My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
Take a few moments here to settle in.
A little wiggle in your torso.
Sometimes that helps you sink just 2 or 3% deeper into your chair,
Into whatever posture you've chosen.
We're settling into a little bit of stillness,
But it doesn't mean you have to be perfectly still.
Your heart's still beating,
Your blood is still flowing.
As long as there's life moving through you,
There is movement.
And yet we slow down enough that we can start to really notice those subtleties.
And just notice for a moment here.
Closing of your eyes,
If they're already closed,
Can you notice how your eyes are situated in their socket?
Often a downward point as they rest.
Notice the heaviness of the lids of your eyes.
Even notice how your tongue is situated.
It's natural that it lifts up and sits at the roof of our mouth when it's at rest.
Very often the noticing of something,
When you notice your tongue,
You might want to swallow or you might notice you start to move it a little bit.
This happens often,
When we notice something.
Energy goes there,
Whether it's movement.
Or just simply our attention.
And that's a yogic phrase that I've.
.
.
Also read in quantum physics,
Where your attention goes,
Energy flows.
It's quite a beautiful statement.
If our attention is on a loved one.
Our energy flows between us.
If our attention is slowing down to witness a beautiful flower or some small bird that captures our attention on a busy day.
So what an exquisite moment to notice.
We can also notice how our energy,
Our attention,
Will flow to whatever we direct it towards.
Sometimes.
Unconscious the direction.
We just get pulled into a thought.
Certain thoughts like Velcro,
Rather sticky.
But when we become aware of a thought,
Just like when we become aware of.
Where our eyes are situated.
We can start to shift it as needed.
Sometimes there's no shift needed at all.
Our awareness brings us conscious choice.
Just notice for a few moments here.
Where is your awareness taking you?
And anytime you notice your awareness has wandered.
Bring it back.
To the sensation of your eyes situated behind closed lids.
Or the movement and stillness of your breath.
Something present,
Something happening in the present moment.
Notice again,
Where is your awareness?
Our awareness has an illuminative quality to it.
I don't know if that's a word.
It illuminates things.
And we just get to be curious,
What is it that I'm illuminating?
What is it that I'm bringing light to in this moment?
Sometimes we're shining the light on some anxious area of the mind.
And then we start to feel more anxiousness.
And in that moment,
We're tending,
Instead of judging,
To the best of our ability.
So yeah,
Where am I feeling that in my body?
And in that way,
We turn the light of awareness back to taking care of ourselves.
Rather than towards the story of,
Why am I feeling this?
Or whatever other story surrounds that particular awareness of anxiousness.
And it's in this way that we really tend to ourselves instead of judged.
Anytime the curiosity.
Why do I feel this way?
Comes about.
It tends to lend towards judgment.
Versus the curiosity of.
What am I feeling in this moment and how can I tend to myself?
I know I've used that analogy before of Velcro,
But I think of that sometimes where.
.
.
Think of letting something go,
You just open your hand.
Good if.
Velcro has occurred.
There's actually an effort that's required to separate those two things.
And so when a thought feels rather sticky and grippy.
And sometimes the wise effort.
Pulling apart of that thought.
It's not forcefulness.
It's returning to our intention of being gentle with ourselves.
That gentleness,
That intentionality of being compassionate with ourselves.
But allows us to very gently unhook from the thought.
And it doesn't mean the thought is not important.
It doesn't mean there isn't something you might need to.
Plan for.
And yet,
The wisest action in this moment might simply be.
.
.
To tend to the present moment.
Tension in the body.
To tend to where your attention is.
Wants to land?
Interesting wise action will come from this intentionality.
Wiser action will come from compassion rather than judgment.
The best of your ability,
Just landing back with your breath.
Watching your body take care of you,
Heart beating,
Breath moving.
You just notice again how your eyes are resting in their sockets.
Very often when our mind is active,
Our eyes are shifting ever so slightly behind closed lids.
And you just allow the heaviness of your eyes.
And let that harness.
Be also an invitation for your attention to just simply land.
In this present moment.
On your body,
Your breath.
The returning is as simple as noticing a breath.
It's not something you have to give up or let go of or start over.
You just notice a breath.
There's a real gentleness in that.
I don't have to fix or change anything,
I'm just.
.
.
Noticing.
Oh yeah,
Here's my breath.
So,
Gentleness and love.
Read this little quote recently.
I thought it was a funny connection to this idea that I sometimes feel with thoughts that they're sticky and grippy and like velcro.
And this is from Nisargadatta.
He passed in the 1980s.
Really beautiful.
A South Asian Indian teacher on non-dualism.
This idea that we're not separate from each other,
We're not only this body,
And yet we've been given this body as a gift.
With something he said.
He was talking about not needing to stop thinking.
Just cease being interested in the story of the thought.
There's a simplicity in that,
It's not always easy.
But just to allow your interest in the thought to soften.
And then he said,
Don't hold on,
That is all.
The world is made of rings.
The hooks are yours.
If you make straight your hooks,
Nothing can hold you.
I had this image in my mind of a loopy part of a piece of Velcro.
That's normally the part you would stick down.
And then it's those little rings that you attach to the top of it.
The loops of the velcro,
If you put a piece of paper on top of them,
Nothing sticks.
It's two things coming together.
So it's not the thought that grips you.
It's when our awareness grabs a hold with its loops.
Very often those hooks that we grab ahold of.
Our questions or statements in our mind.
The second you ask a question,
What's wrong with me?
Or what's wrong with them?
How could this be happening?
Your brain will start to look for an answer to that question.
And then suddenly we're hooked.
It's just this moment of unhooking.
Oh yeah,
That's right.
I'm just noticing my breath.
There's no question to answer.
And it doesn't mean we no longer think about the world.
It doesn't mean we no longer consider.
How do I make my next action wiser?
It's this moment in time where we slow down so we can start to build our compassionate responses.
Witness judgment as it's happening.
Illuminate the judgment in our mind so we can tend to it.
And then eventually the letting go becomes easier and easier because there are no hooks to begin with.
Just take a moment here,
Placing your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
Experiencing again the fullness of your inhale.
Let your whole body soften as you exhale.
Just invite it in.
Will end as we often do with a few loving kindness phrases.
Repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath and body?
I remember the innate goodness of my mind.
May I give myself permission?
And may I have the tools to unhook today.
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 may all beings be free.
Go slow if you can.
Taking a moment to thank yourself.
Just for showing up.
Find movement as that feels good.
Thank you each.
We're supporting each other in this sangha.
