Hi,
I'm Dr.
Diana Hill.
I'm a clinical psychologist and if you are interested in learning more about my offerings,
You can go to drdianahill.
Com.
This meditation begins with focusing on the breath.
It's using mantras from Thich Nhat Hanh in the tradition of Plum Village.
By focusing on the breath,
You are finding a landing space,
A place where you can return when your mind wanders,
A place that you can go to when you feel stressed or overwhelmed or irritated.
Meditation is a balance of being both awake and at ease and feeling space and freedom as you rest in your breath.
In this meditation,
You'll begin with a simple focus of the breath and then expand your breath up into your head,
Into your heart,
And then eventually into a space of loving awareness.
Let's get started.
Find yourself in a comfortable position.
Bring awareness to the sounds around you.
Bring awareness to the temperature of the air on your skin.
These senses that make contact with the outside world.
And then bring your awareness inside to your breath,
Moving inside your body.
And breathing in,
I am aware that I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I'm aware that I'm breathing out.
In.
Out.
And breathing in,
I allow my breath to be deep.
And breathing out,
I allow my breath to be slow.
Deep.
Slow.
Breathing in,
I feel calm.
Breathing out,
I feel ease.
Calm.
Ease.
Breathing in,
I feel space.
Breathing out,
I feel free.
Space.
Free.
Let the breath settle.
Settle into its natural rhythm.
But keep mindfulness there.
Knowing that you're breathing.
You may see that the breath is moving.
But the sense of knowing is rather still.
We can focus on the movement through the stillness.
And let your breath take you up into your mind.
And breathe into your mind.
Let your mind be large.
With lots of breathing room.
Lots of space.
Let the inner voice drop to the background.
And let your breath expand the mind out into space.
Under all the deep cool space of the mind.
You can let the mind be very large.
Boundless.
It has no edges.
That's mind with no edges.
It has no center.
Just feel the vast spaciousness of the open mind.
Now let the breath take you.
Deep into the center of your being.
Past the wanting and not wanting.
And selfing and control.
Down deep.
Deep into the center.
The heart center.
The chitta.
And find that same sense of spaciousness there.
And it may just be a flicker.
But you can fan it.
You can expand it.
With your breath.
Letting it get larger.
With your breath.
Letting it get larger.
With the in breath.
And deeper.
With the out breath.
So there's a sense of breathing through a vast open space.
Maybe even a sense of being in the space.
Behind the breath.
Still observing it.
Still knowing that you're breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Now invite your heart energies into that space.
Just let the heart arrive.
Let it expand and fill.
Feel the sense of warmth.
Kindness.
Of heart and energy.
Maybe the emotions of a little gladness.
Or joy.
That flow from those heart energies.
Just let them fill that empty space.
Let the sure heart release.
And now allow that warmth to spread out.
Sort of expand and pervade.
Through the chest.
Expand and pervade.
Through the bottom of the body.
Up the spine.
And now allow that warmth to spread out.
Up into the mind.
Let the mind's awareness be colored.
With loving kindness.
And as you come to the end of this meditation.
For a moment,
Turn your mind outward.
And recognize that all those beings out there are part of you too.
And so you wish them well.
You wish they'd be kind.
You wish they'd be happy.
You wish they'd find ease.
And that they'd find peace.
And may it be so.
