The Art Of Mindfulness Meditation - Cultivating An Open-Hearted, Receptive Awareness

In this mindfulness practice, we cultivate a receptive and open-hearted awareness of our moment-to-moment experience, meeting what is present with kindness and without judgment, clinging or struggle. This practice includes some poetry, reflections, and periods of silence.

Note: This is a live recording so may contain minor background noise.

Transcript

So I invite you to find a comfortable posture again,

Taking your seat,

Feeling your body here on the chair or on the cushion,

Just inviting a receptive awareness of whatever's present right now,

Taking some time to settle,

Perhaps taking a few longer,

Deeper breaths.

Just helping to calm the nervous system,

Relax the brain,

Just create the conditions as much as we can to be here in a relaxed way,

Just letting go,

Releasing on the out-breath,

Inviting a smile to your face.

You think of the smile as a kind of yoga posture.

Thich Nhat Hanh talked about smile yoga,

Just inviting the smile,

Inviting the face into the expression of a smile.

And it can be helpful to think about a loved one,

Someone who easily makes you feel happy,

Joyful,

At ease.

For many with pets,

A pet can play that role,

Or children,

Grandchildren,

Babies are very effective,

Just kind of the smile that naturally comes when we see or we hold a baby.

Just inviting that smile,

Whatever it is that helps you to relax and smile,

Could be a place that you love,

Go to visit.

Just inviting it inward,

Inviting the smile inward,

Into the body,

Into the heart.

And letting the smile be an expression of how we want to meet the world,

How we want to meet our own experience.

See,

Inviting a welcoming of whatever guests are coming to visit.

Being able to come back to the smile,

We might easily forget,

You know,

We get caught up in a thought about,

You know,

Work we have to do or responsibilities,

And we get,

The mind gets very tight and perhaps quite serious.

But then if we can just remember the smile,

Just inviting ourselves back into that space of calm,

Of ease,

Inviting the mind,

The brain to relax,

The nervous system to be more at ease.

And another invitation to ease and to well-being is to reflect on gratitude.

You could think of two or three things or more in your life that you feel grateful for right now.

It could be loved ones,

Meaningful work,

Creativity in your life,

Maybe a sense of ease,

Financial ease or good health.

It might be your spiritual practice.

Is there anything that you really feel a genuine sense of gratitude for?

And if you can just reflect on one or two or a few things and really take in whatever feelings come up,

Feeling of gratitude,

Of appreciation.

This too helps the heart to open,

To be at ease.

If we're grateful,

If we're feeling gratitude,

We can't at the same time be caught up in worry or anger or difficult,

Painful emotions.

It's a way of really neutralizing these more challenging,

More painful states of mind that we can be caught up in.

It can be a very,

Very powerful practice to reflect and maybe write down journal on gratitude,

Things we're grateful for in our life.

So sitting in a way that's relaxed and at the same time alert,

At the same time aware of your experience.

So,

I think that's a good way to reflect on your feelings.

I think that's a good way to reflect on your experience.

Sense of ease,

But also attention,

Awareness.

Recognizing whatever is present and allowing it to be as it is,

Allowing it to come and go inHotSlabs.

If it helps to ground and gather your attention,

You can bring awareness to your breathing.

Just have that be your focal point,

Your home base.

Just aware of breathing in,

Breathing out.

And that can help kind of still the mind if it's kind of bouncing around,

You know,

Like a monkey jumping from tree to tree.

Just have that as the focus.

And then when the mind does wander,

We just come back again,

Kindly,

Gently returning this breath.

How we choose to pay attention in meditation is really an art that we cultivate,

And it's one that we develop by just being aware of our own experience,

Just seeing what's most helpful.

So sometimes it may be more helpful to use another focus for our attention,

Like sound.

Maybe opening to a more spacious awareness when we open to sound.

Or coming into the body and feeling sensations in the body,

Say in the feet,

Or the hands,

Or the seat.

Really the question is,

What's most helpful for you?

What most helps you to be present here in a kind and non-judging way?

Even if the mind is relatively calm and at ease,

You could let go of any particular focus for attention and just let the awareness be open,

Just aware of whatever's coming up.

Sound comes up,

You notice that.

Feeling a tingling comes up in the body.

Thought comes up in the mind.

You could just see them like clouds or birds passing through the sky.

You're just resting in an open,

Spacious awareness.

Imagining your awareness is like the sky,

Open,

Wide,

Spacious.

Feeling passing through can come and go,

But the mind,

The sky remains open and spacious.

In the same way,

Our mind can be open,

Whatever comes up,

Just to watch it come and go.

So just see what's most helpful for you right now.

What helps you to be here?

What most helps you to be present here in a kind and non-judging way?

What most helps you to be present here in a kind and non-judging way?

What most helps you to be present here in a kind and non-judging way?

So,

I just invite you to sit with whatever is arising,

Using whatever focus for your attention is most helpful to you.

And I just occasionally drop in some,

Maybe some lines from poems or reflections.

Maybe helpful at times.

So,

I invite you to sit with whatever is arising,

Using whatever focus for your attention is most helpful to you.

This is from the American Indian Ojibwe tradition.

Sometimes I go about pitying myself,

And all the while I'm being carried by great winds across the sky.

Sometimes I go about pitying myself,

And all the while I'm being carried by great winds across the sky.

There's this kind,

Non-judging attention to whatever is arising in the body and in the heart and in the mind.

Compassionate,

Curious.

Intense and curious.

This moment,

Just as it is,

This moment without judgment.

This moment without clinging to the experience.

Not being identified or caught up in whatever the mind is involved in,

But just to be aware of it.

If there's tightness in the body,

Maybe there's some worry at the back of the mind or the front of the mind.

Just notice that,

Breathe into it.

Take space for it.

I said to my soul,

Be still and wait without hope.

The hope would be hope for the wrong thing.

Wait without love,

For love would be love of the wrong thing.

There is yet faith,

But the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.

Wait without thought,

For you are not ready for thought.

So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing.

T.

S.

Eliot's Four Quartets.

It's an open,

Receptive awareness to whatever is arising in this moment.

Letting it come.

Letting it be.

Letting it go.

Letting it go.

Finishing with this poem by Rilke.

I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one,

But I give myself to it.

I circle around God,

Around the primordial tower.

I've been circling for thousands of years and still I don't know.

Am I a falcon,

A storm,

Or a great song?

Reviews

I like all off all of Hugh's meditation. He has such a lovely voice.

Thank you Hugh for your spirit which shines through in this guided meditation . Supportive, clear, open. 💜

I typically do not use a spoken meditation while meditating but I really enjoyed this. Not much interruption with words but the few words were very insightful. Good job.

T.S.Eliot and Rilke to open my day. Thank you, Hugh, for such sublime poetry in this simple meditation.

Wonderful rhythm, just the right amount of peaceful commentary.

Nice contemplative meditation. Thank you. It helped me remember gratitude and that I can only control my own being.

Enlightening. Will listen to more of your work. Thank you 🙏

The concept of using multiple techniques to stay focused is really what I do in my pottery in production. How does this form work for that? What’s required of me to finish this? Who gets the attention first and how will it get finished? All bits at once in a vast array all going to the same goal.

Thank you for the help you give me. I Always love the poetry inclusions.
Namaste brother.

I love all your meditations. Thank you so much 😊💓

Such effective guidance, once again. The background rustles, shifts of position, deeper breaths only served to help me feel part of the group practising at the recording. Grateful thanks.

Really relaxing ☺

Very calm voice. Ambient noise is a little distracting but still helpful, calming. Might be too much talking for some.

Thank you, Hugh🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I love your combination of gentle guidance and poetry🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

So very helpful during a time of turmoil. Thank you. Namaste.

As with every offering by this poet, ten stars.

Well paced, felt a little short. More space more poetry please.

Felt really relaxed.

Beautiful. I could listen to your voice all day 🙏🏻

I want to remember the smile! Thanks for this meditation.

I find your teachings and presence comforting. Thank you for sharing with us!