Aro Ha Morning Meditation

This 28-minute meditation uses three powerful pillars of awakening; surrendering, savouring, and seeing. This is the Aro Ha morning meditation that we share with our guests during our Magic of Mindfulness retreats. Use it, practice it, give yourself time, and enjoy the fruits of your efforts.

Transcript

Welcome to your Aderha morning meditation.

Aderha translates to in the presence of divine breath and while we'll be resting in our breath today and enjoying a bit of relaxation,

There's actually quite a bit that's going on internally.

A lot of it's still a mystery but we've also through modern science and research we've come to gain a little bit more knowledge as to what's happening when we meditate.

So while the practice we're going to do today is quite simple,

In the brain meditation has been shown to increase gray matter in the insula,

Prefrontal cortex,

And hippocampus.

It also reduces cortical thinning due to aging.

You can think of meditation as,

You know,

Your flossing for your brain or your your brain training if you will.

It's analogous in a lot of ways to sleep so it kind of helps us to rest and revive.

It improves psychological function relating to these areas of the brain that get exercised so it increases attention,

Compassion,

Empathy,

And in general I usually just feel more relaxed and at ease in my own life.

So of course when we feel more relaxed our our body changes,

Our blood pressure changes,

Inflammation shifts.

Meditation has been shown to affect type 2 diabetes,

Insomnia,

Eating disorders,

And anything that's stress related.

So sit back and come along for a bit of a ride.

We're going to work with three powerful practices.

Each of them in their own right has a real potential to shift your way of being in the present moment.

The three practices we're going to use today are savoring,

Surrendering,

And seeing.

So find a comfortable seat and close your eyes.

Make any last adjustments to the posture.

And begin just by surrendering to the moment as a time to practice.

We often are so good at keeping busy.

The mind is so apt at solving our life's problems that it's a skill in and of itself just to allow yourself to have a space for contentment and stillness.

So again just surrender to the idea that for the next few minutes we're just going to breathe and be and allow ourselves to cultivate these practices.

And you might begin by just seeing if you can follow with your attention the next full cycle of breath.

And if you notice that the mind doesn't always want to settle so easily,

Just repeat that process and see how completely and wholly you can hold your attention with the beautiful sensations of one breath in and one breath out.

And we're just going to hold this practice of attention at least partially with the breath,

So in the presence of divine breath.

But I want you to bring to mind a moment that you've savored.

This can be as simple as enjoying your favorite food or savoring the company of a loved one.

Maybe a memory of someone that's no longer with us.

Just kind of bringing yourself back to a moment that you really appreciate,

Where you felt that your entire body was in a state of savoring,

Feeling appreciative,

Feeling a sense of gratitude just for the simple beingness.

And then just allow that sense of savoring to wash through the body as though the sense of savoring were radiating out from the center to the very edges and perhaps even a bit beyond the edges of your body.

And often the foundation of savoring is surrender,

So allowing any tensions to melt away,

Allowing the jaw to be slightly slack.

We are the culmination of 13.

8 billion years of energy movement in our universe.

And life on land on planet Earth has only existed for about 400 million years.

Nothing resembling a living creature was on land not too long ago.

So as we sit here we want to begin to cultivate an appreciation just for life as it is.

One breath in,

After one breath out.

Now the magic occurs when we see and notice the nature of our minds.

So when a thought comes,

Notice it.

And I want you to see it in the mind's eye as though you'd taken a picture of it.

Create an image or a representation of whatever it was that you were just thinking about.

Give it a one-word title as though you were creating a magazine cover in your mind.

And then see it there and as you see it,

Allow it to slowly start to drift back and away,

Shrinking,

Moving out of the field of vision until you come home just to this moment,

Just to this breath.

Allow again a sense of surrender,

Any tensions that may have crept in,

Let them soften.

No judgments,

Nothing else needed,

Just coming back to the light of savoring and just enjoying a light tingle of the skin or the sound of your breath just here,

Just now.

The more often the mind wanders,

The better.

And just another opportunity to see where it's gone,

To feel the paths and travels of the mind,

The way they show up for us.

And then once you see a thought,

Go ahead and give it an image,

Give it a title,

One word is enough.

See it in your mind's eye and gently,

Kindly thanking it for being a part of your practice as it drifts out of you,

As you come home to your heartbeat,

To this gift.

You and I are no different to the beautiful creations that are around us,

The beautiful birds,

The trees,

The flowers blooming.

And as much as they need to improve themselves,

We also need no improvement.

So here just coming home to your nature,

Your already is-ness,

Breathing in and knowing that you're breathing in,

Breathing out and knowing that you're breathing out.

Savor.

Hello everyone.

Thank you.

Notice that our thoughts have energy,

Sometimes peaceful,

Sometimes driving,

Sometimes working or reminiscing.

See it in the mind's eye.

Give it a one word title and an image.

Allow it to gently begin to drift out of view,

Shrinking,

Disappearing.

And with it allowing any energies to also fade as you just come back.

And then cultivate a space of surrender,

A softness,

An allowing,

And becoming comfortable and skilled at the path home.

So simple and yet often overlooked.

And allowing each breath in to expand your awareness out into the far corners of your sensing and allowing each breath to soften everything you feel.

And then just notice how delicious that sense of ease can be.

Drink it in.

And just notice.

As many times as we need to,

We just observe the mind,

See where it's gone,

Create an internal image representing our thoughts,

Our visions,

Our feelings.

And giving it a one word title.

And then just allowing this thought to gently drift with an attitude of appreciation for it sharing its time with us.

And as it drifts,

Gently coming home.

A full body surrender to the next breath.

A divine gift,

So simple and yet life-giving.

And returning within the spaciousness of surrender to the feeling of savoring.

As though we were with an old friend,

Safe and warm.

Just drinking in this gift,

Not wanting to miss a thing.

Just drinking in this gift,

Not wanting to miss a thing.

Now you are welcome to sit with these three pillars for as long as you like.

Seeing,

Surrendering,

And savoring.

I hope you enjoyed the practice today.

It's worth beginning to cultivate some consistency in your practice because each time we choose to sit together we are practicing a different way of being.

It seems to be that our ancestors were able to survive because of their fear and concern.

And today we still have that way of being within us.

Even though we live in one of the safest and most abundant periods that humanity has ever known.

Our brains are set up such that they are like Velcro to the negative and they're like Teflon to the positive.

So it's worth our time to sit and cultivate a different way to strengthen the aspects of ourselves that allow us to enjoy our lives more deeply.

So as you come back into your space and open your eyes just enjoy the fruits of your effort.

And we look forward to sitting with you again.

Reviews

My takeaway: sense savor settle 🦜 Thanks [KEY: 5=Insightful, 4=Interesting, 3=Okay, 2=Not For Me, 1=Irritating]

Lovely meditation and a peaceful way to begin the day.

Grateful to float in the matrix as thought bubbles pass by: Planning, Remembering, Storytelling...
Breathing in / Breathing out with conscious awareness, this is a nice space To Be.

Excellent!!

Lovely voice

He offered some wonderful insights

Totally awesome ~ a lovely little journey....loved the guidance. So peaceful.... so grateful for my life. Namaste
🌺🙏🌺

A beautiful way to start the day 🌅 Kia ora ra! 🙏

Thank you. Well thought out, well spoken and informative. Beautiful mediation. The wee bit of uplifting music at the beginnng and end was perfect.

Thank You 🙏

Thank you so much. This practice is helping me through a difficult challenge.

Great to archive and return to ! 🙏🕊

Great mindful meditation. Love the stillness and the gentle reminders.

Beautiful meditation! Love the explanation of the three pillars, quiet time to observe and a bit of science. I will come back to this meditation again.🙏❤️

Love this morning practice. Thank you.

Loved this. Great way to start the day. Love having a little science and history and biology woven in. Thank you

Love it, done it many times :)

Thank you, Damian. Gentle, soothing, wise practice…

Thank you for the lovely meditation.
Blessings

Thank you for this meditation. Sometimes I prefer to do a longer morning session so I’m thankful to have found this one. 💜💜💜