Rest & Rise

Rest and everything rises from this place of pure awareness. There is a sense of objectlessness, where just rest into what is. In this meditation, we turn our attention towards that which rises, not from a place of detachment, but a noticing and heading towards merging your awareness with life.

Transcript

So this little practice is called rest and rise,

Getting yourself comfortable whether sitting or lying down.

And we start with exactly that.

Let's just rest a few moments.

Now this idea of resting takes no effort.

You're not trying to rest,

Not not trying to rest,

Just letting go.

No action to be taken,

No effort to be made,

Not even a requirement to adjust your posture in any way,

Just resting.

You're not focusing on anything in particular.

I'm just taking a few moments now just to bring a bit of acceptance into how today's been.

And maybe you've had a few moments where you've been resting,

Maybe you've had a busy mind,

Maybe you've had a crazy day,

Maybe you've had some arguments or some disagreements that seem to ruminate in your brain.

And this resting isn't about trying to get rid of these thoughts,

It's not giving them the same attention that we had done before.

It was resting.

Nothing to achieve,

Nothing to add,

Nothing to take away.

You're just letting all things be as it is right in this very moment.

Just that simple sense of being.

Being right here.

Resting directly into this moment.

Now I'm going to get a little quiet now.

I just want you to practice doing nothing.

Enjoy.

And now what you may be noticing,

As we rest,

As we sort of let go and just allow ourselves just to be in this moment,

Everything seems to come to life.

Sounds are there,

Sensations in the body are there,

Feelings,

Smells,

Tastes,

Even thoughts.

All there and available to you right now.

And all you had to do was just take a moment to rest.

So again just resting and allowing all things to be.

And any time you find in your mind just wandering off into specific emails you may have sent or confrontations that you had or things that you didn't want to do,

Or maybe even complete night of fantasies.

Using the breath just for a few moments,

Just to bring back that attention.

And then again just sort of rest in.

No focus,

Nothing to add or take away.

Again I'm just going to go quiet for a few moments.

Enjoy.

So now what I want you to do,

Just as you're resting,

Again not going to require much effort here.

I just want you to see if you can turn your attention just onto your breath.

Again this isn't trying to follow the breath or do anything in particular with the breath,

Controlling it or changing it.

I just want you to notice that you're breathing.

The body is just doing this all on its own.

The body breathes and there you are just noticing the body breathing.

You didn't have to do anything in particular.

You're resting,

No focus,

And the body breathes.

And you're just interested or noticing this constantly changing sensation of breath.

No effort,

No requirement,

No need to follow anything.

You're just noticing how the body breathes.

And just enjoying that rest whilst noticing.

It doesn't matter how many times thoughts come in or rise,

However you want to imagine it.

I want you to see them just like you would do watching buses go by in a bus stop.

You're sort of noticing,

No that's not my bus.

You're resting and noticing the breath.

So again just enjoy the next few moments just noticing this body breathing.

Maybe even noticing as much of each breath as you'd like.

You're not trying to apply any type of technique.

No real effort needed.

The body wonderfully breathes naturally all on its own.

And you're just then noticing.

And now again,

Just rest in letting go of the breath.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

And now again,

Just enjoy the next few moments.

And just rest in letting go of any noticing of the breath in particular.

Just resting.

No focus.

Nothing to follow.

Just rest in letting go of it.

Now what I want you to do is just see if you can open up into all the sensations going on in the body.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

And just enjoy the next few moments.

The feeling of the breath going on in the body.

The feeling of sitting,

Maybe the legs underneath you,

The weight of the shoulders.

If you're lying down,

All those different connection points between you and the mat,

The couch or the bed,

Wherever you are.

And you're just noticing those sensations that are there.

Again,

Recognising there's been no real effort to get through this.

Mind maybe feels calm,

Interested,

Alert.

And the sensations are there.

You can feel those touch points,

Sense of weight or pressure.

You've done nothing in particular other than rest.

The breath is still there,

Maybe getting a sense of not just the touch points,

But the breathing as it's flowing out of the body.

And you do nothing,

Effortlessly noticing this constantly changing nature of our body and breath.

And now again,

If at any point the mind wanders off,

Just noticing the wandering mind.

It's okay,

It's okay to think.

Thinking is never going to be the enemy.

It's how we think about the thinking that really plagues us.

And all we're trying to do is just notice it,

Not put a label on it.

No good,

No bad thoughts.

Just gently bring our attention back into the body again.

And then rest.

Absolutely let go of any focus of anything in particular.

Other than just the physical sensations of touch,

The breath,

Anything that may be going on in the body that you're noticing in each minute or moment I should say,

As it continues to change.

So we're going to go a little quiet again and just enjoy,

Rest,

Relax and notice.

Now please point that same attention towards your thoughts.

I want you to rest and I just want you to allow the thoughts to be.

I want you to allow all the thoughts to come that want to.

I don't want you to try and block or stop.

I want you to rest.

And with the same interest that you've had in the breathing and the body,

I want you to have that same interest in the thoughts.

I just want you to almost notice them as they rise and fall.

It almost sometimes feels like we can look back into the mind and just notice as these thoughts just seem to rise randomly out of nowhere.

Now at any point you find yourself drifting away with one of the particular thoughts,

Come back and use the breath.

Allow yourself to rest a few moments.

And then in the same way that you were interested in the sensations of the breath or interested in the sensations of the body,

I want you to be interested in the rise and fall of thoughts.

And as you begin to rest,

You notice these thoughts just seem to rise and fall all on their own.

You didn't particularly try and think about anything.

You're just resting and they rise.

I don't want you to label them good or bad thoughts,

Important,

Unimportant thoughts.

I just want you to notice the thoughts,

They come,

They go,

Much like the breath just continues to flow.

So just like the body breathes or the mind thinks.

And all you're trying to do at the moment is just notice the thoughts and gently rest and return back onto the breath or the body and rest and take that same interest with the thoughts again.

Again I'm just going to go a little quiet.

I just want you to practice that resting,

Allowing the thoughts to be,

Not getting rid of them,

Pushing them away,

No battle,

Just noticing.

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And now to finish,

Take off any interest in anything in particular and just enjoy this next 30 seconds of silence.

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And if your eyes aren't already open,

Just allowing them to open and have an amazing rest of your day.

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Reviews

That helps me to relax, little by little, step by step. And it is lovely the way you guide and keep company. Thank you!

Having had the pleasure of meditating with you in person it was a joy to find you on here and tune into your wisdom again! Love your work Dan, thanks for that wonderful meditation 🧘‍♀️🙏🏼

Merci 😊
This meditation resonated deeply in me
I enjoyed every second and the way you simply guide us with no effort
I use it in the morning after a restless night and I feel at peace now
You made my day ☀️🙏☀️

Very nice, calming meditation helping with mental transition from work (in my case) to home. My only wish is that it would be 30+ mins long. Thank you!

It always amazes me how the negatives serve as the best pointers. Thanks 👌🏼

Super sweet! Thank you 💗🙏🏼💗

I needed the reminder that rest shouldn't require lots of effort! Simple, refreshing, and perfect.

That was amazing and just what I needed this morning. Thank you! And your teach peace t-shirt is inspirational!

That was beautiful. Thank you!

Brilliant practice for letting things be to reach a state of complete mind and body rest. Most grateful for this guided practice 🙏

This was a perfect fit for me today, thank you 🙏. The resting allowed me to tell the subtle difference between striving and allowing, and opened room for insight into my next step. Namaste 🙏

Love it. Reminds me how much happens without my needing to manage or interfere. Just letting it be and do what it does like the breath, the body, the constant stream of thoughts and feelings rolling by. Non intervention is key for me to stay out of my head where the anxiety and control lives.

Really enjoyed this meditation!