iRest Welcoming This Moment

During this practice, you will be gently guided to meet and welcome what is present. The meditation will include noticing sensations of the body, flow of the breath, emotional and cognitive content, and spacious qualities of Being, while a feeling of ease, peace, or okayness is available as a touchpoint to Wellbeing.

Transcript

So,

We're settling in for an eye rest practice,

And we may have cozy blankets,

Maybe we have some pillows to get comfortable.

We're welcoming,

Because this theme today is on welcoming,

We're welcoming our experience of sensation,

Of breath,

Of the space around us,

And the space within us.

As we're settling in,

We're getting comfortable and we're welcoming each sensation,

Each breath,

Each moment,

Just as it's arising.

So as we're opening to this curiosity,

Because I like to think of welcoming as a sense of friendly,

Open wonder or curiosity.

If we're opening to this curiosity,

And there's something present that we meet that attention is wanting to push away from,

If there's a sense of repel or not wanting to be with something,

It's totally up to you whether or not you choose to explore it a bit,

Exploring the edges or something near this feeling.

But if that feeling is not something that you're wanting to welcome at this moment,

Note if you can welcome the felt sense of the resistance.

So as you're settling in deeper for practice,

Let's begin by noting all of the places where we may feel a sense of calm,

Peace,

Or a quiet stillness,

A nothingness or okayness,

Or even a relaxed contentment.

And we might use these feelings,

A sense of calm or peace or a quiet contentment,

As we can use this as a resource for our practice,

An inner resource that we can turn to whenever we may meet something that we're not wanting to welcome or be with.

So as we're building these feelings within that are peaceful and calm,

That feel safe and secure,

We might open to a bigger experience.

So there's a sensation or a feeling of this that may be present,

But it may also begin or include some imagery or sound,

A favorite song,

Or the memory of a vacation place where there's a sense of peaceful freedom,

Nothing that needs to be done,

No deadlines to meet.

There may be other people that are a part of this sense of resource,

People that are deeply trusted,

People that we share a close relationship with.

And words have a lot of power as well.

So there might be particular words that help you to kind of point the way towards this feeling,

Towards this experience of this inner resource.

So might that be something like tranquility or calm or joy?

So just noting whatever words might arise for you,

Inviting them into the experience.

We're using all of this outside stuff,

Right?

These words,

Imagery,

Maybe music or sound,

All of this could even be a memory of grandmother's cooking or something else,

Right?

All of this outside stuff,

We're turning attention inward with all of this content and noting where does this experience live inside?

Where is this inner experience,

This resource?

How does it feel inside?

And it may be located in a particular place,

It might have edges and boundaries,

Might have a center,

Might have qualities like warmth or coolness.

It might have shape or color,

Just kind of steeping in and it also may be coming and going little glimpses of a feeling of okayness or a feeling of neutrality or a feeling of deep ease and also welcoming what feels vibrant and alive.

So you may have a sense or a feeling of the beating of your heart,

This pulse that lives through you.

And as each breath comes and goes,

Might tune in to the flow and the streaming of sensation that breath creates.

You might also note where and how these feelings and sensations of aliveness,

How they might point towards a deeper intention or they might point towards the feeling of inner calm or peace,

This inner resource or qualities of being.

And we're welcoming all of this that's present,

The feelings of aliveness,

This intention that we joined the practice with,

And this place of inner resource,

This feeling of okayness,

Welcoming this.

As we begin to move out into specific areas of the body,

Noticing different sensations at any point,

If it feels right to touch back to any of these points,

These feelings of aliveness or intention or this inner resource,

Sensation of calm,

You can always drop back into those and return back to the scan,

The body scan that we're doing whenever it feels right for you.

And in fact,

Anytime in the practice.

So let's turn attention into sensation,

We're welcoming what's present,

We might first start by just welcoming what's present as a field of sensation,

This whole body and different areas might light up or be calling to be noticed,

The attention may be kind of bouncing around or flowing around from one sensation to the next,

Open curiosity and wonder,

Friendliness with the sensations of the body,

And just noting all of the feelings and this field of body.

And we might even notice how attention itself is shifting or moving and begin to direct that sense of attention into the sensations of the mouth.

So noticing the roof of the mouth and the floor of the mouth,

Noticing the inner walls of the cheek,

The sensation of the tongue,

And there may be qualities of sensation inside the mouth that you're welcoming,

A warm softness,

Something else,

A taste,

And then shifting attention from the inside of the mouth back into the hinge of the jaw,

Noticing jaw sensation left and right,

And no particular sensation that we're pushing away or reaching towards,

Just jaw sensation,

Opening to the feeling of the inner ears,

Welcoming sensation that may even include the vibration of sound as my voice meets your ears or some other sound in your environment,

Again,

Nothing that we need to really reach out towards,

Just meeting sensation,

Meeting sound as it arrives,

Inner ears,

And then sensing your way and feeling your way to the external ears,

The external ears with all of their folds and bends,

And opening the sensation of the scalp,

The back of the head,

The top of the head,

The sides,

Sensation of the facial muscles,

Noticing around the cheeks and the muscles around the eyes,

And feeling the bony structure around the eyes and the container of the eyes themselves,

Sensing them,

Dropping attention perhaps into the eyes,

Eye sensation,

Welcoming this sensation,

You might even be welcoming color or light,

Whether eyes are open or closed,

Eye sensation and the eyes as these being aliveness,

And then feeling your way into the bridge of the nose,

The bridge of the nose and down into the nostrils,

There might be a noticing of air and sensation of breath as air moves in and out of the nostrils,

The temperature of the air may change feeling sensations with inhale and exhale,

There may even be a smell that is present,

A scent in the air,

Welcoming this,

Nothing that we need to reach out for,

Simply noting what is arriving in sensation,

In sensing inside the nostrils,

And then following the next in breath in through the nostrils and down into the inner walls of the throat and into the torso,

Noticing if attention comes to land somewhere in the torso,

Is there a center place,

A core feeling in the heart or in the belly,

Letting attention come to rest there,

Noticing the qualities,

Welcoming what's present there,

Is there a home ground of this inner resource,

Is there a feeling of aliveness,

Presence of being or nothingness,

And then starting to feel your way through the torso,

Noticing sensations,

Welcoming what's present,

Open curiosity as you sense and feel through the front of the torso,

The chest and the belly,

Through the back of the torso,

Feeling your way upper back,

Middle back,

Lower back,

Might even take a moment or two to sense one side of the torso,

And then the other side of the torso.

And it may be that attention is kind of resting at the surface of the skin and effervescence and aliveness there,

The surface of the skin,

Front and back,

Side and side,

And then attention may want to dive inward into some deeper feeling inside,

Core center,

That may mean touching back into something that feels peaceful or calm,

Sensation of joy or something else.

There's no right or wrong,

Simply sensing,

Welcoming what's present,

And then feeling your way down into the depth of the torso,

Into the bones of the hips,

Noticing where hips begin to meet legs,

Meeting legs,

Greeting legs,

Welcoming leg sensation as attention begins to drift down the legs,

The upper legs,

The surface of skin and deep inside,

And lower legs,

Surface of skin and deep inside,

Feeling into the feet,

The toes,

And noticing if maybe one foot is calling attention more than the other,

Letting attention steep in to this one foot,

And then the other foot,

Welcoming both feet at the same time,

The sensation of feet,

The skin of the feet meeting the touch of air or coziness of socks or something else,

And the feet and the legs,

A field of sensation,

No sensation that needs to be reached towards,

No sensation that needs to be pushed away,

Field of sensation,

Feet and legs meeting back into the hips and the torso,

The field of sensation growing,

And in this field,

Noting perhaps some spaces of quietude or spaciousness,

Vastness,

And in this field,

Other places where there might be something bubbling up that wants to be noticed,

Touching in,

Saying hello,

Welcoming what's present,

Noticing and meeting the sensation of shoulders,

Perhaps one shoulder a little more vibrant as sensation than the other,

Welcoming this feeling,

This sensation,

And then noticing the other shoulder,

And as attention spreads across both shoulders,

Noting the place where shoulders begin to meet arms,

Following streams of sensation down the arms,

Fencing your way,

Arm flowing into hands,

Hand sensation,

And fingers,

Attention may want to linger in particular areas,

The tips of the fingers and their aliveness,

This maybe sense of electricity or tingly,

Sense of the pulse of life living in fingers,

Noting how fingers meet hands,

And sensation in the palms of the hands,

Maybe there's a softness there,

A warmth or something else,

And sensing all around the hands,

Between the fingers,

Above and below,

Finger and hand sensation,

Maybe becoming a little more,

A little more spacious,

Finger and hand sensation as a field that joins once more with arms,

Shoulders,

And the torso,

Fencing,

Feeling the whole body,

The whole body,

Front and back,

One side and the other side,

And noticing how the movement of breath changes and flows through sensation of body,

Nothing in particular that needs to be met,

Simply streaming and flowing with the sensations of breath,

Attention might be more curious or more open to inhale or to exhale,

Noting the preference,

There may even be a settling in or a welcoming of the spaces between breath,

Noting the qualities,

The fullness at the top of the inhale,

And the quietness or stillness at the bottom of the exhale,

Or something else,

Whatever's true for you,

Nothing in particular to notice,

Simply exploring breath and all of its qualities,

And if attention is moving out from breath sensation to some other feeling or some other quality that wants to be noticed,

Welcoming what's present,

Moment to moment,

And then returning back to breath when it feels right,

Breath sensation flowing,

Qualities of inhale,

Spacious,

Weightless,

The qualities of exhale,

Perhaps a heaviness or a softening,

A settling in,

Noting if breath is really continually pointing the way towards something else,

Or if throughout breath you're noting something else that wants to be explored,

Is there an emotion that's bubbling up,

Is there a thought or a belief about yourself that wants to be met,

Exploring what's present,

And if there is something that wants to be met,

Might note how might you welcome this content,

Does it arrive with some other aspect,

Images,

Words,

Exploring the whole experience of this that's present,

And noting that side by side with each feeling,

Each emotion,

Each content that's present,

We might also feel this inner resource that's also present,

You can weave that in if it's helpful,

But if there's something really present that really wanting a deep visit,

You might even imagine this as something separate from you,

Giving it form and shape,

And if this content were to come knock on your door,

How would it feel to open the door,

How would it feel to invite it in,

And if the moment feels right to truly welcome this content,

You might have a sit down and a cup of tea,

Or in your own way,

Whatever welcoming open curiosity feels right,

Is there conversation that wants to happen,

It may be that you might ask this,

This content,

Is there something it wants you to know,

What is it that it wants,

What does it need,

And when tea and conversation are feeling complete,

And you might walk this back to the door,

Say goodbye,

Opening attention to all that's present in this moment,

A field of sensation,

A river of breath,

A sense of spaciousness all around,

And this attention,

This quality of attention that is noticing,

Noticing all of the changing phenomena,

All of the sensation,

Attention that is noticing the flowing,

Dreaming breath,

And noticing the thoughts and emotions that bubble up or float through,

But if you were to step back from attention itself,

Settling deeper into the background,

Welcoming the everything space all around,

The tension might become a little more translucent,

Or less solid,

As this spaciousness grows faster,

As there's a deep settling,

A deep nothingness,

Everythingness all around,

Resting and being,

Noticing when attention takes form again,

When there's a pointer to be noticed once more,

Feeling of ease,

Sensation of breath,

Or some content that is still present,

Wanting to be welcomed,

And as you start to return back to the space around you,

All of this that's inside present,

Sense of peace,

Ease,

Sense of the vastness of space around you,

Even while sensations are wanting to be noticed,

Thoughts are joining back with attention,

Words,

Images,

Something else,

You might begin to open attention back into the space around you,

Back into hearing and seeing,

Back into feeling the temperature of the air,

And movements coming back to the body,

Right,

It might feel good to wiggle the fingers,

Or stretch the arms,

Just welcoming sensations as they're joining back,

Back towards awakefulness,

Back into your daily life,

And noticing qualities that return with you back into this daily life,

Is there something that wants to be remembered,

Something that wants to be here,

And taking a few moments at the end of this practice to just reflect on how the body feels,

How the breath feels,

How the world around you appears,

Or how you experience it,

May you know contentment,

May you feel healthy and strong,

May you live with peace and ease.