Hola!
I'd like to offer a brief meditation on basic goodness and this is inspired by Tara Brock,
An amazing meditation instructor,
Has many books and videos out there.
So let's go ahead and take our seat and I'm gonna ring the gong.
So just arrive,
Meaning arrive in your body.
Arrive in the place that you are seated or lying down.
Take your place.
Notice your body.
What is your intention in sitting?
Why are you even doing this right now?
This place of sitting is a place to see,
A place to be still.
It's a place of nourishment.
Notice any tension in your body without judgment.
You're just seeing what's there.
See if you can relax through your breathing,
Through relaxing your muscles,
Settling into your space.
Allow yourself to be nourished by your inhale and then let something go with your exhale.
Again a nourishing inhale,
Letting something go with your exhale.
And now we're going to move into a brief meditation on basic goodness.
So first let yourself pick someone you really love,
You easily love.
Bring this person or animal,
Bring their face in your mind's eye.
See them.
Notice the sparkle in their eyes.
Notice maybe how they laugh or how they look when they're just delighted with something.
Notice their aliveness.
What are the qualities of this person that you most deeply appreciate?
Is it their brightness?
How they show love?
Their playfulness?
Is it how hard they try and just keep on going?
As you experience their traits of innate goodness,
Imagine sharing what you see in them to them.
How do you think they would receive this expression of your love?
How would they take it in,
All these things that you notice about them that are so beautiful?
Back to a nice deep breath.
Now imagine that they are gazing back at you and noticing the qualities that they most love about you.
What do they see?
What are the qualities of your original goodness that you most appreciate?
Perhaps it's your honesty.
Maybe it's your love of the natural world.
Your sense of humor.
Your kindness.
Maybe you have a skill that you teach others and you appreciate that about yourself.
Maybe it's how you garden or make a certain dish.
If this is difficult,
You might picture your happiest moments as a child and just sense your original innocence.
How you used to make mud pies or sit in the Sun or swing on a swing or color or play dress-up.
Just as the eyes of a trusted dear one can sense your goodness,
Put your hand on your own heart and hold your best self with deep appreciation and love.
Just stop for a second and feel that person under your heart,
Under your hand,
Your heart under your hand.
What do you feel?
What do you notice?
Who's under there?
It's basically good person.
One thing I love about you is your being here right now.
You're showing up for yourself.
You're trying new things or you're practicing something that you already know.
Or maybe you're here because you somehow know me and you're here to show support for me.
I'll take it.
What a generous and kind quality of yours to spend some of your precious time this way.
Whatever you participate in,
You're choosing to do that.
So notice why you're doing that.
See the goodness under your own actions.
Now let's take another deep breath and now picture a few other loved ones and tune into their goodness.
You might attune to qualities that you appreciate in their current selves or if the person brings up more complex feelings,
As many do,
Imagine him or her as a child,
Happy and at ease.
With each,
Let them be a mirror of goodness.
You're seeing their innocence.
Allow them to see your innocence.
Imagine sharing your appreciation of their goodness with them and notice how they would feel in receiving this expression of your love.
How do you think it would make them feel to hear all these wonderful things that you notice about them?
Now let's do another deep breath.
Now imagine moving mindfully through your day with the intention to pause and see the secret goodness of all those you meet.
To move through the world like this is a way of living love.
It's one of the greatest gifts we can offer one another and yes it might take practice but that's what we're here to do is practice.
We're here to practice together.
So returning to your breath in the foreground,
Noticing your bodily sensations,
How your body's feeling right now,
Placing kind attention on your experience of this moment,
Allowing it all in with loving awareness.
Continue breathing and just noticing how it has felt to do this exercise,
To take in your own good qualities and to see the basic goodness of other people.
How does that feel in your body?
Feeling grounded in your seat,
Feeling alive in your body and open in your heart.
Allowing this space,
Allowing yourself to be here.
Just one more nice deep breath and I'll hit the gong and open your eyes if they were closed.
Wiggle around a bit getting back into your body.
Thank you for taking these moments to simply be in touch with your own basic goodness and the basic goodness of others.
The more you look for it,
The more you will see.
It matters how we spend our time.
It matters how we show up for ourselves.
It matters.
You matter.
Bye for now.
