This meditation,
Strong Back,
Soft Heart,
Is based on the work of Joan Halifax.
This meditation,
Strong Back,
Soft Heart,
Is based on the work of Joan Halifax.
Take a moment to find your comfortable meditation posture.
If you are seated in a chair,
I encourage you to have both feet on the floor.
Let your back be straight but not rigid.
Your head level,
Eyes open or gently cast down.
Let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Take a few good breaths and feel yourself begin to root into your meditation posture.
Allow a sense of mindfulness to begin to develop.
Follow your breath and find a bit of ease in your mind.
In this way,
We may find a bit of ease in our spirit,
Being at peace with each moment.
No matter what that moment brings,
Sadness,
Joy,
Fear,
Weakness,
Strength.
As you breathe,
Bring mindfulness into your spine.
Breathe into your spine,
Feel its surrounding muscles.
Appreciate your spine's strength,
Vertical yet flexible,
Upright like a tree,
But able to respond to the winds of change.
Holding firm in any position,
Strong in any condition.
Feel the strength,
Recognize it and know it.
And say to yourself,
Strong back.
Remember times when you have had to be strong,
Feel your strength at this moment,
Present and working toward your own healing.
Let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Now bring your awareness to your belly.
Breathe deeply and feel your diaphragm as it rises and falls.
Feel a sense of courage for life as you breathe into your belly.
A full awareness of breathing helps us to bear so much,
To understand so much.
Let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Breathe into your spine,
Feel its surrounding muscles.
Let your awareness rise into your chest,
Into your heart.
Touch a tender,
Open feeling here.
Be present to your own suffering and to the fact that others suffer as well.
Imagine that you might free yourself of suffering and help others to be free as well.
Think of times when you have helped yourself in times of hardship,
Times when you have been able to help someone else.
Feel the strength of those times rise and know that you can carry it into the future.
Let your heart be open.
Release your tension and feel your own tenderness,
Saying to yourself,
Soft heart.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Bring your awareness to your lungs.
Feel gratitude for the breath which supports your life.
With your heart open and receptive,
Nourish compassion.
Soft heart.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
With your strong spine,
You can be with your suffering and bear witness to the suffering of others.
With your soft heart,
Embrace equanimity and know that all beings need strength and the open heart of compassion.
Let these intermingle strength and compassion,
Suffering and healing.
And let these guide your presence in the world and greet life with a strong back and a soft heart.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
Let your heart be open.
