So here we are practicing our inner freedom.
So go ahead and get in a comfortable position.
And you can do this either seated or lying down.
Remember,
The intention of meditation is not to be uncomfortable.
That's not freedom.
Now,
There are specific meditations where we are intentionally putting ourselves in a specific position,
And discomfort may arise.
And the idea is to get freedom from our mind's reactivity to that discomfort.
That's not what this is.
That's a different meditation.
And if anyone wants to,
You can make that request and we can see about playing with that.
But right now,
Just get in a comfortable position,
Again,
Seated or lying down.
You can do this as a walking meditation if you want to.
That's OK too.
And the idea here is just to have a straight spine.
And that's for really an ease of breathing.
So starting off with just taking a couple deep breaths.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Maybe this is our first start of freedom,
This intentional choice,
This ability to release with the exhale.
Just checking in with your body.
Noticing the positioning of your body right now,
Just an opportunity to say,
Oh,
I'm really present.
I'm in control right now.
I'm already in a moment of freedom.
I'm checking in with my body,
Noticing if there's any tension or holding anywhere.
And if you notice that and you can allow that to soften,
Then please do so.
And notice that even in that shifting,
That choice to soften or gently stretch your body,
Notice that's acting free.
Yeah,
Right now you're free.
Also being aware,
Starting this practice right now,
It's important to notice how you're feeling emotionally.
Emotions impact our perception,
Our ability to attend,
Particularly when we're unaware of them.
So just being aware,
Comfortable,
Uncomfortable,
Neutral.
Something more specific.
And also being aware of the quality of your attention right now,
Whether your mind seems distracted or cluttered,
Or if it seems like it's settling into being here.
Just the moment of awareness is a moment of freedom.
Moment we're in that space between stimulus and response where we now have a choice,
Ah,
Soften my body.
Come back attending to what I'm choosing to attend to.
And starting to notice how your body's naturally breathing.
See if it's possible to do that without needing to control the rhythm of your breath.
So it can be shallow,
It can be short,
Can be deep,
Can be irregular.
And you're just being aware of whatever this natural rhythm is.
Breathing in just this awareness of the breath coming in.
And breathing out just this awareness of the breath going out breath by breath.
It's almost as if we're allowing our breath just to be free.
We're holding it with an open palm and just the sense of allowing,
A sense of letting be.
Okay.
See if you can expand this out to your whole body.
Noticing your whole body here,
Your feet,
Your legs,
Hips,
Torso,
Arms and hands,
Shoulders,
Face,
Whole head.
Feeling your whole body here just naturally breathing.
There's a moment in the day where there's no need to control anything,
Just allowing it all to be completely free.
And you're just sensing into it,
Just a sense of allowing.
Choosing to be aware of the aliveness of this moment.
Okay.
And just checking in with your mind now,
Noticing if it's been pulled away,
Not by choice.
Just off distracted or thinking about other things.
And if so,
There's an opportunity to practice freedom for a moment to take note of that.
Soften your body,
Release with the exhale.
Come back,
Noticing your body breathing.
It's as if you're paying attention to the aliveness of your body and this breath,
Just like you might a precious flower or a beautiful butterfly.
Noticing the precious aliveness of it all.
Bringing that to your body,
Breathing,
Sensing into the preciousness of your life.
And even beginning to allow yourself to expand out.
Here's this body breathing.
And also if you allow your awareness to spread as wide as the room,
Maybe allowing it to go beyond the boundaries of the walls that you're in and be as wide as the sky.
Completely free.
I'm noticing these sounds as well.
Settling into this natural awareness where there's this breath,
This body,
These sounds.
And just letting it all be free.
And then just letting it all go beyond the boundaries of the walls that you're in and be as wide as the sky.
And then just letting it all go beyond the boundaries of the walls that you're in and be as wide as the sky.
You might even notice that there's thoughts or images that take you away or come up within your awareness.
Allowing those to come and go as well.
That's allowing those to just be present within this wider awareness,
These sensations in the body,
This breath,
These sounds,
These thoughts.
You're just settling into this more natural awareness,
Allowing it all to come and go,
Allowing it all to be free,
Settling into your inner freedom.
And then just letting it all go beyond the boundaries of the walls that you're in and be as wide as the sky.
And then just letting it all go beyond the boundaries of the walls that you're in and be as wide as the sky.
So just noticing how you're feeling right now.
As you bring your attention in,
Noticing your body breathing,
Just being aware of how you're feeling physically,
Emotionally.
And if there is a part of you that feels like it's hard to be free,
Hard to access the sense of freedom,
Or if there's someone in your life that you notice that you're wishing they could access more inner freedom,
Or people in this world that you're hoping can access more freedom,
Then breathing in and bringing that sense of desire internally to you,
Or that sense of that friendly wish internally and breathing out and just sending that out to whoever it is that you're wishing the longing for the removal of that inner captivity.
So it's as if you're breathing in one for me,
Breathing out one for whoever that may be,
That may be a person or people.
And whoever that may be,
Or whatever people that may be,
Allowing yourself to see their networks,
So their connections,
And allowing an awareness of their connections until you see that wrap around the entire globe.
And as you breathe in one for yourself,
This intention of sending yourself this inner freedom,
This light,
And you're breathing out,
Imagining that breath wrapping around the entire globe.
One for me,
One for all of us.
And once again,
Just bringing it back to yourself now,
And just noticing how you're feeling physically,
Emotionally,
What's present.
In the moment,
We'll end this practice,
But just taking this final piece,
This final moment of really acknowledging yourself for creating the space and time,
This in its own was an act of choice,
An intentional choice,
Which was an act of freedom.
And so just acknowledging yourself for taking this time.
And so bringing awareness now to the face,
And your eyelids,
And you're rolling your shoulders,
And your toes,
And you're stretching your fingers,
And gently letting the light seep through opening your eyes.
And now you're just gently letting the light seep through,
Opening your eyes.
