Let's begin with a bell.
Thank you for being here.
Thank yourself for taking this time to meditate,
To be and not do,
To settle oneself such that when one needs to think or needs to do,
Be active in mind or body,
One is better prepared,
More adequately cared for.
You probably want to square your shoulders,
Square your hips,
Square your feet flat on the floor,
Or you could be lying down.
If it's comfortable to do so,
You can close your eyes and move inward,
And move inward,
Noticing your body,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
Distress,
Comfort,
Taking stock.
Toes to scalp,
Skin to internal organs,
Inward and outward,
Top to bottom.
What do you notice?
Just breathing,
Just using breath to slow down the processes,
Using breath to direct oxygen and nutrition to various parts of your body,
Especially those that are in need of support.
Breathing in deeply,
Out slowly as you can.
Slowing down towards stillness,
Cooling off.
Noticing birds and breezes,
Mechanical sounds,
The sounds of your body,
Listening and attending also to what's external,
And enjoying the quiet that isn't silent.
Grateful for what is.
Inhaling in your belly,
Exhaling slowly.
We'll meditate to cultivate joy,
Gratitude,
And pride.
Joy in our moment-to-moment experience of time,
Joy in our experience of nature and the created world,
And joy in learning and teaching in the power and capacity of our mind.
Starting slowly,
Continuing to inhale deeply and exhale slowly,
Long exhales.
Profound inhales.
We are blessed to exist,
To be here for a time,
To know timeliness,
To have experiences before,
Present,
And after,
Past tense and future tense.
Even to be mortal,
Such that our actions matter,
Our experiences count.
Lifting up joy for our moment-to-moment experience.
Day by day,
Sunrise to sunset,
Sunrise to sunset,
And back again.
Weeks in and out,
Through months and years,
In our allotted and mysterious life,
The span of time in which we are.
What brings you joy in existence?
In this lifetime,
Even in this moment,
Lift it up.
If you feel frustrated or confused,
Or something about time feels unsettling to you,
Just return to breathing.
Return to the space you're in.
Use my voice as a cue if you need it.
Time is a precious gift.
Embrace it for all it's worth.
Breathing,
Taking it in,
In slowness.
The natural world,
Rain and sun,
Winter and summer,
Spring and fall,
Trees and grasses,
Oceans and mountains,
From bugs and bacteria to elephants and giraffes,
All that lives and breathes and is,
And is created.
Like the expanse of time,
There is an expanse of nature in which you sit at this moment in this way.
Notice that.
What is it that you love about the natural world?
What brings you joy?
Draw it to mind,
See it.
Lying on the grass,
Climbing a mountain,
Swimming.
Feel it.
Smile with it.
Maybe laugh.
Take it in.
Take it in.
Take it in.
Take it all in,
The natural world and all of its glory,
Down to your breathing,
Your deep exhale,
Your long exhale,
The joy of nature.
Let's transition to the mind,
Learning,
Teaching,
Understanding,
A vastness akin to the vastness of time or nature,
A glorious expanse of knowing.
What lights you up and grabs your heart of the things you have learned and can learn?
Where do you find joy in wisdom and the intellect,
The life of the mind?
Perhaps reading,
Writing poetry,
Attending a course,
Learning sacred texts and ritual.
What tickles your neurons,
Brings you joy?
What do you know?
How do you feel about mystery?
And the unspeakable and unsayable?
Breathe into all the things you might learn,
The wisdom that grows with your life.
All these spans and expanses of time and nature and wisdom.
Draw in,
Take them all with glory and joy,
Gratitude,
And pride.
Keep breathing.
