As we take a seat for meditation,
We bring our mindful awareness to the body.
Feeling the body supported by the earth.
Just that simple sensation of the body,
The weight of the body pressing on the earth.
And we can bring an awareness that the earth itself is pressing back on the body.
And we can trust that the earth supports us.
Every time we take a step,
Just standing,
Just sitting,
The earth is supporting us in such a simple and direct way.
So allow yourself to rest in that,
To feel that support.
And from the base of your spine,
Like a young tree growing from the earth,
Lifting your spine through the crown of your head.
And as you do that,
Your chin naturally tucks in.
So your head is not tilted forward or back.
Your head is straight.
Your chin tucked in slightly.
So the base of your skull at the back is slightly lifted.
So it's not a tension,
But it's an energy.
It's a quality of awakeness and commitment that we feel in the spine.
And then your shoulders are relaxed and straight.
Your face is relaxed.
Your jaw is not clenched.
Just let it be loose.
Let your face be neutral.
Notice if you're wearing a mask.
And just let your face be neutral.
Bring your attention into the heart,
Right into the center of your chest.
Notice if your heart is kind of clenched,
Tight.
And invite the heart to relax,
To open.
And the way we do that actually is not by making the heart do anything,
But it's really actually by bringing awareness to the clenched or the tight or the defended or the armored quality in the heart,
Around the heart.
And when we bring mindful awareness to that,
That in itself invites the heart to relax to its natural state of being open,
Soft,
Sensitive.
Bring your awareness to the stomach and the lower abdomen.
And again,
Notice if there's tension there.
Invite the body to relax,
To let go of the holding.
The arms and the hands,
The legs and the feet.
Have a sense of your whole body,
A quality of awareness of the whole body.
Sensing the posture of the body from the inside.
Sensing the sensations in the body from the inside.
A quality of loving presence in the body.
Bring your attention to the heart.
Feeling the breath in the heart.
I'm going to begin with a short guided meditation on loving kindness.
And then we'll move into a silent meditation.
As you let your attention rest in the heart,
Bring as much as you can a sense of spaciousness,
Openness of heart,
Quality of receptivity,
Acceptance.
So that whatever arises,
You know that there's space in the heart to receive it.
So even if as you practice fear or anger or jealousy or judgment or self-judgment arises,
There's space in this heart,
In this open heart,
For it to arise and pass away.
Without contradicting this quality of loving presence that we bring to our practice.
And as you sit and breathe and feel your heart,
Bring to mind your own deep desire to feel happy,
To have a sense of well-being and peace,
To feel deeply connected in your life and deeply connected with all the life around you.
And as you consider that deep heart aspiration,
However,
Whatever words you might use to describe it,
Allow a response to come of caring,
Of loving yourself,
Of wanting yourself to realize that heart's desire for happiness,
Peace,
Well-being,
Love,
Connection.
And feel that,
Whatever that feels like,
That response,
Just the quality of energy of the response that comes.
And it may well be that there's nothing that's really discernible that you can find that responds,
Which is fine.
There are different ways of approaching this practice.
So one is to just kind of rest in the energy of that love which may surface as you consider your own deep desire for peace,
Happiness,
And well-being.
Another may be to say some words or phrases such as,
May I be safe?
May I be free from suffering?
May I be happy and at peace?
May I live with ease and well-being on this earth?
Any of those phrases or all of them.
May I be safe?
May I be free from suffering?
May I be happy and at peace?
May I live with ease and well-being on this earth?
So for now,
We're just going to offer this,
This intention for love and happiness and well-being to ourselves.
Just focusing our attention on,
On offering this love,
This friendship and this kindness to ourselves.
Grounding ourselves in this.
So as long as you wish to continue practicing this loving kindness practice,
You may.
And when you wish to move to the,
The practice of resting our attention in the breath or tranquility practice,
Which is the foundation of the Pasana practice.
You can begin doing that.
Just letting your attention,
Your mindful awareness,
Feel the whole breath,
The whole in-breath,
The whole out-breath.
Feel the beginning,
Middle and end of each in-breath and the beginning,
Middle and end of each out-breath.
As your attention gets drawn away into thinking or whatever activity of the mind you drift into.
And then there's a moment of noticing,
Of waking up,
Of realizing,
Oh,
There I go.
And then just invite the mind to rest again,
To rest in the breath.
So it's a resting which is not sleepy and dull or zoning out.
It's a resting which is bright,
Present and awake.
Feeling the breath,
Bringing interest to the sensation of the breath.
With this quality of ease and rest.
And beginning again and beginning again.
As many times as the mind drifts away,
Begin again,
Invite the mind back to rest.
Began nig.
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Notice the quality of attention in this moment without any judgment.
Notice if the mind is peaceful,
Attentive,
Agitated,
Anxious,
Impatient.
And invite the mind to come home,
To rest in the breath,
In this present moment,
In this breath,
This in breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
This out breath.
