Let's begin with the bell.
Just settling in.
Okay,
How do you feel?
Not judging,
You're just there.
Becoming aware of self and body and environment.
In the most general terms.
Is it warm?
Is it cold?
Is it noisy?
Is it quiet?
Are you stiff?
Are you comfortable?
Broad strokes.
How are you doing today?
A little sad,
A little excited,
A little tired,
A little energized.
Wherever it is.
Just breathing.
No pressure,
No expectation.
Meditation doesn't have to be fancy or difficult or odd or obscure.
You can just be sitting with yourself.
Keeping your own company.
Maybe embracing and enjoying boredom which starts to expand when you give it your attention.
It starts to become fascinating.
Just breathing.
Let's go a little more specific.
Where's your breath?
Are you inhaling shallowly or deeply?
Exhaling too fast,
Too slow?
Once you notice it,
Maybe you want to slow it down.
Breathe in more deeply.
Exhale more slowly.
Using the filling of your lungs to open your shoulders and expand into your body.
Offering oxygen to sore muscles,
Tight joints.
Maybe you can sense your pulse without touching your wrist.
Just notice,
Is there a thrum in your chest?
Maybe in your neck,
Down your arms.
You might be able to faintly detect movement of blood.
Is your stomach rumbling?
Can you feel food or emptiness in your belly?
Comfort,
Distention.
Just notice your metabolism.
Your pulse,
Your breathing.
Using those cues to attend to yourself.
Be present.
And to slow down.
Get more quiet.
Get more still.
Going inward because you like yourself and you want to be with yourself and you want to give yourself this time.
You are precious.
You can be proud of yourself and grateful for all you have.
Just breathing.
Stretching out with your breath.
Coming in.
Sinking.
Getting heavy.
Noticing anything going on for you.
Your thoughts kind of wandering.
Something filling you with worry and cortisol.
Leaning forward in excitement.
Resisting the day.
Whatever.
It's not a judgment.
It's an interesting observation.
It's a data point in an experiment.
That's all it needs to be.
A little diary entry.
We use this meditation to cultivate kindness in an often cruel world.
Kindness to self.
Kindness to others.
Kindness to the world at large.
We'll notice the thorns.
Where do you prick at yourself?
Where do you poke?
Where do you insult yourself?
What unkind language might you use about yourself?
Where do you feel bad,
Even in your body?
Resisting your own kindness.
Pushing away from love.
I don't think you can solve this in meditation,
But you might float the question of,
Why am I sometimes cruel to myself?
Why do I treat myself in less than dignified ways?
Just letting that be part of the meditation,
But not solving or fixing.
Just breathing.
Staying.
Staying slow.
Staying quiet.
Staying still.
Becoming as relaxed as possible.
Breathing in deeply.
Exhaling slowly.
With that breath,
Can you offer yourself kindness?
Match the cruelty.
Overwhelm it,
Perhaps.
Being generous with yourself.
A generous awareness of yourself.
Extending.
Broadening yourself to yourself.
Sharing and expanding.
Letting that be part of your practice.
Noticing farther out,
Maybe in your family or local community,
Moments of cruelty.
Moments where you can be cruel.
Moments where others are cruel.
Moments where systems are cruel.
Unkind and uncaring.
Too clever by half.
Feel it.
How does cruelty make you feel?
Do you recoil?
Does it excite you?
Is it interesting or painful?
All of those things?
Do you think there are people in your community,
Even your family,
That you treat as less than human?
Or are treated in less than human ways?
Bring that up,
And then bring up the possibility of kindness and extending dignity.
Decency.
In a world that seems to have lost its interest in decency.
Cultivate it in yourself and share it outward to your family and community.
The spark of kindness.
Sensitivity and compassion.
Breathing in deeply,
Exhaling slowly.
Feeling it all and then letting it go.
Not holding on to any of the good or difficult feelings.
Just letting them pass.
And when you have straight thoughts,
Let them pass too.
And then expanding again your concern,
Your noticing,
That the world can be cruel.
That some have access to enough food and clean water,
And many don't.
Some are safer from climate change,
And many are not.
Some are experiencing war,
And some peace.
And the world can be cruel,
And we can be indifferent to each other,
And see different people as less than human.
In ways it's embedded in our DNA,
But that doesn't mean we have to like it.
Just notice the world's capacity for cruelty.
Maybe it makes you sad,
Or mad,
Or overwhelmed.
Take that in.
And then,
And then,
And then,
Can you extend kindness?
Can you wish kindness into the world and wish to do your part?
Not everything,
But something.
Extending kindness and generosity in a generous spirit,
Outward and outward.
You can be a force against the cruelty.
Yes,
You can.
You can challenge indifference and dehumanization.
Breathe into that chance.
Blessings.
