Welcome to this guided meditation.
Today we will explore together loving awareness.
We begin by finding a comfortable seat,
A position that allows us to stay engaged with this energy and this intention for our practice.
Arriving,
We begin to settle into our bodies,
Feeling an upright spine,
So you can feel the energy flowing from the tailbone through the crown of the head.
With this practice today,
Feeling divine inspiration from the teachings of Ram Dass,
With his recent passing,
We're reminded that we may not be here in physical presence,
That his qualities still live beyond him.
His qualities of love,
Compassion,
Kindness.
These are gifts that will continue to be given.
So we begin by offering a little kindness and compassion to our bodies.
They may have arrived here feeling achy,
Feeling tense.
There may be some anxiety living within us or some stress.
And just for a moment,
Notice that,
Without judgment,
Simply labeling it what it is,
Whatever is living within us right now,
And for a moment just sending some kindness.
For arriving here today in this practice,
Showing up despite these things that stand in our way,
I'm feeling joy and bliss and ease.
And beginning to notice our breath as we let that go,
Just for these moments together in this practice,
And you set that all aside and make space for your breath.
Beginning to watch the inhale and the exhale flowing through the body,
Not controlling.
Simple awareness.
On our next breath,
Taking a count of four on the inhale,
Holding for four and releasing for six,
An offering of compassion for our breath,
A slow release to help us into a relaxed state.
So inhaling for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And holding,
Two,
One.
Now release for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Inhaling for four,
Three,
Two,
Hold.
And releasing for six,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And inhaling,
Continuing this for a few more cycles.
Holding at the top and a slow release.
Continuing at your own pace for two more cycles.
And release.
A last breath in for four and hold.
And a slow release.
Letting the breath flow back in naturally now,
Noticing any space that might have been created.
This beautiful breath that goes behind the scenes,
Continuously moving like an ocean,
Never ceasing.
While we exist in this physical plane,
Our breath is the life that fuels,
That meets with the energy of the body.
Beginning to follow that breath coming in through the nostrils,
The point between the brow,
This connection with our highest self,
And holding our concentration in this space for our practice.
Today as we focus on loving awareness,
Imagine you are seated beside an expansive lake.
The moon has risen in fullness and casts its beautiful light on the ripples of the water.
You're surrounded by trees and mountains,
Flowers,
A waterfall,
This beautiful scene.
This space offers so much peace,
Stillness.
You can hear all the sounds of the crickets and the frogs,
The owls and the bats.
You begin to notice this breeze flowing through the trees and the leaves.
And you can imagine this breeze gets to touch all of this beauty.
And within this breeze lives this love,
This compassion,
This pure kindness.
As it blows through the trees,
It dances,
The leaves singing as they rustle.
And you begin to feel this love that this breeze has and carries with it.
This breeze begins to flow through the grass,
Creating a symphony of sound.
So peaceful.
It's like each bleed of grass is singing and smiling with this love and compassion it feels,
Touched by this wind.
You see the brilliant color underneath this moonlight of the grass and it's moving in waves in concert with this breeze.
The breeze continues to blow through the lake.
You can hear it against the lapping waves on the shore.
It's like gently nudging the waves up,
Helping it make its journey to land.
And you begin to have the sense that everything is working together.
As the crickets sing and the leaves dance and the waves wash and tumble on shore,
That everything's connected through love.
You begin to feel this breeze blow on your skin.
And you begin to feel this love and compassion deep within your heart,
As if the breeze was inside of you,
Lifting you upwards,
Filling you with its beautiful energy,
Its symphony of sound.
And feeling it reach that point between the eyebrows,
That third eye.
And you feel the connection within yourself,
This awareness that everything is connected.
Your breath is the wind.
Your breath is love.
It is kindness.
It is unconditional.
It is compassion.
With each breath that you take,
You notice your environment dancing with it.
With each inhale bringing to mind this mantra,
I am loving awareness.
I am loving awareness.
Feeling this love grow with each breath you take and feeding the universe that surrounds you with this.
I am loving awareness.
I am loving awareness.
My breath is the wind and the wind is my breath.
I am loving awareness.
I am loving awareness.
Feeling deeply connected to everything in this space,
To everyone that comes into your reality.
And understanding the oneness,
Having an awareness to all coming from love.
It all begins with giving love and compassion to ourselves.
And stepping outside of ourselves and noticing everything around us,
Its beauty.
And beginning to weave that web of connectedness and releasing our separateness.
Bringing our hands to your heart center.
We offer our breath as a means of life and sharing our love.
By taking these moments together to connect,
We build the bridge to love and compassion.
I thank you for taking your time to practice with me today.
And I invite you to take this feeling,
These qualities of loving awareness with you outside of your practice.
And just begin to notice.
Setting that judgment aside like we did in the beginning.
I'm simply observing with eyes of love.
May you be well.
Namaste.
Thank you.
