Welcome to Finding the Beauty.
Relax into a comfortable seat for your meditation,
And close your eyes once you've settled in.
We're going to start with a short story.
There's a Zen parable that is not only a sweet story,
But it's especially relevant when life feels a little.
.
.
Intense.
There once was a man walking through the forest,
When suddenly a tiger appears behind him.
The man starts to run,
His heart's pounding,
Breath quickening,
And he runs until he reaches the edge of a cliff.
With nowhere else to go,
The man climbs down a vine to escape the tiger on the cliff,
Gripping to the vine tightly.
But when he looks down,
There's another tiger waiting below him as well.
And then,
As if things couldn't get any worse,
He notices a small mouse quietly gnawing at the vine that he's holding onto.
Yummy lunch for the mouse,
Not the best situation for the man.
Above him,
Danger.
Below him,
Danger.
And time and safety on the vine slowly being eaten away.
And then,
In the middle of it all,
The man notices a small,
Perfectly plump wild strawberry growing out of the cliffside.
He reaches for it,
Picks it,
And eats it.
And as the story goes,
It was the sweetest strawberry he had ever tasted.
I love this story because it doesn't deny that life can feel uncertain,
Overwhelming,
Or very scary at times.
The tigers represent everything we carry with us.
The past,
The future,
The what-ifs,
The pressure,
The unknown.
The mouse is like time passing,
Whether you're ready for it or not.
And yet,
Right here,
In the middle of it all,
There is still something beautiful.
Something simple.
Something sweet.
The strawberry is this moment.
This moment that you can choose to close your eyes,
Slow down,
And savor the present.
The invitation isn't to ignore reality.
It's to be with reality and also notice the strawberries.
The sweetness in life.
The beauty that might hide in the little pockets of our cliff's edges.
But they are still here.
We can choose to notice the small moments that are still good.
So often we can miss the sweetness of our lives,
Not because it isn't there,
But because we're looking everywhere else.
We're focused on what's going wrong,
Or we're caught up in the chase,
Or we're mad at the mice for making our time run out.
But as we move into this meditation,
I invite you to gently open your mind to the possibility that there is something good here for you.
Beauty in this moment in between.
Let's practice letting it be enough for this moment.
Take a deep,
Cleansing breath in,
And slowly release your breath out.
Releasing what happened in the past,
Just for now.
Even if it was something that happened five minutes ago,
Let it go.
Releasing worry about what's to come.
And let's be here in the present moment with our breath.
Notice what it's like to breathe in and breathe out.
How amazing is it that your body is breathing for you without you having to ask it to.
The nourishment of fresh air makes its way in,
And the exhales are a place for detoxification,
For release,
For calm.
This carbon dioxide that no longer serves you,
But serves the trees and plants all around you,
And the oxygen that they create,
Nourishes you again in return.
So sit for a bit with the beauty of your breath.
Start to invite your body to relax a bit further.
Soften your muscles.
Relax your face.
The hinge at your jaw.
Your shoulders.
Your belly.
Your hands.
Sink into the support of your seat a little bit more.
How amazing is it that just by relaxing your muscles a bit,
You are creating a chemical change in your physiology that supports your nervous system.
One that aids in your renewal and healing and replenishment to be able to go out there and do what you do best.
Sit for a little bit with the beauty of your body and what relaxing the body can bring.
Now,
Even with your eyes closed,
Notice your five senses in this moment.
Notice if you can see any light or shapes or colors dancing behind your closed eyelids.
Notice if there's anything you can taste or smell.
Pay attention.
Can you notice the sense of touch by feeling your body relaxed in your seat?
Or the gentle touch of your clothing?
Or a pet?
Or the wind on your skin?
If there are any sounds that you can hear,
Even when they feel less than ideal when you're practicing mindfulness,
Can you notice that you can hear?
These simple things that we might not notice all that often,
They matter.
Sit here with the beauty of your senses.
And finally,
Begin to pay attention to the world just outside of yourself.
To the clothes on your body that protect your skin,
That keep you warm.
If you have a heater or a fan,
Notice the temperature of the air that can be regulated to aid in your comfort.
Notice the environment you're in.
The people who you surround yourself with.
The things you choose to let into your life.
What beauty can you be with right now that resides in your everyday life?
There is so much that we can find beauty in if we let ourselves see it.
The simplest of things,
The smallest moments can make a huge difference in our mental state and perception of the world if we just take a little time to witness them.
As you move into the rest of your day,
I invite you to look for the strawberries.
It doesn't mean we ignore the tigers and mice,
But it does help us experience the sweetness of everyday moments that are in and around us all the time.
Take a deep breath in,
And out.
And move back into your day with your eyes open to the joys,
The replenishments,
And the beauty that surrounds you.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today,
And I look forward to our next meditation together.
