Preparing for the eye of the hurricane meditation.
So finding a comfortable meditation position,
Either sitting on a cushion on the floor or a chair.
Sit tall with your back straight,
Shoulders relaxed.
Let your hands rest in your lap and gently close your eyes.
And let's take three deep slow breaths to begin.
Now become aware of your body sitting here.
Notice the sense of contact between your body and the seat beneath you.
Notice your feet on the floor.
Notice your clothes against your skin.
And now let's consider a metaphor.
Within the strong turbulent winds of a hurricane,
The eye,
The centre of the hurricane is quiet.
There is no wind and no movement there.
For a moment,
Picture this idea in your mind.
Can you visualize the strong turbulent winds of a hurricane and the inner core that is peaceful and quiet?
And let's see if you can become like the centre of the hurricane.
Your current circumstances,
Your thoughts,
Your feelings and the sensations throughout your body can be compared to the winds of a hurricane.
Try to let go of all these things for a moment so that you are no longer taking part in them.
Like the centre of the hurricane is not taking part in the turbulent surrounding winds.
To do this,
Start by focusing on your breath.
Simply breathe in and breathe out.
Focus inward.
Just like the eye is deep within the hurricane,
Your eye is deep within you.
Use your breath to connect to this part of you.
Simply breathe in and breathe out.
Stay connected to your breath.
If anything stressful happens at this moment,
Such as negative thoughts,
Unpleasant feelings,
Annoying sounds,
Stressful life events,
Memories,
Try to look at them as if they are the turbulent winds of the hurricane,
Whirling around,
Continually changing,
Unpredictable.
Notice that you are not them.
You are the silent centre of the hurricane,
The peaceful part,
Despite what is happening around you.
You are the silent centre of the hurricane,
Peaceful and at ease.
You are not reacting,
You are merely observing.
Like the wind of the hurricane,
These experiences are continually moving and changing.
You,
On the other hand,
Are stable.
You are not moving or being carried away by them.
As you are breathing,
Notice how you move increasingly more towards the centre of the hurricane,
Towards the eye.
Just like the turbulent wind of the hurricane,
Your thoughts,
Your feelings and whatever is happening outside yourself is still going on,
But you are no longer part of it.
You're in a safe,
Peaceful place.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
As you sit here,
Connected to your eye,
Notice whatever arises.
Notice the wind of the hurricane,
But do not participate.
Stay in the eye.
Notice thoughts,
Notice feelings,
Notice sensations.
Continue to watch the ever-changing nature of the world inside and outside you.
Watch from a distance,
With curiosity and without judgment,
Without reacting to what you see.
No matter how intense or harmful the hurricane gets,
The eye is always centred,
Calm and at ease.
Even the most destructive hurricane cannot hurt or harm the eye.
The eye is safe.
Whenever you feel you need to restore your inner peace,
Use your breath to connect to this silent part of yourself.
Just breathe in and breathe out.
It may help to visualise the hurricane with yourself in the centre.
It can be challenging to see the eye of the hurricane at times,
And sometimes we forget the eye is there.
However,
It is always there.
If we examine carefully enough,
Even the strongest,
Darkest hurricane,
Sooner or later,
We'll see the eye centred and constant.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Peaceful and at ease.
Centred and constant.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
The eye of the hurricane.
And when you feel ready,
Loosening your focus a little,
And slowly opening your eyes.
Thanks for joining us.
