Welcome friend,
If you've found your way here,
Then perhaps something in you is searching.
Searching for peace,
Clarity,
For a sense of home within the noise of the world.
Today's meditation is an invitation to turn inward,
To remember that when the mind reaches out in confusion,
The path of release is not escape,
But return,
The way out,
Is in.
So,
Take a moment just to settle where you are and let your body find its own stillness.
Allow gravity to hold you,
Allow a deep unforced breath in and an easy releasing breath out.
With each cycle of breath,
Feel yourself arrive a little more fully into this moment,
As if returning to a familiar shore.
In Buddhist teaching,
Suffering begins,
When we run away and avoid what is.
We seek an exit from discomfort,
A distraction,
A plan,
A future state,
But the reality is,
Freedom begins the moment we stop running.
For,
When we turn toward the experience itself,
Something truly remarkable can happen and it softens.
Imagine your thoughts as waves against a cliff,
They seem powerful,
But only because we stand resisting.
Because,
When we step back into the cave of the heart,
The waves become sound,
Music echoing through the stillness.
You might notice restlessness inside,
The urge to fix and to know,
To act.
Instead of fighting it,
Bring gentle curiosity,
Ask silently,
Inwardly,
What are you trying to tell me?
Every feeling,
Even restlessness,
Is a messenger from within,
It asks to be acknowledged,
Not solved.
When Thich Nhat Hanh said,
The way out is in,
He meant that transformation is not found by changing life,
But instead by changing the way that we inhabit it.
To breathe with what is,
To dwell deeply in each step,
Each sensation,
Each small now.
Bring your awareness to your body,
Feel the contact points,
The seat beneath you,
The weight on your hands,
The touch of air against your skin.
Let the breath flow naturally,
No control,
Just witness.
With each inhale,
Feel the invitation to come home,
With each exhale,
Feel the release of striving.
Imagine the centre of your chest glowing faintly,
Not dramatically but steadily,
This is your inner refuge.
Whenever the outer world feels heavy,
You can always return here.
Now bring to mind something in life that maybe feels unresolved,
An uncertainty or a feeling of being stuck.
And rather than analysing,
Simply breathe in to that heart space,
As you breathe,
Silently repeat,
I am willing to see this clearly.
I am willing to stay present.
Notice how awareness itself begins to hold the discomfort,
Like sky holding cloud,
Nothing to fix,
Just space.
Awareness does not need to escape anything,
Because it simply witnesses,
This is a freedom hidden in stillness.
A liberation not of circumstance,
A liberation of perspective.
We will now move into deeper silence,
Let the words fade into the breath and sound,
Trust the rhythm of the present.
Inhale softly and exhale completely.
Feel each breath as a wave,
Rising,
Falling,
Returning to stillness.
Whib each exhale,
Sink further inward now,
As if walking a spiral path toward the centre of your being.
At the centre,
There is only quiet knowing,
It does not judge and it does not ask,
It simply is.
Now imagine this in space expanding,
Like light spreading from your heart throughout your entire body,
The peace within you becoming the peace around you.
You are not separate from this stillness,
It breathes you,
It holds you.
If thoughts return,
Let them pass through this field of awareness,
No resistance,
No engagement,
Just clouds in a vast sky.
Now slowly bring awareness back to the body,
Feel the breath returning to its natural rhythm.
Notice again the rise and fall of your chest,
The quiet pulse of life beneath your skin.
Reflect for a moment,
When you turned inward today,
What did you uncover,
Discover,
What changed within you?
Remember,
Whenever you feel lost or disconnected in any way,
The doorway is not out there,
Because it opens right here.
In this breath,
In this heartbeat,
In this simple awareness of being,
May this understanding guide you gently through your days.
May your presence be the path and may you always remember,
The way out is in.
