Good morning and welcome to this Monday meditation on the lawn offered by the University of Virginia.
Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening to students all across the world,
The faculty,
Staff and parents,
Alumni,
Community,
We're so happy to have you today.
It is truly my pleasure to be with you.
My name is Benita Mayo,
And I am a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences.
I'm a yoga and meditation mindfulness meditation teacher with the contemplative scientists center.
And I'm also honored to have been selected as one of the 2021 equity center community fellows in residence this year.
And so as we begin our meditation practice this morning,
Which is going to be focused on awakening,
I'll share with you that my practice began about five years ago,
And awakening was the new concept.
And so I hope to share this little brief practice with you that you can use anytime during the day,
Night,
Whenever you need it,
For a bit of grounding.
And so as we begin,
You are welcome to keep the eyes open.
You may close the eyes for a more contemplative experience if that's how you feel today.
And I'll start with this little quote,
As thoughts arise,
Treat them as you would anything else you encounter.
And so let's settle in,
Whether you're sitting or standing,
If you're sitting,
Bring your attention to whatever's touching the earth,
Maybe your bum is in the chair,
Your feet planted on the floor,
And your arms can either be just loosely landing on the tops of your thighs or if you're standing,
You can have your arms just by your side.
And then just start to come into your natural breath.
And taking soft inhales and exhales.
And maybe as you begin to bring your awareness into your practice this morning,
You can feel the breath just at the tip of the nostrils.
So sit nice and tall or stand nice and tall,
Nice strong back,
Soft front.
Just start to bring your awareness to the space above you.
Bring your awareness to the space to the right of you.
Notice the space to the left of you and behind you.
And the space beneath you,
Supporting you.
From whatever sound you hear around you,
Bring that all into your practice.
Begin to connect with the breath.
And paying light attention to the inhales and the exhales.
Soften the shoulders.
And the face.
Maybe at the end of each out breath,
You notice the gap before you take the in breath.
At the end of the out breath,
Maybe you notice the gap before you take the in breath.
And in that gap is your natural awareness.
Our natural awareness is always with us.
We don't have to create it.
We just have to notice.
And so for the next few minutes,
The invitation is to notice the in breath and the out breath.
And as thoughts arise,
Treat them as you would treat anything else that you encounter.
Notice it and use it to bring you back to the present moment and to bring you back to your breath.
And so we'll sit quietly like this for about four to five minutes.
Breathing in and breathing out.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
And at the end of your out breath,
Notice the gap before you take the in breath.
This is your natural awareness.
Tick Nott Hans quoted as saying,
When you're walking,
Know that you're walking.
When you're breathing,
Know that you're breathing.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
Breathing in and breathing out.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
One breath at a time is how we practice.
Noticing the breath.
Bringing your awareness to each inhale and noticing where you're feeling it in your body.
And making note of the gap just before the out breath.
Notice how the out breath feels in the body.
Maybe the out breath makes you feel a little bit more grounded,
Softened in the shoulders,
Sitting a little taller.
At any time that you need to be brought back to the present moment,
You always have your natural awareness with you,
Accessible to you at any time,
In any moment.
It's free.
It's available.
It's accessible.
You don't have to do anything to create it.
Following the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
As thoughts arise,
Treat them as you would anything else that you encounter throughout your day.
Notice it and use that noticing to bring you back to the out breath.
Ride it out,
Out and out.
Another we'll take a deep inhale through the nose and exhale fully.
You bring in one hand to the other hand and placing it lightly over the first hand.
And take a moment to thank yourself for the gift of meditation this morning.
Thank you.
