Welcome to this Monday's Meditation on the Lawn,
Authored by the University of Virginia.
My name is Nicole Ruzek,
And I'm the director of Counseling and Psychological Services here at UVA.
Today's meditation invites us to track experience as it arises in the moment.
When we observe experience,
We also have the opportunity to become aware of the vast openness within which phenomena arise.
That is,
We both wake up to the manifest world in all of its multiplicity while also resting in the unity of pure awareness.
I like this meditation because it brings me back to my early days as a meditator when I discovered the playful dialectives of middleweight philosophy.
I don't have words for it anymore,
So without further introduction,
Let's begin.
So first,
Finding a position that feels right for your body,
Taking a few moments to settle in,
And doing whatever you need to create conditions that invite a sense of being both alert and awake while also relaxed and at ease,
And so finding that sweet spot between wakefulness and restfulness.
And if it feels right,
Perhaps gently closing your eyelids or maintaining a soft gaze in front of you,
Noticing the places in your body where you make contact with other objects,
Noticing the gentle pressure,
Perhaps even exerting a small bit of pressure against the floor or the chair or whatever it is that is beneath you,
Holding you.
And as you filter out visual stimulation and start to turn more inward,
Connect with your body,
Taking a moment to become aware of the boundaries of your body.
So noticing your skin,
Noticing your location,
Getting a sense of yourself as embodied,
Noticing any unnecessary tension that you might be holding onto in your body,
And seeing if it's possible to let that go.
So if there's any clenching,
Any tightness,
A sense of contraction,
Grasping,
Seeing if it's possible to release that,
Let the body just be as it is,
Don't need to contort it in any particular way,
Simply resting in the container that is your body.
And if it's helpful,
You might imagine a golden thread stretching down from the heavens,
Reaching through the top of your head,
Supporting your spine,
And continuing its journey deep into the earth,
This golden thread holding you in place,
Tethered,
But not tied down,
Keeping you upright in such a way that your body can rest lightly,
Fluidly,
Allowing your shoulders to drop,
Your brow to soften,
Your arms to fall at your sides,
Letting go and letting be,
And finally,
Noticing any tendency to avoid fully engaging in this practice or holding onto something that might have happened before or may happen next.
Just noticing if there's any grasping,
Any holding on.
Just like with the tension in your body,
Letting that go,
Letting be.
Now,
With the body and mind fully present,
Taking a few intentional breaths into the body and out of the body,
Starting to bring awareness to the breath as it's showing up for you today,
So perhaps becoming aware of its particular qualities for you,
So noticing any physical sensations associated with this practice.
So,
Noticing any physical sensations associated with breathing as you continue to inhale and exhale.
Perhaps noticing air coming in through the nose,
Reaching the back of the throat,
Filling the chest or the belly,
And then noticing the breath leaving the body once again up through the abdomen and the throat and out the nose.
So,
Following the breath along its entire journey,
All the way into the body,
All the way out of the body,
This complete full cycle of breath,
All the way in and all the way out.
Becoming aware of the subtle sensations of breath as you take air completely into your body and then release it once again.
So,
Continuing to track the breath in this way,
Following it fully in,
Perhaps even at the top of each in-breath,
Noticing a short pause before the next out-breath,
Breath all the way out,
Noticing another pause before the next in-breath,
All the way to breath,
Completely in,
Noticing the pause and following the breath completely out,
Each breath coming and going completely.
The breath comes and goes without effort,
Organically arising in the body,
Making itself known,
Observing this emergence of breath and its accompanying sensations.
So,
As you watch it come all the way in and all the way out,
Observing it arising and fading away,
Each breath coming into existence and then out of existence,
Each breath manifesting without effort,
Without any need for things to be any particular way,
As simply coming,
Appearing,
Being,
And then fading.
Similarly,
Thoughts,
Physical sensations,
And emotions arise in the same way,
Emerging in your field of awareness,
Existing,
Making themselves known,
And then fading away.
It's organic and never-ending flow of sensation,
Thought,
Feeling,
Constantly coming and going.
In one moment,
There may be a very powerful rising of emotion,
Thought,
Sensation,
And in the very next moment,
A fading,
A passing,
A releasing.
What is at one point outside of awareness travels into awareness.
Breath,
The thought,
The feeling.
As it arises,
It arises in a vast openness of being,
This vast openness of awareness,
Simply allowing experience to be what it is.
So seeing if you can,
Even if for a tiny moment,
Notice this vast,
Peaceful emptiness within which experience makes itself known.
I'm acknowledging that this observing of the breath,
Of thought,
Of sensation,
Of feeling,
Emerges in a field,
Emerges in a space that is always available,
Always present.
And in this space,
There is no struggle,
Just being,
Just watching,
Allowing.
Now taking a few deeper breaths,
And once again,
Noticing the boundaries of your body,
Becoming aware of your posture,
With your eyes are closed,
Allowing some light to filter in,
And bringing some gentle movement back into your body.
Thank you so much for spending this time with me today.
I hope you will enjoy your week,
And join us for next week for another meditation on the lawn.
