Let's begin with a bell.
A tuning first to the bell.
Then moving inward to self.
And noticing what's around as well.
A jet overhead,
A breeze,
Birds,
The thrum of an air conditioning unit,
Water boiling,
Or tea.
And what's inside you,
Stiff and sore,
Comfortable,
Relaxed,
Muscles tight or open,
Depending on where in the body.
Maybe your legs are tight and your arms are relaxed.
Just noticing.
Using the sights and sounds and smells around you and the experiences within you as a cue to be present,
To be of the moment.
To embrace this experience as it is,
When it is.
We quite often get lost in the past,
Euphoric recall,
Dread,
Anxiety about the future,
Fear,
Shame,
Indifference,
Embarrassment.
And things that aren't here right now.
So let's take a moment to put them aside by drawing in and settling down.
You find your breath where it is,
And then you might want to make it a little deeper.
And exhale a little slower.
Just bring it all in and let it all out.
Using that as another cue to stay here.
To stay in this place,
In this time,
And let it embrace you and embrace it.
It's a nice moment when you might want to hold on to.
And then the next moment and you hold on to that just for a moment.
Letting time flow through you like breath,
Like clouds across the sky.
Not really holding on to anything.
Coming into a greater quiet,
A deeper stillness,
Slowness,
A slowness.
Maybe as you slow down,
You feel a little sleepy,
A little woozy.
That's great.
That's a good framework for meditation,
A good mental state.
Not too awake,
But alert,
Noticing,
Not fired up.
In this meditation,
We're going to notice the places and ways in which we add to the world and the places and ways in which we take away from the world.
Without judging either,
Because sometimes each is necessary.
Just breathing.
If at any point these reflections become challenging to you,
Uncomfortable,
Just sit.
Turn away.
Return to your body,
Your seat,
Your breath.
And just listen from a distance.
That's okay,
Too.
We take things out of the world.
We remove things.
We lessen things.
Food in the pantry.
Taking money out of the economy and putting it in the bank.
Withdrawing ourselves from loving relationships,
Sometimes necessarily so,
And sometimes unfairly so.
Sometimes even unfairly so.
At our own expense.
Watch yourself pull in,
Grasp,
And take.
What does that feel like when you take for yourself?
For many people,
It's difficult.
Shameful,
Even.
Perhaps it's a hungry feeling,
Needing more off the plate.
Eating more alcohol.
Taking more out of the world.
Hunting.
We're not going to judge our taking.
We're not going to judge our ways of diminishing or reducing what's in the world.
We're just going to notice it.
How does it make us feel?
When might it be the right choice?
When might it be an error?
How would we even judge such things?
See if you can sense it in your body or your feelings.
It's okay to need and to take at appropriate moments.
Part of life is understanding when and how.
Breathing.
Taking breath.
Taking in air.
Absorbing oxygen,
Deepening it into yourself.
Needed and useful.
So we take and reduce sometimes.
That's okay.
Let's take a few moments to breathe before we continue.
On extending your breath more deeply in.
Exhaling more slowly.
Settling down.
Three more breaths.
When we talked about gathering and grasping and taking and reducing,
I'll go to the other side where we give,
Where we expand,
Where we add to the world around us.
It can be good,
But it can also be fearful.
Many people fear giving because they're worried they won't have enough at the end of the day.
That's normal.
Quite common.
And it's good to give to those in need and to a world that needs our presence.
And our gifts.
And just explore what it feels like.
The notion of giving and expanding and making things better or different.
We breathe in,
We give our breath out.
In and out.
Taking and receiving.
Giving and going.
What's it like to focus on the giving?
You notice it anywhere in your body or sensations or emotions come up?
Resistance.
Excitement.
Any and all,
Whatever you notice.
Just check in.
What's it like to give,
To expand,
To offer,
To improve?
How does that work for you?
Take some breaths into the experience.
Going a little deeper,
Slowing down,
Getting heavy.
Take three more.
In deep,
Out slow.
Last,
Let's check in on the balance of giving and taking.
Of improving or diminishing,
Expanding or restricting.
All necessary when used in the right proportion at the right time in the right way.
But it's interesting to explore.
Do you take more than you give?
Do you give too much?
Too carelessly?
Are you afraid and don't offer and just take?
It's under it all.
And how do you keep it in balance?
Just notice,
Ask yourself the question.
You don't need to find the answer.
Just hear the question.
Am I in balance?
Left and right,
Give and take,
Offer and receive.
Maybe you'll start to feel that you want to adjust the scale.
Maybe not.
Maybe you'll find a way to make the judgment.
Maybe based on being useful or necessary.
See what comes up.
Just breathing.
Letting it come into you and settle with you.
Five more deep breaths.
Blessings.
