When meditation is mastered,
The mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.
So Krishna tells Arjuna about the practice of meditation in the Bhagavad Gita.
In the still mind,
In the depths of meditation,
The self reveals itself.
So let's sit together for a few minutes in meditation,
Building a foundation that we can come back to again and again.
When you're ready,
Come to a comfortable cross-legged seat or you may sit in a chair if that is more comfortable and supportive to you.
And allow your hips to be heavy,
Anchoring the seat down.
Your knees should be a touch lower than the hips.
If you need a folded blanket or cushion to sit on,
That can be helpful.
The knees will rest more easily with less strain on the knee joints.
Feel or sense each point of your body that is in contact with the ground,
Including your ankles,
The sides of your feet,
Your thighs,
And all of the points of your seat connected to the earth.
Let gravity draw the hips towards the earth and let the earth support you.
Place the palms of your hands down on your thighs.
Lengthen the spine upward,
Reaching through the crown of the head.
Lift the chest slightly,
Which will naturally open the front of the body.
Let the arms rest by your sides and relax your shoulders away from your ears.
Roll your shoulder blades gently down your back.
If you're comfortable,
You can close your eyes whenever you're ready.
If you prefer,
You can close your lids just partially with your gaze about four feet in front of you.
If you have your eyes partially open,
You're not really taking in the details of the room.
You're simply gazing softly ahead,
Not getting too attached at what you are seeing.
If you find yourself too distracted by your surroundings,
Adjust your gaze down the nose towards the tip of the nose and rest your awareness there.
Bring your attention to your face as you scan your face.
Relax the space between your eyebrows.
Relax your cheeks.
Soften your jawline.
I prefer to keep my mouth slightly open,
Almost imperceptibly,
But just enough to relax the jaw and allow the breath still to come through the nose.
You can also relax the tongue towards the back of the throat and begin to place your attention on your natural breath.
Bring your awareness to the space just below your solar plexus as you feel it softly rising and falling.
Just notice the rising and falling as you breathe in and out.
Take a few deeper breaths,
Really feeling the lungs.
Feel the side of the ribs expanding out as you breathe in and the ribs drawing inwards as you exhale.
Another couple of deep breaths,
Inhaling deeply all the way to the belly and exhaling all of the air out as you draw your navel towards your spine with the last bit of air exhaling.
One more deep breath like this.
Begin to lengthen your breath,
Inhaling a count of five and exhaling a count of five.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Continue to breathe like this on your own for a few moments.
If thoughts arise,
Allow them to come and go.
Continue to bring your awareness back to your breath as the primary object of your meditation.
Draw your awareness back to the breath.
Notice the space between your breaths,
The space in between the inhale and the exhale.
See if you can rest your mind in that space.
If sensations,
Thoughts or emotions are really pulling at you,
Place your full awareness on that thought or sensation or emotion and just be with it for a moment.
Don't try to push anything away.
Just allow it to be.
The less that we push and pull with our thoughts,
With sensations,
With our to-do list,
We just return to the breath.
Just keep breathing.
You can refresh your posture,
Taking a deep breath in and out if you need to reset or if you find yourself becoming restless or uncomfortable.
Just keep breathing for a few more minutes on your own.
With your awareness on your breath,
Allow your thoughts to just pass without any judgment.
Begin to deepen your breath.
We can develop loving awareness when we can just sit with the difficult things and not label them as good or bad,
Holding them with equal parts love and compassion and simply allowing space for all of it to be.
That's part of what I keep coming back to meditation for over and over and over again.
And consistency here is key.
I hope you'll come back and join me for another meditation.
And if you have the opportunity to,
You may want to journal a few things down,
Just free write whatever comes to mind.
Whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you.
