Today's meditation is an invitation to steady the heart in difficult times,
To rest with the breath and find ground in awareness.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable position,
Sitting,
Standing,
Lying down.
Let the body be supported in a way that feels natural.
Allow the eyes to lower and the gaze to soften,
Or if it's comfortable,
Allow the eyes to gently close.
Feel the weight of the body in contact with the surface beneath it,
And now bring your awareness to the breath.
Without changing anything,
Allow the breath to come and go.
Simply notice breathing in,
Breathing out,
And allow the breath to find its own rhythm,
Its own pace.
In times of challenge and difficult times,
The mind can move quickly.
Many emotions can arise one after another,
Or maybe even at once.
Thoughts trying to make sense of what's happening,
To explain,
To fix.
For now,
You don't have to solve anything.
Just come back to the breath.
Feel this breath,
And this one.
Each breath an anchor to the present moment.
Even when things feel uncertain,
We can always come back to the breath.
If you notice a feeling or a thought arise,
Acknowledge it quietly.
You don't need to push it away or make it smaller.
Simply acknowledge it and come back to the breath.
Each time you notice the mind has wandered,
Each time you notice an emotion or a thought,
Gently come back to the breath,
The simple rhythm of being alive.
If you notice the attention has wandered again,
Return to the breath,
Feeling the body breathing,
Present.
And when you're ready,
Feel again those parts of the body in contact with the support beneath you,
And notice the body breathing,
And knowing you can always come back to the breath at any moment,
A place of refuge,
Of resource,
Of presence.
Even now,
You can come back to the breath.
And let's close this practice today with a silent wish that the entire universe and all beings everywhere know peace,
Peace,
And only peace.
