My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
As always,
Just take these first couple of moments to settle into your body.
Take a few deep breaths.
Just let your body be held.
Whether you have a.
Familiar posture where you're seated upright.
Or you're curled up and tucked into your chair or your bed.
Just giving your body the space that it needs to rest into this space of meditation.
Physical spaciousness,
Mental spaciousness.
Removing any layers of shoulds or supposed tos.
And there was a time that I was taught this and really believed that my meditation needed to be a certain way.
And it can certainly be helpful to sit upright to have a nice long spine.
In the yogic tradition that gives us access to our energy centers.
Quite literally physiologically if you're seated upright there's a little more alertness in the body.
And yet at the same time,
There's no possible way to do this wrong.
The only way that we.
Can create discord in our meditation is when we are forceful with ourselves.
When we're telling ourselves,
I should be sitting up,
Or I should be quiet in my mind,
Or I'm not supposed to feel this,
Those are the moments where We're just judging ourselves.
And those are the moments where we need our tenderness the most.
Something as simple as choosing the posture you're in.
Is really foundational to that gentleness that you can bring in.
However it is that you're landing today,
However it is.
Let's give yourself permission to be exactly as you are.
Notice how your breath is moving through you.
Notice how the environment that you're in affects you.
And allow yourself to experience all of it.
Where do you feel your breath right now?
That right there is presence.
There's never some big thing that we have to do in meditation.
It's just presence again and again and again.
Integration of our mind,
Our body,
Our hearts,
And our spirits.
These four different centers within us coming together.
And depending on the wisdom tradition that we look at,
There's many different ways to look at.
What is within us.
The chakra system in the yogic tradition.
If we look at some ancient mythical gods.
Inanna and Ereshkigal.
There's seven centers of power within the body.
We have our common language of mind-body-spirit.
And my own addition of heart.
So no matter how we look at this,
There isn't a right or a wrong way.
And it can be so fun to learn and intellectualize and figure out.
What does an energy center look like?
From an ancient wisdom tradition,
From modern science,
From the lens of quantum physics.
But it's bringing this intellectual part into the eye of the heart.
Allowing the eye of the heart that only sees the world with compassion to be wide open.
And to allow at times your body's wisdom to just take over.
Let your mind rest.
And then the soul or spirit within you,
The spark.
That animates this body.
We're just bringing all of these parts together.
Allowing the young parts of us that are unhealed.
So just rest in the eye of the heart for a moment.
Allowing the clearness of the eye of the heart to witness all the parts of us with tenderness.
And the practice of it is so simple.
It's just receiving an inhale.
And watching how your body softens as you exhale.
And there's many more tools that we utilize.
Just always coming back to the simplicity of just simply witnessing a breath.
Bringing yourself together.
Seeing yourself as already whole.
There's nothing within you that you need to get rid of.
There's nothing outside of you that you need to gain.
Yes,
There is wisdom to be learned.
Everything you need is right here.
Very often we're letting go,
We're shedding old layers of belief.
We're learning from the parts that are inside us that we've hidden.
All of this brings us into the first step,
This eightfold noble path,
This ancient wisdom tradition from the Buddhist tradition.
A first step is wise perspective.
And that word why is sama in the original Pali.
The word sama is almost always translated as right,
And in our English translation,
Right also has a wrong.
Pali not being a black and white language.
Sama more specifically means wise.
To move in the wisest direction.
And as we take this step on the path,
Your meditation practice being a huge part.
Every action you take a part of your path.
It's helpful to recognize that in this wisdom tradition.
It's not a narrow path,
And it's not a path that anybody can give you a map to.
But other people can help illuminate your path.
We support each other in this journey.
And yet your path is so uniquely your own.
There might be guidance,
Someone illuminating.
Ah,
There's a pitfall over there.
There's a little snake pit over there.
But recognizing that A pitfall for one person.
Might be an opportunity for another.
So instead of thinking of pitfalls on the path,
As it's sometimes written in our English translation.
I like to think that any pitfall is actually just a possibility.
So we have this pathless path.
It's endless and vast.
When we land in chaos or rigidity on the far ends of the path.
We end up in pain.
And that's when we need to slow down and just witness ourselves with tenderness.
And then as we move,
Seeking the wisest perspective possible.
Seeking the wisest understanding possible.
And part of that wise perspective is recognizing that everything we do is learning.
Every mistake you've ever made.
Every moment of guilt.
Every moment of shame that you've harbored within you.
All that is,
Is learning.
See yourself as a child.
And the wisest part of you is grabbing the hand of that child and just guiding you on your path.
And it is simply breath by breath by breath.
And as we bring together our mind,
Our body,
Our spirit,
Our heart,
As we allow our breath to remind us.
Of wise action.
I can recognize that this beautiful intellectual mind we've been given is doing its work every time it's thinking its way through something.
And we also need to invite our mind to rest in the wisdom of the body.
Kindness of the heart.
The divine spark in the spirit.
There's a really beautiful quote from the poet Jared K.
Anderson.
He says,
Asking for a life jacket is more important.
Than knowing the physics of buoyancy.
So sometimes we can reach into our own heart and find the tenderness we need.
And other times we need to reach out to an oak tree,
To a loved one.
Just remembering that.
Asking for help on this journey of learning is needed and necessary.
And what we're doing right here.
Landing in a bit of stillness.
This is a life jacket in and of itself.
Staying with yourself.
Practicing tenderness.
I invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
Ending with these loving kindness praises.
Repeating these intentions back to yourself.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
May I continue to expand.
May I see the world through the eye of my heart.
And when action is needed.
May it be wise.
May I move with ease and peace.
And finally,
May the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
Whenever you feel complete.
It's no rush ever.
Paint a little movement.
Take a moment to thank yourself.
And as always,
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for supporting each other.
