,
It's purple,
It's this.
But the smell of it is an experience.
So here just listening to these layers of experience that your body is sharing with you.
A subtle difference between what's happening with your legs and your sit bones.
A feeling of pressure as you settle in.
A feeling of pressure,
A form of support,
Very different than the feeling you take when you take a deep breath and your ribs move.
It's just pure awareness.
What am I experiencing right now through my sensory awareness?
This practice of pure awareness oftentimes helps us see different patterns in our mind.
Different ways that our mind has decided things just are.
Something like what we might describe as a pain point.
It's information that our body is sharing with us.
And certainly when you feel pain,
You want to tend to it,
But very often we also judge it.
So instead of adding another layer of pain point,
Judgment on top of difficulty,
Can we just receive it with pure awareness?
It's like an example might be like you ask a loved one to scratch your back.
And it feels so good in that moment.
You might even say,
Oh,
Scratch a little harder and you lean into it.
And it's this delight of almost pain,
But a deep pleasure.
And it just hits that spot.
But if a stranger did that same thing to you,
That would no longer feel like pleasure.
So our mind interprets,
Is this safe?
Is this unsafe?
And sometimes we just have an old software pattern running in the back of our mind saying,
I don't know if this is safe.
But in fact,
It is in the present moment.
And so we just bring curiosity.
You don't have to disbelieve your mind.
Your mind is trying to keep you safe.
And we can honor that and appreciate that.
We can also bring a lot of curiosity.
When our mind says,
This is definitely this.
I am this.
We can just bring a curiosity.
So in this moment,
Can I just soften into this sensation?
In this moment,
Can I truly receive these tiny moments of ease and even joy,
The deep joy of being able to take a deep breath?
So let the vigilance of your mind,
Desperately trying to keep you safe,
Just let it soften for a moment.
Thank your mind for its vigilance.
And invite it to rest in the softening of this exhale right here.
Just breath by breath,
Receiving all of this sensory information with as much openness as possible.
And at times,
It's beyond sensory awareness,
Beyond thought.
We just land in these soft moments of stillness and ease.
And the more you go searching for that moment of stillness and ease,
The more fleeting it is.
It's truly a receiving.
It's even a remembering.
Let me just rest in this exhale.
Invite in this moment of slowness and stillness.
Just let my body rest,
Let my mind rest.
Just this moment.
And there truly is so much joy and awe and wonder happening all around us and within us.
But we have busy lives and busy minds,
And sometimes we miss it for the busyness.
And that's okay,
We don't need to add any judgment to that.
And in this slow time,
Just experiencing these small miracles,
The delight of taking a deep breath.
It's even receiving if your body is sharing pain points with you,
If your mind is remembering something difficult.
Even in those moments to thank your body,
To thank your mind.
Because it's giving you information that needs tending,
Not trying to harm you.
It's just asking for attention.
There's a really beautiful passage,
And this is from Danusha Lameris.
And she talks about earthworms,
Of all things.
She has this sensory awareness that they have.
She says,
Ever since I found out that earthworms have taste buds all over the delicate pink strings of their bodies,
I pause dropping apple peels into the compost bin,
Imagining the dark,
Writhing ecstasy,
The sweetness of apples permeating their pores.
I offer beets and parsley,
Avocado and melon,
The feathery tops of carrots.
I had always thought there was a menial life,
Eyeless and hidden,
Somehow almost vulgar.
Though now it seems they bear a pleasure so sublime,
So decadent.
I want to contribute however I can,
Forgetting for a moment my place on the menu.
And to consider that it's earthworms with taste buds all over their tiny bodies.
So what a delight to be able to receive the sweetness of apples on your skin.
But to consider we too have all of these layers of sensory awareness,
Our fingertips not covered in fur like certain animals,
Certain mammals.
And how much we can feel.
So just take a moment,
Place your hand on your body.
Perhaps it's a body part that needs a little tending,
A little tenderness.
So maybe your neck,
Maybe a hip or a knee,
Maybe just your hand over your heart.
It's two points of feeling,
That body part being held.
And your own palm,
Your own fingertips receiving and offering soothing,
Perhaps even a healing touch.
From here we'll end with our loving kindness phrases,
Repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I remember to appreciate my body today.
May I invite my mind to rest in moments today.
May I thank my body and mind often today.
And when action is needed,
May I choose to move with ease and peace.
May the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
And whenever you feel complete,
Never any rush,
Go slow if you can.
Just take a moment to thank yourself.
Thank you each for being here.
Thank you for supporting each other.
