Greetings to everyone.
Welcome to today's virtual meditation on the lawn.
My name is Anthony DeMauro.
I work for the Contemplative Science Center as the Associate Director of the Dalai Lama Fellows Program and I'll be leading you all through today's session.
So today's practice is what I have called the weather report and this will be similar to a thing each of you may do every morning.
Maybe you check your phone,
Maybe you check the news,
Maybe you take a peek outside the window to see what the weather is like and that gives you some information about sort of what's going on in the outer world and what might I need to prepare for that.
Do I need a coat?
Do I need an umbrella?
Do I need some boots?
And so for today's practice we're going to do an internal weather report.
So we're going to look inside ourselves and see what's the weather like and from that perhaps we might get some important information on what do I need to prepare for today based on the weather.
Okay so I'll provide some guidance throughout and let us begin.
So you can find your comfortable meditation posture.
Take a moment to just get settled into that.
You can close your eyes if that feels all right for you.
If not you can just keep your eyes open but maybe lower your gaze to cut down on the distractions.
And then I'll invite you to begin by just taking a few deep breaths.
And after you do that you can just allow the normal pace of your breathing to return.
And to continue throughout the practice.
So the first thing or the next thing I'll invite you to do is see if you can just begin to drop your attention down into the body.
So moving from that mental cognitive space where we spend so much time and seeing if you can just begin to tune in to some of the sensations of the body.
Maybe it's feeling the feet in contact with the floor.
Maybe it's feeling some connection to your seat or the clothing on your skin,
Temperature of the air in the room.
Just begin to attend to the body.
And if the mind wants to wander just come on back reconnect with the body.
And now just start to see if you can explore some of the body with your awareness.
See if you can just tune in,
Listen in,
Feel into what's happening in the body.
See if you can just notice maybe areas of the body that might be calling out for some attention.
Maybe places where there may be some discomfort or pain or places where there's comfort and ease.
Just tune in.
Not needing to change or fix or even create a story about anything that you find.
Just seeing it,
Just feeling it,
Just noticing that it's there.
We also carry a lot of our emotional energy in our bodies and so maybe just check in with the emotional state.
And again don't need to create a problem about it or rush to fix it just notice like what how am I feeling today or how am I feeling right now?
Maybe helpful to label or name that emotion but not necessary.
Might also be useful again simply to just pay attention to the bodily sensations of what's happening in a very open non-judgmental way.
Next I'll invite you to tune into your heart space.
Might help to just place a hand or two over the heart and feel into that space.
Notice what's there.
Just allow for whatever you find to be just like that.
And then let's take a few moments to tune in with the mental space,
The mind space.
And just see what it's like up there.
Do your best to be an observer of what's happening in that with the mental activity not so much a participant as we so often are but just observe what's the state of the mind like right now?
Is it busy and restless?
Is it calm and clear?
Whatever you find is okay.
Simply notice become aware.
Okay.
So now you've sort of checked in with the body,
The heart.
The mind.
You've gathered some information maybe even some data.
And so perhaps now you can create for yourself a weather report.
Looking at all of these different conditions happening in your own being,
What's the weather like?
How would you describe the current weather in your inner world?
Now an important thing to keep in mind is that the weather is just the weather.
It is the result of the various changing conditions of the environment.
So the outer weather as we might say is just dependent on things like cloud coverage,
Wind speeds,
Humidity,
And so forth.
And your inner weather similarly is simply the result of the various conditions of your life that are always changing and moving.
And the way we relate to the outer weather isn't to try to change it or fix it.
It's simply to know what do I need for this current weather.
So perhaps we can relate to our inner weather in a similar way.
This current weather is simply the result of changing conditions.
I may not be able to change them or fix them,
But what do I need to navigate that weather?
What do I need for today's weather?
And so for the final minute or so of the practice,
Maybe just hold that question.
What do I need for today's weather?
And as you're ready,
You can begin bringing some gentle movements to the body.
Maybe if it's possible,
You've been meeting some of those needs in the next few moments.
If not,
That's okay too.
Resetting the intention to respond to those needs would be an important step.
And then as you're ready,
You can open your eyes and come out of the practice.
So thank you for practicing with me and this beautiful community we have scattered throughout the cosmos.
It was so great being with you all this morning,
And I hope you'll come back next week for our next virtual meditation on the lawn.
All right,
Take care.
