My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
Take these first couple of moments to settle into your body.
Maybe taking a couple of deep breaths.
And you're welcome at any point to either close your eyes or just set your gaze downwards.
And this invitation to let your eyes be soft is an invitation for your mind to slow down a little bit.
Or for the awareness in your mind to slow down a little bit.
Your mind will continue doing what minds need to do.
Helping take care of your body.
Making sure that you're safe.
It's this closing of our physical eyes or the softening of them.
This helps us start to notice where is our inner eye pointing towards.
Where is our awareness?
And you might notice your awareness is on the future or the past.
This is very common.
Planning ahead,
Thinking about something that happened yesterday.
Remembering something.
Sometimes we're pondering.
So I saw something.
And that's making me think about it.
And all of this is just our awareness illuminating something in our mind.
And in our meditation,
We're asking ourselves to start to illuminate some of the subtler things,
Like noticing your breath.
And that's really the beginning of concentration.
It's almost like our awareness has a little flashlight and it's just showing us little snippets.
Part of this meditation process is recognizing that you have the ability to control where your flashlight is headed.
Sometimes it doesn't feel like that.
Sometimes our flashlight is stuck on something and it feels like we can't really turn our attention away from it.
Rather than trying to think about something else,
Using our mind to change our mind.
It's just the recognition that,
Oh,
I'm thinking.
Shining my flashlight on that thought.
Thinking is happening.
And when we do that,
We place a little label on it,
Our thinking is happening.
I stopped trying to figure out what kind of thinking,
Why do I feel this way?
Is this anxiety?
Is this excitement?
And the brain just goes.
And that's not a bad thing,
We're never trying to judge that,
It's just witnessing.
Awareness right now.
Can I turn my A little flashlight towards my breath.
Where do I feel my breath moving right now?
Can you notice right now your feet touching the floor?
Perhaps even the inside of your sock.
As you breathe,
Can you notice the subtle shift of clothing,
However subtle?
And in that way,
We don't have to fight any thoughts or push them away or try to not be a certain way.
We just turn our flashlight towards something else.
And we start to illuminate.
What does my breath feel like?
I'm just noticing this for a while.
And your little flashlight will move in many different directions,
Illuminating different areas.
All the while your breath is just right here.
Your feet are still touching the floor.
Just to witness that,
Just to notice the experience.
Of being held,
Being grounded in your body,
And just letting yourself be breathed in.
Slowing down like this can be so lovely and so easeful at times.
And other times there's little challenges to slowing down.
We're a little bit distracted by maybe the environment we're in.
Or we get distracted internally because our awareness is shifting.
Multiple levels.
I used to think about my mind just wandering off.
Your brain is just right here doing what brains do.
Brilliantly trying to figure things out,
Making sure you're safe.
The good news is that's still happening in the background.
Even when we turn our attention,
When we illuminate something as simple as our breath.
Sometimes we'll have a part internally that says,
Oh,
This isn't enough.
If I stop trying to figure this out,
Then what am I even doing?
But doing is already happening.
Breathing is already happening.
Those processes in your mind that are keeping you safe,
That's already happening.
And so it's perfectly acceptable to take a moment.
So just appreciate the fact that your body is breathing for you.
It's in this way that we can put down those moments of difficulty.
This noise is distracting me.
There's a fly in the room that I'm in.
Or some big event in your life.
If I don't figure this out right now,
I'm never going to.
And that's just a part that believes that.
The greater part of you.
Is taking care of you.
Your body breathing for you,
Your heart beating.
So we never have to wrestle with our mind.
We just witness it's doing its work.
Oh yeah,
Thinking is happening.
Also,
Here is breathing happening.
Here is the brilliance of gravity holding me,
Taking care of me.
Let me land in these moments of easefulness just breath by breath.
And eventually those moments of easefulness expand out.
Until we can see the ease of existence.
When we think too hard about it,
Our brain will like,
Yeah,
But what about this?
What about this?
But in this moment of the exhale,
Just this exhale,
There's an ease that's occurring.
You don't have to figure it out.
You don't have to make it up.
You don't have to force yourself to be easeful.
It's just happening.
Notice what it feels like to exhale.
There is a natural,
Easeful quality about it.
Just continuing to turn your little flashlight,
Illuminating these moments of easefulness.
Not because you're trying to be easeful,
But because it's already right here.
We're just illuminating it.
Oh yeah,
I'm aware.
Of that easefulness of my exhale.
Even when my body is in pain or I'm not feeling well.
That ease feels a little different.
Change is always occurring.
But we can still receive that ease.
Even if it's just for the half second of the exhale.
Very often we end with loving kindness phrases and we will do so today.
Right here in this moment.
There's a loving-kindness phrase we use often.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
It's not a forcefulness,
It's not a claiming,
I am easeful,
Because we're not always feeling easeful.
It's not a claiming of,
I am good,
I am good all the time,
Because sometimes we make mistakes.
And a mistake is not good or bad,
It's just a recognition,
Oh yeah.
I want to pay attention to this.
And so there's a well-wishing in this.
May I remember.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
And just notice what it feels like to invite that in.
You might say it to yourself.
May I remember the innate goodness.
Goodness of my heart beating,
The goodness of gravity holding me.
A goodness of nature slowly unfurling.
And the goodness of nature when it goes to rest.
May I remember the innate goodness of my own breath.
May I remember the innate goodness within me.
And you may or may not notice your mind wants to do something with that.
Oh,
I'm good because.
.
.
Where I would be better if.
.
.
All of these different things can happen.
We just start illuminating different parts of the mind with our little flashlight.
You just turn your illumination back to your breath.
Just let that rhythmic quality soothe your mind for just a moment.
May I remember the innate goodness.
I invite you to place a hand on your heart.
You might notice warmth or coolness,
The weight of your hands.
The breath beneath your hands.
And I'll share a quote here,
This is from Ram Dass.
And he said,
You are loved just for being who you are.
Just for existing.
You don't have to do anything to earn it.
And no one can take this love away from you.
And it will always be here.
And anytime we forget that or our mind says the yeah buts,
Well yeah but if this,
And yeah but I didn't,
And yeah but they.
Right here,
Your hand on your heart.
There's innate goodness right here,
Your heart beating for you.
No one can take away the love your body has for you.
Caring for you moment by moment.
And we start to continue to expand this love.
Or this appreciation,
Or on days when those two feel far away,
Just a curiosity instead of a harsh judgment.
Can I be curious?
About my breath just coming back.
Noticing how your body cares for you.
And here with our loving-kindness phrases.
Adjusting your hands as you'd like.
Any of your closing habits or practices.
Repeating these loving-kindness phrases back as they make sense for you.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
May I remember the innate goodness within me.
May I remember innate goodness.
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.
And go slow.
Whenever you feel complete.
Take a moment to thank yourself just for showing up.
Find movement if that feels good for your body.
And as always,
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for supporting each other in our sangha,
Our community.
