Settle in and make yourself comfortable,
Feeling your feet resting,
Feeling the support of your sit bones,
Feeling how that frees your rib cage,
Letting your body settle,
Letting your breath arrive,
Letting your awareness rest on all of these sensations.
Sometimes it's really hard to sit.
And we can make use of that.
We can make our practice more comfortable.
And we can make ourselves more comfortable in the world as a result.
Let your attention come again to your breath,
Wherever it's most clear,
Wherever it's most comfortable.
Rest your awareness there and feel the continuity of your breath.
Feel that dynamic,
That it just comes to you,
Letting yourself enjoy resting your awareness and allowing these natural dynamic processes.
And then difficult states arise like restlessness,
Like anger,
Sadness,
Anxiety.
What you can do here is just really feel into it.
Not for a set 45 minutes,
But knowing you're going to feel into it just enough to let it be known to not struggle with it,
Not push it away.
And try that now,
Knowing that we have this ability to rest that we just felt feel into this difficult experience in the context of a practice that holds you not for too long,
Just for long enough to be with it in an easy way.
One way to do that is to notice is there content?
And is there a feeling in your body,
Remove your awareness from the specifics from the content to the feeling in your body,
And kind of call that this kind guard,
Resting as you feel the physical sensations,
Not paying attention too much to the story.
And now before it becomes too much,
Move your awareness,
The sensations of your breath,
Deep in your torso,
Release some comfort and some grounding,
The uncomfortable state may still be there.
But this grounding comfortable breath is there as well.
Just make a choice to put more attention there.
So for this difficult state,
You're moving from the story to its sensation in the body.
And you're feeling these sensations in the context of your kind practice.
And you're not dwelling there,
You're then choosing to move to more comfortable feelings.
Another thing that can be very helpful is to notice that there may be some expectations,
Some story about what practice is like.
There may be some story that you'll sit and you'll be like a stone statue.
And then that's not what happens.
What happens is that you feel these real experiences that people feel,
Make that distinction,
That this story,
This view that was in the back of my mind,
Really was well meaning,
But it wasn't accurate.
It can give you a lot of relief.
And just see right now,
Can you go from what the myth was,
To your feelings,
Allowing them and holding them with kindness.
Also knowing that you can start to recognize these difficult states.
And then you can do this practice of moving from the story around it to the feeling and holding it with kindness.
And try that now,
Moving from the story,
The sensation in your body,
The time,
Allowing awareness.
And now move to breath in your belly,
Feeling its rise and fall,
Allowing and resting.
And see what follows from this allowing and resting.
Is there some calm,
Some ease or tranquility,
Feeling each moment fresh and new,
Knowing that in the next moment,
Anything can happen.
Feel that hope.
Feel the truth of that.
As your breath continues in this restful way,
Letting peace and calm become familiar,
Feeling the support of your awareness.
And now we dedicate the merit,
Just as we hope to know calm and contentment,
Just as we hope to feel safe and happy.
We hope that is a truth for all beings.
We can share that with them,
We can share that with them,
Knowing that this sharing just increases it.
So I thank you for your practice.
