Opportunity to spend a little time with yourself,
Slow down a little.
And first and foremost,
Just opportunity to take a few deep breaths.
Notice what that feels like to be able to slow down enough to really feel your breath.
Just notice even the subtle sensations of your clothing shifting as you breathe in and out.
And it's a true gift.
That we get to breathe.
Otherwise we wouldn't be here and that might sound morose,
But it's meant to be a reminder of how important our breath is.
You can also notice the foundation beneath you.
How wonderful it is that you can settle into this posture and be supported.
By a chair,
By gravity,
By your own breath.
Just witnessing here for a few moments.
This balance of movements and stillness.
The expansive quality of your inhale.
And the relaxive response of your exhale.
Spaciousness and softness,
Movement and stillness,
All just happening.
This spaciousness and softness.
Is the foundation.
Or the tonglen practice we've been working with,
Tonglen meaning taking and sending,
Or giving and receiving.
It's also the foundation.
Quite literally everything we do.
And it can be the foundation for our meditation.
Meditation is not meant to be perfectly still.
Your mind will move.
Sometimes it moves towards a little sleepiness and sometimes it moves and it gets quite busy.
No matter what's happening,
Right here in the center of you is the steadiness of your breath.
Steadiness of your heartbeat.
Already happening is this wise balance of effort and ease.
You inhale a gentle effort.
Your exhale,
Effortlessness,
Softness,
Rest.
Movement.
And stillness.
Very often as humans,
We.
.
.
Get caught up in movement.
Society might tell us that our doing is very important.
Your beingness is just as important.
Like a song.
The space between notes is just as important.
As the notes themselves.
If all the notes happened at once.
It would just be chaos.
So here in our meditation,
We just have some spaciousness to witness.
There's a lot happening in my mind today.
I'm a little bit experiencing sleepiness right now.
Let me just notice these things to the best of our ability.
Can you witness yourself without judgment?
And when you do judge.
Just notice the judgment.
Every time you exhale is an opportunity to just let go.
You're not trying to push your thoughts away.
You're not trying to force yourself to be calm.
It's just softening into the present moment.
Instead of trying to stop thinking of thoughts.
Just bring your attention to your breath and the thought automatically softens.
Notice again this spaciousness of your inhale.
Can you let it be even more expansive?
A big full deep breath.
You might even sigh out your exhale.
Allowing some release in that.
And as we stay,
I'll invite you into this tonglen practice.
It's a reminder that you can always come back to your breath.
You can always come back to the steadiness beneath you.
Especially if this tonglen practice makes you feel a bit anxious.
Just notice that feeling you need your own compassion the most in that moment.
At Tonglen,
There's scientific studies that show that it actually helps increase our compassion,
Our ability to hold difficult emotions.
But we go just one breath at a time.
The idea with Tonglen is that we're receiving any difficulty purposefully.
And we're giving back our goodness,
Our peacefulness,
Our softness.
The human tendency is to want to avoid the difficulty.
So receiving it on purpose is a practice.
And it's an opening of your heart.
It's a spaciousness,
Rather than trying to hang on to it.
I mean,
You're not telling yourself the story of the difficulty.
Is recognizing that it exists in being human.
And I'll invite you right now just to.
.
.
Bring to mind any emotion that might be difficult for you to feel.
For some of us,
It's something like.
.
.
Anger,
Resentment.
For some of us,
It might even be something like joy.
It might hold joy for a moment,
But then guilt might follow it.
Moment to consider for yourself,
Is there an emotion that's a little bit difficult for me to feel?
And whatever comes to mind or heart.
Sadness,
Frustration,
Joy,
Whatever it is.
And if nothing particular comes to mind,
That's okay.
Not trying to conjure a feeling,
You're just.
.
.
Checking in with yourself,
Getting to know yourself.
For these next few moments,
We're just practicing the spaciousness of our inhale,
Inviting in,
I hold this emotion for this moment in time.
And then I release my softening back.
So breathing in right here,
Let's do it together.
Big breath in.
You might sigh out your exhale.
With this breath in,
You're inviting just for a moment to hold whatever is difficult for you.
When you breathe out.
And letting everything soften.
Breathing in just for this moment,
I invite in this difficulty.
When I breathe out,
I offer back my gentleness.
Breathing in,
Creating space.
For my own difficulty.
Breathing out.
Allowing my softness.
And you just repeat that for a few rounds.
If you notice your mind starts going off in story,
Come back to your breath.
I might even simply use the phrase,
Breathing in spaciousness.
Breathing out softness.
Spaciousness and softness.
The idea is not that we're holding the weight of the most difficult experience of your life.
It's just this moment of the inhale.
I give myself permission to receive even the difficult moments.
And as they exhale.
I give back my goodness,
My gentleness.
Breathing in spaciousness.
Quite literally,
Your body creates spaciousness.
And every time you breathe out,
You're offering back your softness.
Your gentleness.
And right here,
Just physically again,
Notice your breath.
What part of you moves as you breathe in.
Where can you invite softening as you exhale?
In this practice.
Of receiving and giving.
It's just one breath at a time.
There's a really beautiful phrase.
I've seen the origins as Siberian or Celtic or African.
It's in many different traditions.
The phrase is something like.
A burden shared is a burden.
Cut in half.
A joy shared is a joy expanded.
And it's this idea that we can hold each other,
Even when we're by ourselves in our separate containers.
You're starting with giving yourself permission to feel what you feel.
Giving yourself permission to receive the whole of you.
Even the flaws,
Even the difficult moments,
That's just being human.
And when we create that capacity within ourselves,
We create the capacity to hold the difficulty of our loved ones.
Even eventually the whole world.
In this last moment.
With your open heart.
Let's take a deep breath in together again.
Perhaps sigh out your exhale.
For releasing all your goodness back into the world.
I invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
We'll end with a few loving kindness phrases,
Just repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I receive the whole of me.
To the best of my ability.
May I receive myself with compassion.
May I receive others with compassion today.
When action is needed.
May I choose to move with ease.
And peace.
May the merits of our collective practice ripple out.
To benefit all beings.
And go slow if you can.
Just whenever you feel complete,
There's no rush.
And start to open your eyes,
Take a moment to thank yourself.
And as always,
Thanks for being here,
Being part of our sangha.
