My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
Take a few moments here as always just to settle into your body.
Might be taking a couple of deep breaths.
A little wiggle to settle into your cushion.
And whenever you feel ready,
You can close your eyes or set your gaze downward.
Just letting your vision be soft.
And there's many reasons we.
Opt to close our eyes or soften the gaze.
There are certain forms of meditation where you might keep your eyes open purposely.
Whether it's a moving meditation,
Gazing meditation or certain forms of yoga or excuse me certain forms of meditation like zen where you might sit in front of a wall and keep your eyes open,
Just looking at a very open blank space.
Whatever the choice,
We're choosing to do something with our eyes.
Our eyes are so connected to our brain activity.
Part of the makeup of our eye is actually brain cells.
And our brain becomes so active so quickly.
And the goal is not to shut down our brain.
That's an old misnomer in meditation.
But to be able to witness our brain,
Very often we have to slow down our regular vision,
What is most habitual for us.
It helps in many,
Many different forms,
Whether you've done a thousand chaturangas,
You've brushed your teeth a thousand times.
If you make one small change within that,
Say you switch toothpaste,
Or you switch your hand that you brush your teeth with,
Suddenly the entire process is different.
Same thing with being awake and alert.
Changing the way that we see physically.
And then eventually as we make this shift,
Consciously we start to open the eye of our heart.
Finding that wisdom of the knowledge of our mind,
But also the wisdom of our body.
And finding balance.
Just like our inhale and our exhale creates this wise balance.
Let's take a few moments here just to land.
A little bit of stillness,
A little bit of silence.
Remembering that there is no perfect stillness or perfect silence.
Perfection really comes in the form of presence,
Allowing whatever is present to be exactly as it is.
You might notice the rhythmic movement of your breath.
Notice your body being held by gravity.
What is it that you're feeling in your physical form?
And this opening of the eye of the heart as we've been practicing.
It can be one of those things that feels a little bit too conceptual.
Not a physical eye that you're blinking open.
But how we start to open the eye of the heart is this,
We slow down a little bit.
I start to notice and tend to different feeling sensations,
Whether that feeling is emotion,
That feeling is physical.
A feeling is a thought that pulls us in a particular direction,
Future,
Or past.
And then even more specifically,
It's the intentionality of being kind to ourselves,
Being gentle,
Being open as we stay.
To be able to witness judgment without adding more judgment is to start to see through the eye of the heart.
Every time you have an opportunity to notice a breath.
Is to be present with it.
To stay with yourself when you're feeling some grief,
No matter how small.
To give yourself permission to get frustrated.
Without pushing that frustration out into the world.
All of that is that wise balance,
Mind and heart coming together.
And in this space,
We start to get to know our soul,
Our spirit,
That spark within you.
And in many traditions,
It's believed that our soul is animated by the breath itself.
This vehicle,
This animal body that we get to exist within made up of earth and sunlight.
What animates us?
Blood moving through us,
A heartbeat.
This breath,
Every single creature on earth breathing in some way,
Some breathing opposite to us,
So that we can be abundant and reciprocal in our breath together.
And it's just this,
Not something you have to learn.
Or figure out.
It's just a landing in presence and remembering.
Your natural abundant nature.
Your naturally radiant heart.
To listen to your mind as an advisor and not as the sole driver of your life.
Every time you exhale,
An opportunity to just let your body soften,
Let your heart open.
And just witness.
What is it that I'm experiencing in this moment?
Breath by breath.
We come into present awareness.
By noticing a breath.
Receiving the inhale.
Allowing the softening of the exhale.
Just giving your mind permission to rest in moments.
Whatever you witness.
Because of the slowness,
Because of this intentionality of gentleness.
We're consciously choosing to witness when we're judging versus when we're open.
Because of this,
We start to grow our capacity to keep our heart open a little longer.
Whether we show up and open-hearted for a moment and then we close because of a grief,
An anger,
A frustration.
We close because we get caught in a thought loop.
Those are all really important things just to witness,
Not to change.
Those boundaries.
Are also part of the wisdom of the body,
The knowledge of the mind combined.
The Apprentice Hill says,
My really beautiful thing about boundaries,
She says,
Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.
So seeing through the eye of the heart or opening your heart is not about is letting yourself be trampled by the world.
It's being able to witness the world with more and more loving awareness.
Let's see,
Oh,
Ah,
I'm in judgment right now.
Okay,
Where do I feel that in my body?
Is that judgment discernment or is that judgment fear-based?
Is that judgment discernment or is that protection from some old form that I no longer need protection from?
We have the slowness here to really witness,
Rather than getting caught up in the habits of reactivity.
It's good that we have habits.
And also so wonderful we just have this slow time.
Just watch the rise and fall of your breath.
And breath again,
Just reminding of us of that.
Balance.
Effort and ease.
Expansion and softness.
Action and rest.
To find the balance between heart and mind is to live from our true spirit.
Our true soul.
Temper our power with tenderness.
To blend our openness.
With clear boundaries.
So that we can stay in compassion to the best of our ability.
It's never one or the other.
It's always both hands,
Just like our breath teaches us.
Notice again the expansive quality of your inhale.
Softening of your exhale.
And I'll invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
Ending with a few loving kindness phrases,
Repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
May I find balance today in effort and ease.
May I continue to open my heart.
And live in compassion.
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.
Go slow if you can,
Just whenever you feel complete.
Find movement,
Take a moment to thank yourself.
And as always,
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for supporting each other and our sangha,
Our community.
