Let's start with a little breath work.
This is called butterfly breath.
So butterfly breath,
You make a butterfly with your hands on your heart.
You all look so cute.
You breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
And then you can just tap your heart.
And just tapping your heart a few times,
Sort of that,
Sort of balanced tap of butterfly wings on your heart.
Breathe in for five taps.
Breathe out for five taps.
And then you can just put your hands at your lap.
So,
We can begin with this flexible attention to the calm that is already here.
So bring your awareness to a calming sound,
Noticing that that sound is arising in a space of silence.
There's a prior condition of silence.
And the sound arises from that prior condition of silence.
And then we can bring awareness to our bodies.
And we can take a posture that is stable,
Balanced in our face,
Still,
Open.
And this posture of equanimity,
The posture of your body is the prior condition of your body,
Is whole and peaceful and steady.
And then we can bring awareness to the steadiness of our breath,
The evenness and ease.
And this prior condition of your body is always breathing.
It knows how to breathe.
And it's from this condition of steadiness or ease or equanimity that we can also turn our attention to inside of ourselves and just ask a question,
Which is,
What part of me needs tending to?
And maybe there's a part of your body that feels physical pain,
Or there is an emotion inside of you that is calling for your attention.
What part of me needs some attention?
And then go and find that part inside of you,
Much like that fist that's tight,
Or maybe there's another sensation in there,
Maybe there's hollowness or sadness,
Worry.
But go and find,
Or physical pain,
Go and find that part.
And much like the steady hand that just meets that part,
Go and meet that part of you with this prior condition of steadiness and openness,
Balance,
Steady love.
And then the next task is to ask this part of you,
What is it that you want me to know?
And you listen.
And then you say,
I hear you,
I see you,
Or you just have that stance of hearing and seeing and being with.
So that you can begin to notice that this part of you that wants your attention is one of many things that's calling for your attention.
Attention,
Your body,
Loud sounds,
Your worries,
The news,
Your loved ones.
And that you are the prior condition that holds the space.
So you can hold the space with your posture.
You can hold the space with your steady breath.
But most importantly,
You hold the space by putting down,
Putting to rest,
Letting it be,
But staying present and listening.
So from this prior condition,
You can listen to sounds.
You can listen to feelings.
You can listen to worries.
You can listen to the news.
You can listen to people that are hurting or angry.
You can listen to yourself with ease and steadiness and presence.
And if you lose your balance,
There's three places you can return to remember the prior condition.
You can return to your breath,
The natural ease of your breath.
You can return to your body,
A posture,
A noble posture,
Embodying stability,
Kindness,
Balance,
A half smile.
Or you can always return to the steadiness of your heart,
This prior condition,
Which is to love.
So to your breath,
To your body,
To your heart.
And then you can just put it down and rest here.
And as you think about your day to day,
The people you might encounter or the places you may go,
You can ask that same question that you asked of your body,
Yourself,
Of what needs my attention?
And how do I want to listen?
And you can imagine yourself taking this posture,
This presence with you into the car,
Into your meetings,
Into grabbing your sandwich for lunch,
Into your encounters with your pets,
With strangers,
And with the people that you love the most.
David White writes,
Enough.
Enough.
These few words are enough.
If not these words,
This breath.
If not this breath,
This sitting here.
This opening to the life we have refused again and again until now.
Until now.
So let it be enough today for you to live from a place from steady love,
From equanimity,
That that is enough.
It's more than enough.
And a commitment to prioritize this prior condition,
Which is always here.
Before the sound of a train,
There was silence.
