Kleshas: Safety In A Hurricane

This meditation will help you find your internal safe refuge, the space you can stand when fear clouds your vision. Learn how to see yourself and the world more clearly, and with more tenderness. (The Kleshas are "afflictions that clouds the mind and body", like fear, clinging and avoidance, and false perspective - or believing we are somehow separate from each other.)

Transcript

My name is Larissa,

And we're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.

It's an opportunity to spend a little time with yourself.

I say that almost every day as a reminder that there's nowhere that we're trying to get to.

You don't have to be calm.

You don't have to be a different version of yourself.

Sometimes just slowing down helps support calmness,

But just remembering that you're just spending time with yourself.

You just get to show up exactly as you are.

This month,

We've been working with the kleshas.

The kleshas are essentially,

That word itself,

It can mean affliction or poison.

It can also mean veil.

They are named as these five veils that cover our ability to see clearly,

Our ability to perceive the world through a wise lens,

And then to be able to take wise action.

We look at these kleshas as a form of getting to know ourselves.

And I'll name a few of these,

And we'll keep working with them throughout the rest of the month,

But I think it's a good reminder that we all have these little veils that come over us at times where we suddenly can't see as clearly anymore.

Sometimes I think about them as like fun house classes.

Sometimes it's actually fun,

And sometimes it's kind of terrifying the way that I'm seeing the world.

And if I can adjust the glasses or sometimes even just take them off,

I recognize,

Oh,

Yeah,

That's right.

I was just stuck in fear.

Fear is one of the kleshas.

Oh,

I was clinging.

I was really trying to hang on to joy and avoid some type of difficulty,

And that just covered my clear vision,

My ability to see clearly.

So just naming that.

Sometimes we show up,

And we have these veils,

And they feel kind of heavy at times.

And you just get to stay with yourself and support yourself in the best way that you know how without any pressure.

So with that in mind,

I'll invite you to settle into your body.

Our body is our focal point because our body is always present.

You can close your eyes or set your gaze downward,

Just turning your attention a bit more inward.

Just start to notice what you notice.

Where do I feel support in my body?

Can I take a deep breath?

What does that deep breath do for me?

Where do I feel it?

And in this way,

We just start to become curious and start to notice,

How am I being held today?

How is my body being held?

How am I holding myself?

And as we stay,

Just a reminder,

We're not trying to force ourselves to stay still.

We're just inviting moments of stillness.

And technically,

There's always movement happening,

Heartbeat,

Breath,

Particles in the air.

But when we become more still,

We can start to notice the subtleties,

Whether it's in movement itself or in these subtle layers of emotion that come and go,

Different thoughts coming and going.

And we can start to notice when we feel clear,

When we feel stable,

When we feel connected.

And we can also start to become more aware when we're disconnected,

When we're feeling unstable.

And we can start to notice what causes that feeling of instability.

And not to ask our mind to tell us a story,

But to really inquire about the present.

Where do I feel that instability in my body?

Where do I feel that disconnection?

And we might start to have insights.

Oh,

That's a fear that's coming in.

I'm worried about something that's upcoming.

Oh,

I had an argument with somebody,

And I said something I wish I wouldn't have said.

And instead of ruminating,

We can't change the past.

We can't predict the future.

We can have good guesses.

We can trust our intuition.

Truly,

What's present is our body trying to tell us,

Hey,

Can we tend to this feeling,

This sensation?

And tending to it is oftentimes just allowing that feeling.

Oh,

I feel a little gripping in my chest,

A little tension,

A little heat.

And when I exhale,

Can I just invite that tension to soften just for this exhale?

Not trying to fix anything,

Not trying to go up into my mind and figure out the story.

I'm just tending to that small tension that's right here in my body.

And the same thing with joy and ease,

Retending,

Holding,

Allowing,

Experiencing.

And just breath by breath.

Just allowing yourself to be who you are right here in this present moment.

And as we continue to invite in stillness and settling,

Sometimes we can see it just a bit more clearly.

So,

Oh,

I see that anxiety is not who I am.

It's just an experience that's happening.

As I see that joyful moment that I want to appreciate but not cling to with a tight fist,

That's not who I am.

It's an experience.

Who I am is the steadiness of my heartbeat,

The connection of presence,

And the allowance of my experiences to change.

And these clutches,

These veils,

Sometimes we don't even know that they're there.

If you've only ever experienced water through a hurricane,

You might believe that water is violent and destructive.

But we all know that water comes in many forms,

And we need water to survive.

But if we believe that that water,

That survival is harmful,

Our entire process of survival and perception of the world is skewed,

And that's what happens with the clutches sometimes.

If we've only ever looked through one certain lens,

We might believe that that is the whole truth.

But the more that we can slow down and settle,

The more we can clearly see and clearly see ourselves.

If I've only ever known water as a hurricane,

I couldn't possibly understand that still water allows me to see my own reflection clearly.

So this stillness that we cultivate allows the hurricanes in our minds to settle,

So we can see clearly,

Even for just a moment of the exhale.

It's just breath by breath.

It's witness.

It's witnessing yourself to the best of your ability through the eyes of kindness,

So that when you see a hurricane,

A storm coming,

You can hold yourself with tenderness.

And rather than trying to weather the storm and fight against it,

You can just recognize that storm offers its own kind of nourishment.

But we might need just a gentle protection.

Sometimes we need to close for a moment,

Hold ourselves tenderly before we open back up to the world again.

And we can witness all of that wisdom just in our breath.

The expansive opening of the inhale,

The softening,

The emptiness of the exhale.

Just witness the wisdom you have within you,

Just watching your breath move.

I invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.

I want to end with a few loving kindness phrases.

I'll offer this reminder and include them in the phrases.

This reminder that we need both protection and openness.

If our kleshas,

Our veils are unknown to us,

They become steel armor,

And we can no longer open up to them.

So just this awareness,

Just witnessing yourself,

Getting to know yourself,

Is such an important part of being able to open.

Today,

When it makes sense,

May I allow my heart to be open.

When I need rest and respite,

May I allow myself to close and settle.

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 whenever you feel complete,

Take your time,

Open your eyes,

Find a little movement,

Take a moment to thank yourself,

As always,

Just for showing up today.

Thank you each for being here,

Supporting each other.

Reviews

Lovely words, calming voice, great for a 15 minute sit.

Outstanding meditation. Beautifully paced guidance that both poetic and instructive. You have won yourself a new follower! Thank you so much.