And we're so fortunate today to have with us an old friend of the University of Virginia and also really one of the great meditation teachers in the US over the last number of decades,
Sharon Salzberg.
Thank you so much.
So I wanted to lead a brief meditation and I'll just say a few words about it before we do it.
So I've always,
From the very beginning of my acquaintance with meditation practice,
Thought of it as a kind of skills training.
It's a training in greater awareness,
Greater balance.
And balance was a word that I used to not have much affinity for.
I thought of it kind of like mediocrity or something like that.
And it was only later through experience and experimentation that I saw balance as a state of harmony out of which the things I wanted so much could emerge.
I longed for not feeling so fragmented,
Not feeling so divided and all over the place,
To have a sense of centeredness,
To have insight,
Understanding,
Not to have that sense I have when I was younger of kind of stumbling around and not having much vision or a sense of purpose really.
There's so much that I wanted and it's easy to get into this mode of like,
I'm going to grab at that and I'm going to make this happen.
Meditation doesn't work that way.
It's based on the assumption that when we bring our system into balance,
The things we want will emerge all by themselves.
So it's greater awareness,
Greater balance,
And greater connection.
Certainly a profound sense of connection to ourselves and also somehow to others.
I've always thought it was kind of peculiar that maybe you're all alone,
Maybe your eyes are closed.
It looks like the most solitary activity in the world.
But one of the insights that arises is how profoundly connected we all are to one another.
And so then we bring that into our day-to-day lives.
Often meditation practices are done as I'm sure many,
Many of you know,
By finding an object of awareness,
Maybe the feeling of the breath or some other object,
Resting our attention on that object.
And the word is rest.
And then as our attention wanders,
Which it usually will,
We dive into the past,
We forge ahead into the future,
Not in a useful way,
Which could be done,
But in a completely useless way,
Just like laying waste our energy.
And then comes that moment when we realize,
Oh,
It's been quite some time since I last felt a breath.
And that's considered the really important moment in the practice where we have the chance to be really different.
We can let go gently of whatever has taken us away from that primary object.
And with kindness toward ourselves,
We can come back and begin again.
So that's really the movement we're letting go and beginning again and letting go and beginning again.
And that's why meditation is considered a resilience training.
So there's a lot of self-compassion implicit in there.
And in the particular practice I'm going to lead,
I'm also going to,
At some point,
Be reading a list of words that are values.
And we can bring that same kind of self-compassion and awareness to whatever response you may be having to that word that I just read.
Maybe it will inspire you.
Maybe it will irritate you.
And anything is fine.
This is not pass fail.
It's not a question of forcing yourself or trying to manipulate anything,
But getting a much clearer,
Deeper sense of kind of our internal network,
The environment that we are creating and what is motivating us in a more general kind of way.
Okay?
So you can sit comfortably,
See if your back can be straight without being strained or over arched.
You want to have energy in your body,
But also be relaxed.
Close your eyes or not.
However you feel most at ease.
Can start by listening to sound,
Whether it's the sound of my voice or other sounds.
It's a way of relaxing deep inside,
Allowing your experience to come and go.
And if for some reason the breath ultimately is not going to serve you,
There'll be other objects that you can choose.
Let's start with sound.
It's like the sounds can just wash through you.
And bring your attention to the feeling of your body sitting,
Whatever sensations you may discover.
Feel the earth supporting you.
Feel space touching you.
Usually we think about touching space and we think about like picking up our finger and poking it in the air.
But space is already touching us.
It's always touching us.
We can receive it.
And bring your attention to the feeling of your breath.
Just the normal,
Natural breath.
Wherever you feel it most distinctly,
Maybe that's the nostrils or the chest or the abdomen.
Can find that place.
Bring your attention there and just rest.
See if you can feel one breath without concern for it's already gone by,
Without leaning forward for even the very next breath.
Just this one.
And if you feel the breath does not serve you for whatever reason,
You can find some other set of sensations in your body.
Your hands touching perhaps something that's already happening.
That can be that quality of rest.
And images or sounds or sensations or emotions should arise,
But they're not all that strong.
If you can stay connected to the feeling of the breath,
Just let them flow on by your breathing.
It's just one breath or just one moment of sensation.
But if something does arise quite strongly,
It picks you up and whirls you away.
You get lost in thought or spun out in a fantasy or you fall asleep.
Truly don't worry about it.
The really important moment comes next where we have the chance to let go gently and start over again with some kindness toward ourselves.
We let go and we begin again.
And if you have to do that over and over again,
That's totally fine.
Yep,
You got it.
We say the healing is in the return,
Not in never having wandered to begin with.
It takes a good degree of awareness to notice that we've been lost.
And that's okay.
We let go,
We start over.
And I'm going to add a kind of reflection that's interesting to do from time to time.
It culminates in a sense of what's most important for me.
What lifts my spirits?
Where do I go to help cultivate resilience?
You may feel anything as I repeat these words and as I read each word,
You can take a few breaths,
Just take in the word and silently repeat it back to yourself.
Notice how much it resonates with you and truly anything is okay.
Inspiration,
Irritation,
Boredom,
Nothing at all,
Whatever it is.
You can observe your response without judgment.
Again,
This isn't a pass fail exercise.
It's that insight into our own guiding values.
And you're falling out into lots of discursive thinking,
Planning,
Et cetera.
We can notice that.
See if you can gently let go and come back to the moment.
So succeeding,
How does it feel in your body?
What's coming up for you in terms of mood,
Liking,
Disliking?
Discovering.
Okay.
Inky.
Completing.
Giving.
Listening.
And let's return our attention to just resting on the feeling of the breath,
Allowing whatever arises to come and go as we rest.
And when you feel ready,
You can open your eyes or lift your gaze and we'll end the meditation.
Thank you.
