Hi,
It's Julie Potichur for the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
Let's find our comfortable seat.
Feel your sit bones,
Whatever is supporting you.
You can rock a little bit to feel your right sit bone and feel your left sit bone.
And then either close your eyes or a gentle downward gaze,
Whichever you feel more comfortable.
We're going to take three breaths in for four and out for six.
On this last one,
Hold it in for a sec,
Sip in a little more air and then breathe it out with a sigh.
Okay,
Letting your breath find its natural rhythm and relaxing your forehead and your eyes,
Releasing the tension in your jaws and your face.
Imagining that slightly upturned lips,
That very important slight smile.
Dropping that down into your throat and your neck and softening.
Letting your shoulder blades melt down your back,
Keeping your chest nice and open.
And dropping that smile down into your chest and your heart now and just taking a few beats here to notice what's going on.
Letting your abs relax,
Really releasing your hips into whatever is supporting you and letting relaxation flow down both your legs.
Now from your shoulders all the way down to your fingertips and then softening your hands.
And you may want to place a hand or hands where you find it soothing.
Just as a reminder that you're giving yourself this love,
This care,
This time for yourself and in community.
There's people all over the world meditating right now that we don't know and that we can't see and we're joining them in community,
In solidarity and goodness,
In refuge.
And releasing and relaxing your hands where you find them comfy and resting your awareness on your breath.
Seeing and feeling your body breathing in,
Your body breathing out.
Settling and stilling your mind,
Quieting the chatter.
As you skate with your awareness from the gap to the beginning of the in breath all the way through the in breath to the gap and the beginning of the out breath all the way Reflecting on these words,
Be still and know that I am peace.
Be still and know that I am peace.
Allowing whatever thoughts or feelings or emotions that might arise to drift through the sky of your awareness.
Be still and know.
Be still and know.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be still.
Be still.
Be.
Now from this place of perhaps more stillness and perhaps more calm and perhaps the settling of the snow globe of our minds,
Let's ask our heart what it needs to hear right now.
What word,
Mental construction that we can create that might be what we need or want.
It could be hope or love or courage or patience.
Whatever that word is,
Let's breathe it in.
Breathe it right into your heart and your soul.
Somewhere in the center of your body and let it expand throughout your body on your breath.
Taking your exhale,
Just release,
Taking in all this essence of medicine that you've created into yourself on your in-breath.
Now that you've filled up your being,
Your be here now with something helpful and useful,
You can use your exhale to bestow out a gift to specific individuals,
Groups of individuals,
To all who are suffering or just to the planet at large.
You're breathing in for yourself.
You're breathing out for others.
And it can be light,
It can be love,
Peace,
Ease,
It can be whatever you want to give.
Remembering you're giving in for yourself,
You're giving out for others.
You're giving out for others.
Now,
Letting the compassion practice go and staying in the meditation,
Reflecting on the entire phrase again and seeing if it feels or seems different in any way.
Be still and know that I am peace.
Be still and know that I am peace.
And knowing that it's possible to get ourselves into a state where we really can be peace isn't a selfish state.
True although it might feel better in our bodies,
It's actually of service to humanity,
To be peace,
To be love,
To be compassion so that we can be the change.
Now,
Wiggling your toes and wiggling your fingers,
Listening to the sound of the chimes all the way to the very end and then gently opening your eyes and coming back to this space.
Give your body a stretch if you need one.
Thank you for listening.
It's Julie Potichar from the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
