Pausing To Be Present With Yourself

This is a lying down meditation to bring you back into the present moment with your body, and also to bring care to difficult emotions and sensations.

In the beginning and end of this meditation I read from Pema Chödrön's book 'Taking the Leap'. Pema Chödrön is a Buddhist nun who teaches on compassion.

Transcript

This is a lying down meditation to bring you back into the present moment with your body and also to bring care to difficult emotions and sensations. In this meditation I read from Pema Chodron's book, Taking the Leap, At the beginning of the meditation and at the end. Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun who teaches on compassion. Let's get started. So go ahead and find yourself in a lying down position and first just allow yourself to do a bit of a body scan of just noticing where you feel tension in your body, Noticing any areas that feel like you're holding, And noticing your own breath in your body just as it is and giving some permission to your breath to just start to slow down. And as your breath slows down, It's a natural breath, Not forced, But it's just long and deep. And on the exhale, It's a practice of just letting go so that you slow your breath down and you focus on the letting go of the holding in whatever areas you feel like you're holding physically. And I'm going to start with just a short reading from Pema and then we'll move into a little sweet practice for you. So she says, We might also ask, Given my present situation, How long should I stay with uncomfortable feelings? This is a good question, Yet there is no right answer. We simply get accustomed to coming back to the present just as it is for a second, For a minute, For an hour, Whatever is currently natural without it's becoming an endurance trial. Just pausing for two or three breaths is a perfect way to stay present. This is a good use of our life. So pause for two or three breaths here. Indeed, It is an excellent, Joyful use of our life. Instead of getting better and better at avoiding, We can learn to accept the present moment as if we had invited it and work with it instead of against it, Making it our ally rather than our enemy. This is a work in progress, A process of uncovering our natural openness, Uncovering our natural intelligence and warmth. The wisdom, The strength, The confidence, The awakened heart and mind are always accessible here and now, Always. We are just uncovering them. We are rediscovering them. We're not inventing them or importing them from somewhere else. They're here. So go ahead and slow that breath down, Allowing yourself to be here in this moment and whatever is present for you, You can breathe it in. And as you breathe out, You send out warmth to your body, To your heart and to whatever is present. Breathing in, You make contact. And breathing out, You send out wisdom, Knowing and trust. Breathing in, You welcome the present moment. And breathing out, You send strength and confidence. Breathing in, You're here for what is. And breathing out, You have an awakened heart and mind so that with each in-breath, You're just making contact with your body, Your feelings, Whatever is showing up right now. And with each out-breath, You are sending kindness and care, Warmth and courage. You are open and you let go. And if you find that there's feelings that show up or discomfort, You breathe it in, Feel it in your body and breathe out the help that you need, The care that you need. You're sending it to those areas that need help. This is a good use of your life, Learning to recognize the feelings, Remaining present when you're afraid and just pausing to stay with them and send openness, Intelligence and warmth. So taking in a few more long, Slow breaths to practice this. And then you can slowly bring awareness just to your body in the room. And I'm just going to close with a short reading again from Pema. When things fall apart and we can't get the pieces back together, When we lose something dear to us, When the whole thing is just not working and we don't know what to do, This is the time when the natural warmth of tenderness, The warmth of empathy and kindness are just waiting to be uncovered, Just waiting to be embraced. This is our chance to come out of our self-protecting bubble and to realize that we are never alone. This is our chance to finally understand that wherever we go, Everyone we meet is essentially just like us. Our own suffering, If we turn toward it, Can open us to a loving relationship with the world. So taking in your deepest breath and sending out your deepest kindness, You can slowly bring yourself back into the space.