Shabbat Sitting Meditation

Shabbat, or "rest," is a 20 minute guided meditation from Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg's Preparing the Heart series for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. In her opening instructions, Rabbi Sheila uses breath work to focus us on stillness, and explains how the practice of noticing without imposing can create a powerful sense of groundedness. We then sit for about fifteen minutes of silence, and conclude our meditation once again with a bell and a prayer.

Transcript

The second theme is Shabbat.

20 minutes.

On the seventh day,

God stopped and took a breath.

In this moment,

We too can stop and just take a breath.

Allow your body to assume a comfortable position that is both alert and relaxed.

The stillness and peace of Shabbat are actually present in every moment of stopping and just breathing.

Our awareness is awake,

Allowing us to pay attention to what is already here without trying to change anything,

Without struggling with the way things are.

Bring your attention to what presents itself.

You may notice sounds,

Soft,

Loud,

Long,

Short,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant.

Just let them be as they are,

Simply noting,

Hearing,

Hearing,

Hearing.

You may notice sensations in your body,

Warmth,

Coolness,

Tingling,

Pressure,

Tightness,

Throbbing,

Heat.

Just let them be as they are,

Simply noting,

Feeling,

Feeling,

Feeling,

Feeling.

At some point,

You might notice the sensation of breath somewhere in your body.

Allow your attention to rest on the in-breath followed by the out-breath.

Let the breath be exactly as it is.

Connect with the sensation of the in-breath and sustain your attention until the end of the out-breath.

Let the out-breath go to its full extension.

You are doing nothing.

Awareness is doing all.

Awareness is witnessing to this moment.

It is a completely still pool or a clean mirror.

It has no opinion,

No judgment,

And no need to approve or disapprove.

It simply holds the experience in its gaze.

See if you can magnify your awareness and become truly interested in this breath,

Noticing its length,

Its texture,

Its beginnings and endings.

See if you can see where the breath comes from and where it goes.

Allow yourself to immerse yourself in this moment of breath,

This Shabbat breath.

Shabbat breath.

When your mind wanders from the breath,

Whether it is dreaming,

Imagining,

Remembering,

Wanting,

Whatever it is,

Simply say with gentleness,

Thinking,

Thinking,

Thinking,

Or imagining,

Imagining,

Imagining.

Let this word float on the thought as softly as a feather floating on a cloud.

When you are immersed in the breath,

You are immersed in eternity.

Shabbat is eternity,

Olam haba.

When you are immersed in the breath,

There is no past and no future.

Everything is here and now.

Just this moment exists and it is perfectly still and perfectly peaceful.

You are at ease.

It is Shabbat.

Perhaps a tiny crack of eternity will open as you remain connected with just this breath.

May the peace of the Sabbath be as close to you as your next breath.

May the peace of the Sabbath fill us with joy and may that joy fill up the world.

Reviews

שבת שלום!

Thank you 🙏