Welcome to this series of meditations on Taoist wisdom.
In the following sessions,
We'll be discovering this Chinese teaching that aims to find harmony in our relationship with ourselves,
With others,
And with the world at large.
To find a sense of peace and harmony,
Taoist sages tell us that we must follow the Tao,
A mysterious word that can be understood as the perfect way,
The way of nature,
The universe,
Or even the great mother.
Lao Tzu talks about it in this way.
The Tao is what happens of itself.
Following the Tao can thus be understood as an attitude of acceptance towards the present moment,
Whatever it may look like,
But far from being a doctrine of passivity.
To follow the Tao means that one becomes so familiar with the natural way of the world that they can initiate the right action spontaneously,
Live in harmony with nature,
And delight in a childlike joy and wonder at the world.
Through the following meditations,
Visualizations,
And affirmations,
We'll be tapping into this ancient wisdom to live a more peaceful,
Joyous,
And harmonious life.
Start by finding a comfortable seat,
And make sure that your back is straight,
And that the front of your body remains open to receive the full range of your breath.
As you take a deep inhale,
Open your arms to your sides,
And raise them above you.
And on the exhale,
Float them gently back down on your lap,
In the way that's most comfortable for you right now.
Before closing your eyes,
Allow your gaze to soften,
And become aware of the space around you.
Take a deep breath through your nostrils that opens your chest and inflates your belly,
And gently release it through your mouth.
Another deep breath in,
Exhale through your mouth.
With each new exhale,
Allow your shoulders to fall a little more to your sides,
Your body to become a bit heavier,
And the muscles in your face to soften.
As if your entire body was exhaling with your breath.
And come into an attitude of relaxed awareness.
When you're ready,
You can close your eyes and your mouth,
And let your breath find its natural rhythm.
Bring your attention to the area where you feel your breath the clearest.
And make an intention to use this sensation as an anchor to come back to the present moment whenever you notice your mind has wandered.
Follow your breath with patience from the moment the air touches this area of attention to the moment where it leaves it completely.
Now imagine that you've just arrived in your body five seconds ago with no previous memory whatsoever.
Everything you know about the world is what comes to your senses in this very instant,
Without a single word to describe it.
You're all in one body.
Bodily sensations,
Sounds,
Colors,
And even thoughts are curious phenomena that you can discover with a sense of curiosity and playfulness.
Watch this flow of sensations at once visual,
Tactile,
And acoustic as if it were a river that's permanently flowing and in which you are immersed.
You can come back to the anchor of your breath and take a moment to notice how you feel.
Before ending this meditation,
You can repeat the following affirmations to strengthen your capacity to follow the Tao.
Simply observe how the conscious repetition of these sentences resonates within your body when you say them.
If something pleasant arises or perhaps you witness some resistance,
Whatever comes up is fine.
I can always come back to the source of serenity by observing what is happening within me.
I cultivate harmony in my relationships and my environment.
Every moment is an opportunity for me to experience wonder.
This flow of sensations which you experienced is the Tao itself.
It's impossible to grasp it with words,
But we can always experience it,
Immerse ourselves in it at any moment.
And when we allow ourselves to simply observe this flow without judging it as good or bad,
Without analyzing it with words or trying to control it,
We find a natural sense of serenity,
Of harmony,
And of the simple joy of being.
To be in harmony with the Tao is to develop an intimate connection with the river in which we're bathing,
To trust its flow and become one with it.
And finally,
To realize that whatever our worries may be,
Past or future,
That we're always in the river and we can make this journey a joyful experience no matter the circumstances.
I hope you enjoyed this session and if you like the background music to this audio,
It's called Picking Flowers by Lei Kyung.
Feel free to let me know about your experience in the comments and I'll see you next time for a new meditation of Taoist wisdom.
