Being Held

In this meditation, you’re invited to explore trust through two layers of support—the earth that is already holding you, and beyond the physical, another kind of holding: all of your past practices, the way awareness finds its way back even when you’ve drifted completely.

We often grip in meditation, trying to stay present through sheer effort. But what if you could relax a little more than you usually give yourself permission to? What if trust meant under-efforting instead of pushing? The ground won’t let you fall. Awareness won’t abandon you. The invitation is to let yourself be held.

This meditation was guided in a monthly meetup for my membership community.

Transcript

Our practice will be about 10 minutes or so. And before maybe jumping into your, Quote unquote, Usual meditation posture. You might just check in, How are you feeling now? What adjustments might you need to make to settle? Or you might check in with your capacity if there is. Some degree of capacity. You might tell yourself, I'm going to actually try to practice in a posture that is unpleasant. Or that I've always been shy to practice in or something like that. Given that it's, Again, Quote unquote, Only 10 minutes. And whatever posture you end up choosing for your practice. Tune into the flavor or the texture that's present. There may be a sense of coming home if it's a familiar posture. There's a sense of. Regret for choosing the posture you're in. Or something else. And whatever is here. Can you relax in the presence of it? Relax the body, Heart, And mind in the presence. Of pleasant or unpleasant. What do you notice in this moment? Could be waiting for the next instruction. Maybe sound. Sensation, Thought. And again, What happens when you notice what you're noticing? What changes, If anything. Bring attention to your body resting here in whatever posture you're in. And tune into the body pressing down into the ground or into your support. What parts of the body are being held. By the ground, Your couch, Your chair, Your bed. And for a few moments. Stay at the points of contact, Noticing hardness and softness, Odd, Cold perhaps. As best you can, Continuing to relax into the support. Perhaps. As you observe the points of contact between your support and body, Ever so slightly there can be this quality of trust, Trust that you're being held or maybe even faith that you're being held by the earth. And start getting cultivated. For the next few moments as best you can without too much effort. Notice your attention or your awareness coming and going. That perhaps there could be a loud sound all of a sudden. And then you're suddenly aware. Or maybe a sharp inhale. And then after a few moments, The mind might wander. Might not realize you're getting caught in the contents of the thought and that's okay. Because at some point. It could be something else like an itch that brings you back to this moment. Or the sound of my voice reminds you what we're doing here right now. And so in much the same way as we might have been noticing a subtle cultivation of trust as we tuned into how the earth is holding us. Maybe there can be the same thing that gets cultivated as we start tuning into how awareness returns. That we are being held by all of our past practices. And that we may be able to relax a little bit more. In our practice and we. Give ourself permission. To do normally. In moments, The bell will ring. Can you take under-efforting. Or the relaxation further by letting it all go. By just being. You you