Hello,
Namaste and Pura Vida de Costa Rica.
I would like to invite you on a meditation journey where the sounds around you and the sounds around me,
The buzzing of nature and of the world is completely welcome.
As meditation is a practice that we aspire to bring into our everyday lives,
Not just on the mat or on our cushion,
But in our everyday relationships and especially when life is hard,
The practice of an imperfect environment is one of my favorite experiences to have when I meditate.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat,
Closing down the eyes or bringing a soft gaze downwards,
Whatever is most comfortable for you,
And I invite you to inhale deeply and lengthen your spine,
Like really sit up,
Sending the crown of the head towards the sky,
Pull the shoulders up towards the ears and roll them back and down,
Fully settling into your seat and bringing the hands down to your lap.
We will place our right palm inside of the left as we explore a mudra,
A gesture.
A hasta mudra is a hand mudra and we will do this by bringing the thumbs together as the palms,
As the left palm cups the right palm,
Your left side representing the divine feminine,
The yin,
And the right being the divine masculine or the yang energy.
So this mudra brings about tranquility by balancing your yin and your yang energies.
If you would like to take any other mudra that's more comfortable,
Please do so.
Just finding a comfortable meditation position.
As we settle into our seat or lying down,
Bringing our attention inwards,
Keep your spine nice and long,
But your tailbone is rooted down deeply,
Feeling the earth support you,
Soften your shoulders,
Relax the jaw,
Relax your forehead.
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Slowly filling up the body and pausing at the top.
Release the breath.
Continue taking these deep,
Nourishing breaths,
Pausing at the top and releasing the breath.
Imagining with each inhale,
Lightness filling up your body and as you exhale,
Releasing that stagnant energy and anything that is no longer serving you.
I would like to invite you now to bring your awareness to the center of your chest,
A little to the right.
This is where your spiritual heart resides.
Feel the space here.
Imagine a light shining from this space,
Sending out warmth and its brightness in every direction.
What color is your spiritual heart?
Does it feel light or dull,
Maybe heavy?
Whatever it is,
Just allow it to be.
As you keep your attention here on this space,
At the center of your chest,
A little to the right,
Begin to inquire the question,
Who am I?
Knowing that this question,
With its complexity and depth,
Doesn't necessarily need an answer.
Who am I?
What answers arise as each identification and title and position comes up?
Understand that you are not that and allow whatever answers that do arise,
Visualize them as clouds passing through a blue sky.
You are the vastness of this blue sky.
Let the clouds appear and dissolve without judgment,
Without attachment.
Continuing this self-inquiry practice,
Returning to the question,
Who am I?
Knowing that there is not necessarily an answer,
But instead,
We are practicing releasing resistance,
Releasing identification,
And moving our awareness from the thought to that which perceives the thought.
This self-inquiry meditation is a traditional technique that allows you to peel back the layers that hide the truth of our essential nature.
Buddhists call the obscurations kleshas or samskaras by Hindus and yogis.
They are familiar stories,
Emotions,
Self-titled images and beliefs,
Potentially reactive patterns that keep us identified with our limited ego-based personality.
And I invite you to return to this technique as a regular practice this week.
And if the question of who am I is a little bit abstract today,
You may also prefer asking who is thinking this thought or who is seeing through these eyes right now.
The purpose of these questions direct your awareness inward,
Away from the external world and towards the source from which all experiences arise.
We are simply becoming not just the experiencer and the perceiver.
The real question at your heart is who am I?
We observe and we become so much more than all of the titles and experiences and stories that we have believed made us who we are today.
Thank you for practicing this self-inquiry meditation today.
May it guide you on your path to self-realization or dissolution of the self perhaps,
Or just a little bit more peaceful in your everyday life.
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day and I am sending you so much love.
Namaste.
