Namaste and welcome.
Today's practice is focused on going into the deepest part of ourselves,
Deepening into stillness by using our awareness.
Go ahead and find your favorite spot.
It might be lying down or seated on a cushion with your spine straight.
Maybe you're resting in a chair.
It's up to you.
Whatever you need today.
Go ahead and shut down your eyes and find your natural breath.
Following the rhythms,
The rising,
The falling,
The ebbing,
And the flowing.
Settling into your practice.
Now starting at the top of your head,
Scan down your body all the way to your toes.
As you scan,
Feel your muscles melting off your bones.
Feel the tension releasing from your face,
Your jaw,
Relaxing the shoulders away from the ears.
Feeling the lungs expand within your chest,
Releasing any tension in your gut,
And finding stability at the base of the spine.
With each breath,
We sink a little bit deeper into this practice.
As we settle our bodies and our minds into a space of stillness,
I'd like to draw attention to a contemplation,
A metaphor.
It goes,
The mind secretes thought like the liver secretes bile.
Not every single thought that comes to your mind is important or worthy of focus and attention.
During this practice,
It's important to remember that whatever content comes up,
Questions,
Memories,
Thoughts,
Or emotional sensations,
They're simply functions of the mind.
It's the mind's job to create this content.
If it arises,
We have the option to observe it.
There's no need to identify with it,
Or condemn it,
Or judge ourselves for thinking it.
The mind is doing what the mind does.
Just as we do not condemn these contents,
We do not nurture them either.
The content of the mind grows when it is fed with our attention.
What are you paying attention to?
As we sit and find that deep place of stillness within ourselves,
We will take the seat of the witness,
Watching the passing of thoughts,
Memories,
And sensations,
While acknowledging them for what they are,
Fleeting contents of the mind.
If the mind begins to wander,
We gently and gracefully pull ourselves back to awareness.
Now,
Bring yourself to your breath.
The breath is quite a helpful tool when cultivating awareness and deepening stillness.
The breath acts as a sort of anchor that keeps you centered in awareness,
That keeps you above and observant of that mental clutter.
Feel the breaths going in and out,
And at the same time,
Feel your awareness.
Feel yourself as the presence that is witnessing all of it.
I'd then start with a deep inhale,
Feeling the rising of the chest and the belly.
Deep exhale,
Feeling the fall of the chest and the belly.
Deep inhale,
Exhale,
One more time.
You can always come back to the breath.
Now bring your attention to that awareness,
Loving witness.
Notice when you get pulled back in,
Whether it be by a thought or an emotion or a strong memory.
Notice when you get distracted.
The noticing is the witnessing,
It's the awareness.
The practice of awareness is learning to begin again,
Over and over again,
And picking yourself up each time with gentleness and grace.
Thoughts will pretend to be very important.
They come disguised in emotions that carry a sense of urgency.
They come begging for your attention.
Imagine pulling yourself above these tendencies of the mind,
Back into the seat of awareness.
You might experience a train of thought bubbling up.
That's all right.
There's no problem with that.
That is what the mind does.
Find your stillness,
Cultivate that loving awareness,
And gently bring your focus there once more.
You can start to bring yourself back into this room,
Back into this body,
Taking a deep breath,
Deep in through your nose,
And a full open mouth release.
Exhale,
Sitting with this stillness just a little bit longer,
Feeling the buzzing of your cells as you wake up this body and return to the rest of your day.
You can start to wiggle your fingers and your toes,
And as you open your eyes,
Listen and look around you.
You can perceive all of the sounds,
The lights,
The visuals,
The smells that make up your external space.
They're always there,
But so is your awareness.
The place of stillness exists within you.
Let it become a daily practice to return to that depth within yourself that's free of mental clutter,
To find that space of stillness that we call home.
