Welcome to the Eye of the Hurricane meditation.
Finding a posture that suits you today.
Sitting on the floor or a chair,
Lying down or even standing up.
Allowing yourself to be as comfortable as possible in this position.
Relaxing your body as best you can.
Wherever you find yourself,
Allowing your eyes to gently close.
And let's begin by taking three deep,
Slow breaths together.
Becoming aware of your body,
The effects of gravity.
Noticing the felt sense of contact between your body and the floor,
The cushion or the chair.
Allowing yourself to rely on that support.
Becoming aware of your clothes against your skin,
The air around you.
Notice if it's moving or still,
Warm or cold.
Let's consider a metaphor for our practice today.
Within the centre of a hurricane is the eye.
A place that's quiet and still.
There's no wind or movement there.
Seeing if you can visualise the strong,
Turbulent,
Unpredictable winds of the hurricane.
And the inner core that's peaceful and quiet.
Allowing as best you can a sense of the calm eye to become clearer in your mind.
Seeing if it's possible to become like the centre of the hurricane.
Your current circumstances,
Your thoughts and feelings,
Body sensations are a lot like the winds of the hurricane.
It might be possible to notice these things and let go of them.
So that you're no longer taking part in them.
Like the centre of the hurricane is not taking part in the turbulent surrounding winds.
To do this,
Start by focusing on your breath.
Noticing your breath wherever you feel it most strongly.
It might be in the belly,
The rising and falling bear.
The chest or shoulders.
Or perhaps the breath entering and leaving the nostrils.
Wherever your breath is most obvious,
Allow your attention to settle there.
Noticing the in-breath and the out-breath.
Following the in-breath for its full duration until it pauses and turns around and becomes the out-breath.
Following that too.
Time to time,
You'll notice your mind wandering.
Each time it wanders,
Notice where it went and gently bring it back to the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Focusing inward,
Just like the eye is deep within the hurricane,
Your eye is deep within you.
Using your in-breath and your out-breath to connect to this part of you.
Each time the mind wanders,
Coming back to the breath over and over again and again.
If anything stressful happens moment to moment,
Stay connected to your breath.
As you inhale and exhale,
You may notice negative thoughts and feelings.
Annoying body sensations,
Difficult life events,
Memories.
Try to look at them as if they are the strong winds of the hurricane.
Turbulent in nature.
Unpredictable.
Swirling around.
Notice you are not them.
You are the still and silent centre of the hurricane.
The part that is peaceful.
Despite whatever happens around you.
Breathing in and breathing out.
You are the peaceful centre of the hurricane.
Peaceful and at ease.
You're not reacting.
You're observing.
Just like the winds of the hurricane.
These experiences are constantly moving and changing.
You on the other hand,
Are stable.
You're not moving or being carried away by them.
As you're breathing,
Notice how you're moving more and more towards the centre of the hurricane.
Towards the eye.
Just like the turbulent winds of the hurricane.
Your thoughts,
Your feelings and whatever is happening outside yourself is still going on.
But you're no longer part of it.
You're in a safe,
Peaceful place.
Breathing in and breathing out.
You're coming back to the breath every time you need to,
To stay connected to your eye.
And as you stay connected to your eye in this way,
Notice whatever arises.
Notice the winds of the hurricane,
But do not participate.
Stay in the eye.
Notice thoughts.
Notice feelings.
Notice sensations.
Continue to watch the ever-changing nature in the world,
Inside and outside you.
Watch from a distance,
With curiosity and kindness,
Without judgement.
No need to react to what you see.
Let it be.
Giving it space to do whatever it needs to do.
While you stay calm and steady.
No matter how intense or bad the hurricane gets,
The eye is always centred,
Calm and at ease.
Even the most turbulent hurricane cannot hurt the eye,
The eye is safe.
Coming back to the eye over and over,
Again and again,
By connecting with the breath in this moment.
This inhale,
This exhale.
If being the eye of the hurricane resonates with you in some way,
You might like to return to this metaphor whenever you feel that you need to restore your inner peace.
Using your breath to connect to this silent part of yourself.
Breathe in and breathe out.
It may help to visualise yourself in the centre.
It can be hard to see the eye through the hurricane at times and sometimes we forget that the eye is there.
However,
It is always there if we look closely enough.
Even through the darkest hurricane,
Sooner or later we will see the eye centred and constant.
Each in breath,
A new beginning.
Each out breath,
A letting go.
Let's end this meditation now,
The same way that we began,
By taking three slow deep breaths together.
Noticing the points of contact with your body and the mat,
The floor or the chair.
And the felt sense of this.
When you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes.
Knowing that you have the wisdom to choose when to return to the eye of the hurricane meditation.
Anytime you need to.
