Slowing Down, Nature Is Never In A Hurry

This is an invitation to slow down, as we often do in our meditation practice. It's also a reminder that your meditation can be many things. Very often there is stillness, but you don't need to be perfectly still to find the quiet rest you need. Every exhale is a moment of rest. Every time you simply notice your breath, it is an opportunity for your mind to slow down for a half-second. Allow all of this to be a part of your practice.

Transcript

We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes. Just taking a little time with yourself. Removing any pressure of needing to get somewhere in your meditation. Just allowing yourself to soften into your body. Choosing a posture that feels supportive and making any movements that feel good. Adjusting your spine a little. Grabbing a blanket. Making some neck rolls. It's all of these tiny little choices, Ways that you care for yourself. You're welcome at any point to close your eyes or set your gaze downward. Just softening all of the external. And not that the external isn't still here. We can feel the air on our skin. You can hear the different sounds happening around you, Bringing information to you. And this simple action of closing your eyes is a way to invite your mind to slow down a little bit. And starting to awaken your inner eye so you can witness yourself. Witnessing yourself with gentleness, With tenderness, With kindness to the best of your ability. Take a few moments here to notice the generousness of your breath. That's how abundant breath is. It's always here. And your breath is always giving you a gift. And your body gives it right back. And we just have a moment in time to witness that. And just as your breath is abundant and generous and always right here, You can also witness gravity holding you. Something you can count on no matter what. Just like your breath moving through you. No matter how busy our mind is, No matter how many responsibilities we have, No matter how overwhelmed or overjoyed we are, Breath is happening. Gravity is holding you. Trees are growing outside your window. And this is something that Lao Tzu in the Tao talked about. Nature is never in a hurry and yet everything is happening. So here we just slow down what sometimes becomes busyness in our mind. Never to shut our minds down, Never to make them wrong, But just to invite in a bit of stillness. So we can witness these incredible gifts that we get to experience, Like breathing, Like being held by gravity, Like having ears that can take a simple vibration and a brilliant brain that can interpret that vibration into meaning. Just to be able to witness this and not get caught up in everything the mind thinks, But to be able to land back in your body and notice. Those pressure points on your body letting you know gravity is holding you. And from the steadiness of that, You can notice the movement of your breath. Just notice again a breath. It's just a moment by moment present awareness, Breath always happening in the present moment. We can witness how our body subtly moves as we breathe in and out. It's very early on in my meditation practice, I had this idea that I needed to be perfectly still. And it's helpful to invite in stillness so we can witness the movement of our mind. The steadiness of gravity, The consistency of the stability beneath us helps us notice the movement of our breath. As we're constantly in motion, It's hard to notice the subtlety of breathing. If we let our mind move constantly and we never invite it to slow down, It's hard to really pay attention to what our mind is doing. So here we just have these moments where we can witness, Oh yeah there's my mind going to the future again. Here's gravity, Here's my body, Here's this movement happening within me. A reminder that there are many tools in our meditation practice, Stillness is one of them. Let's take a moment here just to wiggle the torso a bit, Maybe shift your head side to side. Notice the different sensations that creates as you find that little wiggle, Little shift of your neck. Sometimes that physical movement on purpose helps us reconnect to the present moment. To the present without needing to think so hard about it. Use this wonderful vessel of your body to return to the present moment. We have their movements, You might shake your hands out at the wrist, You might rub your palms together, You might take a couple of big deep breaths and sigh it out. On occasion my meditation is just me shaking my body continuously because that's what I need in the moment. It's just permission to be a full human. It means movement and stillness, Action and rest, Great joy and incredible grief. All of these things exist within every single human body. There's not a single wrong emotion or a single pain you've felt that wasn't asking to be tended to. When I say wrong in quotes, There is not a single emotion that is good or bad, They just are. Just like every single breath is an opportunity just to experience living. Every sensation we feel is that same invitation. Just to experience being alive. If you need a little movement today, Choose it. If stillness feels good, Choose it. And then just return a hundred times, A million times to that feeling of gravity beneath you, Just holding you. And then that steady rhythmic movement of breath, Abundant, Generous, Always right here. Just taking a moment here to invite in deep rest. It happens every time you exhale. When you invite it in, When you bring your awareness to that moment of rest, You can really receive it. Just let this next exhale soften your entire being, Your jaw, Your shoulders, The entirety of your heart. You might feel your entire body sink 2% heavier into your cushion. Invite us to take a deep breath in together. Invite in that softening quality as you exhale. And do that again, A big full breath in. Allow this rest to land in your body. I invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices. Remembering you can do that anytime throughout the day. We already know how to take action. But just allowing that moment of rest sometimes is the most important thing. And you carry it with you. And we'll end with a few love-kindness phrases. Just repeating that because they make sense for you. May I seek and find contentment today. May my body and mind be healthy and supported. When action is needed, May I consciously choose to move with ease and peace. May the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings. Then go slow if you can. Find a little movement when you feel ready. No rush. Take a moment to thank yourself. And as always, Thank you for being here, Supporting each other.