This is a meditation to help you prepare for Shabbat.
Often in our full,
Busy lives,
It can be challenging to give ourselves time to rest,
Time to pause,
Time to just be.
It can help to give ourselves a transition from our week of doing,
Achieving,
Striving into this time of Shabbat where we practice resting,
Resting with what is,
Resting with being,
Opening to that which is divine.
You can practice this meditation leading into Shabbat,
Even during Shabbat if you find yourself getting caught up in old familiar patterns.
You can even practice this meditation during the week,
Bringing a taste of Shabbat,
Of rest into the week.
Beginning by finding a comfortable posture.
You can choose to practice sitting or standing or lying down.
Finding a balance in the posture between being awake and being at ease.
Your eyes can be open or closed.
And seeing if you can let any extra tension in the body dissolve.
Any muscles that are working harder than they need to right now.
So checking in with the face,
Letting the face be soft,
Letting the eyes rest,
Letting the jaw be loose,
Letting the shoulders soften,
Noticing if the fingers or the toes are gripping,
Softening the belly.
Looking in and seeing how you are right now,
How you're feeling,
Any emotion or any mood or any thoughts that are on your mind.
Just noticing and allowing.
Taking the attention to the felt sensations of the body breathing.
Feeling sensations of inhaling and exhaling.
Noticing how breath moves the body.
How the body expands slightly on the inhale and contracts slightly on the exhale.
Letting the attention rest with the flow of breath into and out of the body.
And allowing the body to breathe at its own pace,
Not needing to make a project out of breathing,
Just breathing,
Just being with the body as it breathes.
Beginning to contemplate the week.
Looking through the week in your mind,
Recalling any moments that stuck out to you.
Pleasant moments,
Achievements,
Unpleasant moments,
Moments when you didn't feel good,
Stressful moments.
Neutral moments,
Everyday occurrences.
Moments that were wanted,
Moments that were unwanted.
Just taking stock of the week behind you,
What the week held.
Seeing if you can do this without judging the week,
What it was or what it wasn't,
What it could have been or should have been,
Or even holding on to how well it went.
Just having a sense of the past week in your mind.
And with this sense of the week in your mind,
As you exhale,
Seeing if you can allow the exhale,
The out-breath,
To carry the striving,
Doing,
Accomplishing energy of the week along with it.
Letting go on the exhale,
Letting go of the week,
Of memories,
Of stressors,
Of what went right and what went wrong,
Of what got done and what was left unfinished.
Letting go of the week as you breathe out.
And on the inhale,
Just resting.
Letting the inhale be a place for the mind to pause,
To rest.
Breathing out,
Gently letting go of the week,
Breathing in,
Resting.
Breathing out the week,
Breathing in,
Resting.
Making sure that you aren't forcing the week out or pushing it out like an enemy.
Just gently letting go of what isn't here now,
What isn't needed now.
Breathing out the week,
Breathing in,
Resting.
And inviting Shabbat to enter the body on the inhale.
Breathing in Shabbat,
Whatever that means to you or whatever you imagine it to be.
Just breathing in a sense of ease,
Of peace,
Of love,
Of space.
Breathing out the week,
Breathing in Shabbat,
Breathing out the week,
Breathing in Shabbat.
Continuing at your own pace with your own breath.
If your attention wanders,
If you find yourself getting caught up in thoughts or distractions,
It's not a problem just noticing this and coming back to breathing in Shabbat,
Breathing out the week.
And now,
Since we don't want to just hold tightly onto Shabbat for ourselves,
Sharing Shabbat on the exhale,
Breathing in Shabbat,
Breathing out Shabbat,
Sharing it with all beings,
With your family,
With friends,
People you don't know,
People you like,
People you don't like,
Birds or insects outside,
Pets.
Sharing Shabbat,
That all beings may experience the love,
The peace,
The ease of Shabbat.
Breathing in Shabbat,
Breathing out Shabbat.
Breathing in Shabbat,
Breathing out,
Sharing Shabbat.
And now,
Letting go of attention to breath and just resting here,
Resting with any felt sensations in the body,
Just being.
When you are ready,
Raising or opening your eyes,
Remembering you can come back to this practice at any time throughout the day.
Shabbat Shalom.
