Find yourself in your comfortable meditative position,
Place,
Portal,
Or somewhere where you're not going to be bothered for the next 10 minutes.
I'll give you a moment to do that.
You might even take a moment to clean anything up that might be a distraction.
One of the stages of preparation for meditation in the system is having a clean space.
It's preparation for having a clearing of the mind.
You can turn your devices on,
Do not disturb like I have.
So just take any brief stretches that feel good,
Whether it's rolling your shoulders,
Rolling your neck,
Getting any last wiggles out.
Going to ground into your body,
Sensing that you're connected to the chair,
To the earth beneath you.
Let your lids fall gently closed.
If you're feeling tired,
You can even let a sliver of light in,
Otherwise let it blink closed.
And we'll take a few deep cleansing breaths in through the nose and out through the nose as we settle in.
A few more just like that.
As you breathe in,
You're oxygenating,
Giving life into every cell of your body.
Slight hold at the top and as you exhale,
You're letting go of any thoughts of what you need to do,
What you've done in the past,
Just completely releasing into this practice.
Allowing your breath to find a natural rhythm.
We'll do a quick check of our body to make sure we're comfortable enough to forget the body.
Sensing your feet making contact with the earth,
All 10 toes,
And as you exhale,
Sending a release to that part of your body.
Scanning up,
Noticing where your palms make contact with your thighs,
All 10 fingers.
All 10 fingers.
As you exhale,
Sending relaxation.
Noticing your tailbone rooted down into the chair or the mat,
Plugging into the earth,
Allowing any extraneous energy to move through.
Grounding.
And you can use this point of contact to ripple up your spine,
Inviting space between each vertebra.
Sensing almost a string pulling you up from the crown of your head to the sky.
A straight line allowing our thoughts and visualization to be clear and lucid.
And on the next exhale,
Sensing an opening,
Widening of your chest.
In preparation for the opening of your heart of hearts in this practice.
Letting the shoulders melt down from the ears towards one another,
Slightly through the back,
Enjoying a slight stretch.
Your back body strong and supported,
And your front body soft as you breathe.
Breathing out,
Relax your expressions of the face,
The ears,
The chest,
The arms,
The shoulders.
Breathing out,
Relax your expressions of the face.
Widening the brows,
Melting the cheekbones and the jaw.
Every spot where your skin,
Your pores meets the air,
Allow it to soften.
Noticing a sense of total presence as we've used the body to bring us into this moment right here.
Nowhere else to be,
Nothing else to do.
The most important 15 minutes you'll spend today.
Gently guiding your attention now from the body to the breath.
Studying,
Following 10 rounds of exhale,
Turning into inhale.
Each of those is one round,
Counting to 10 on your own,
Just like that.
And if you find that your attention wavers,
Stay curious and without judgment,
Simply notice and remember the breath,
Or find my voice.
The breath is always a powerful portal.
So you step into a meditation from this place of dropping in.
Let's go deeper.
Let's bring our awareness to the space of your heart.
This energetic center,
The center of your body,
And the space where we experience so many of our emotions.
How does it feel today?
Allow yourself to open to this visualization experience,
Keeping an open mind.
Today we're focusing on feelings of compassion,
Of love,
Of laughter.
The feeling when you reunite with a loved one,
Or when you witness something as special as new life coming into this earth.
Or a sunset shared among friends.
As you watch this sense of compassion and joy arise,
Watch it take form in the center of your chest as a blue-white diamond-like light.
Each time you breathe in,
Growing this light in intensity like oxygen to a flame.
And as you exhale,
Watch this light travel outwards from the center of your chest.
Watch it fill your body up from the inside.
Watch it fill your body up from the inside,
Transforming every cell,
Offering every part of your body this healing presence of happiness.
Almost till it's pushing from the inside of your skin,
Just begging to be shared.
Now we'll invite into our practice someone that you care for deeply,
Someone that's easy to love.
Allow your mind to recreate their image in detail,
Filling out their form,
The texture of their hair,
The expression of their face.
This person that you already have a sense of unconditional love for.
You know,
You know them,
And you know what they're moving through,
And you know what they're going through.
And you know what they're moving through,
And you know exactly what they need.
On the exhalation,
Allow this light from the center of your chest to pour out to this person's chest,
Meeting theirs.
And as you share your light with theirs,
Notice that whatever it is that you know that they desire,
They receive.
If they're seeking clarity,
They know what to do.
If they're lonely,
They have community.
If they're hungry,
They have food.
And see them almost sense a wave of relief over themselves,
Beginning to light up from the inside.
Deepening your own breath,
Not forgetting to breathe.
Observe how when you've shared your light,
Only more is cultivated between you two.
Now inviting to your practice someone that you've only met in passing.
You're unfamiliar with the details of their story,
But they desire the same things that we all desire.
You're unfamiliar with the details of their story,
But they desire the same things that we all desire.
A sense of belonging,
A sense of feeling seen,
Heard,
And loved.
Recreate the details of their image as best as you can.
It might be a neighbor or your local barista or someone you passed by earlier today.
Taking a moment to recognize all the hats that they wear that share with your own.
They're a member of a family,
Whether a brother or sister.
They are a coworker or an artist as multifaceted as you.
And as you exhale,
Share your own light with them.
This light representing a wish for them to be alleviated from any suffering and to feel all the sources of joy and the love that they bring.
And love that we all have and desire.
Exhaling your connection in this blue light growing stronger.
And as you've shared your light even further,
More grows within you.
Taking a deep breath in,
And deep breath out.
Now we'll allow this light to spread as far as we can get it to reach,
Pouring out of your body,
Connected to your loved one,
Connected to your stranger,
Transforming the space that you call your home.
This blue-white light allowing these particles of light to wash over the street,
Washing over the edges of the city you're in,
Washing over the borders of the country that you're in.
This light from the center of your chest enveloping the entire world,
Covering the waters of our earth,
Transforming the depths of the ocean,
And just for a moment suspend all disbelief.
And imagine that this light,
This sense of compassion can cover the entire planet,
All beings seen and unseen with a sense of support and love.
And as you deepen in your breath,
Hold the sensation but draw the light in,
Knowing that it can have a lasting effect.
Draw it back over the oceans,
Over the edges of the city,
Over the borders of the country,
Draw it back over the oceans,
Over the edges of the country,
Over the edges of the city,
Into the walls of your home,
All the way back into the center of your chest.
The space where this light always resides.
Knowing that our thoughts are powerful,
Even in meditation,
Because our thoughts become our words,
Our words become our actions,
Actions become our habits,
And our habits ultimately form our character.
Know that this practice is profound,
And whenever you're ready,
Not a moment before,
Allow yourself to deepen your breath,
Bring yourself back into your body,
Letting any sounds from the room seep in,
Maybe inviting a wiggle into your fingers or toes.
And you can blink your eyes back open,
Back into the zoom.
Thank you for practicing,
I hope you enjoyed.
Feel free to practice that on your own.
If you want a recorded loving-kindness,
I'm happy to do that.
I'm happy to share.
And if you get a chance to do something that you normally wouldn't do,
You know,
Hold a door open,
Give someone a bit of change,
Call your mom.
As always,
It's always my homework.
I encourage you to just seal in the practice,
Bringing it from your mind into reality.
And hope to practice with you again every Wednesday.
