So let us settle into our breath by taking a few deep purging breaths.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the mouth,
Settling into our bodies,
Releasing any tension,
Becoming comfortable with any posture that we've chosen this morning,
Becoming present to how our body feels on our seat,
Whether we are seated in a chair or lying down,
Noticing the felt experience of the breath entering our bodies and allowing the breath to return to a natural rhythm,
Becoming curious to how the breath feels in our bodies,
Noticing the rise and fall of our shoulders and our chest.
With each inhalation,
Relaxing the muscles of our shoulders and our backs,
Perhaps rolling our shoulders,
Releasing any tension from the night,
Drawing our breath into our neck,
Into our chest,
Noticing the breath as we draw it from the nose down the throat into the chest and the belly,
That entire pathway of the inhalation and then the softness of the exhalation.
With each exhalation,
Softening the muscles of your face,
Of your eyes and your cheeks,
Opening up to a warmth that you feel with the breath.
Let us rest for a few moments in silence,
Noticing where the breath feels strongest,
Relaxing into the warmth of the breath,
Releasing any tension with each breath and as thoughts arise,
Return to the sensations of the breath.
As thoughts arise,
Gently return to the sensations of the breath in your body,
Becoming present to the physical feeling of breathing,
The quality,
The warmth,
The dryness of the breath or the moistness of the breath,
How it's entering and exiting your body.
Let us begin the Tonglen practice with ourselves,
With our minds calm with each breath,
Breathing in our frustration.
Perhaps it's a particular situation that we want to bring to mind or it's a general feeling of suffering or pain in our bodies.
Visualize ourselves breathing this in to our bodies,
Breathing in our own suffering and pausing in the inhalation and accepting it,
Accepting it with compassion,
With warmth,
Allowing it to dissolve into our surroundings.
With the exhalation,
We're breathing out light,
We're breathing out warmth and on each inhalation we take this in,
Perhaps as a darkness that's not heavy but just part of the environment.
We see ourselves as transparent as being able to take this on,
To be able to then release it out as light with each exhalation.
You may bring to mind perhaps an individual in your life who's been feeling stuck,
Perhaps who you sense has some pain or suffering and with each inhalation breathe in that suffering,
Releasing out to them compassion and warmth.
Take some moments to visualize what this could feel like for the other person,
For yourself to be stuck in that in that sense of suffering or pain.
Feel the felt experience of that in your body and with each exhalation soften to it.
Notice that you have enough warmth and compassion within yourself to release that in to the environment and space surrounding you.
With each inhalation breathing in perhaps this cloud,
This veil that we carry with us,
Keeping ourselves distinct from others and with each exhalation releasing that cloud,
Releasing that veil,
Allowing light to exit our bodies.
You may feel this in your body as a physical release of tension,
Perhaps it's a softening of the muscles around your eyes or your mouth.
It can be a lucidating of energy,
Creation of warmth and compassion and with each breath recognizing this image of that person that you've brought to mind,
Of them releasing their suffering,
Seeing our warmth surrounding them,
Our light surrounding them,
Recognizing that we are enough to be able to hold ourselves and them within this warmth and this energy and compassion.
With each breath again inhaling any darkness,
Any clouds,
Any veils that we have that are keeping us from being clear of our connection with this person,
With all others that we're choosing to bring to mind.
And with each exhalation again releasing this positive energy,
This light,
Warmth.
Now gradually widen your circle to embrace others you also feel close to,
Perhaps it's those in your family or those who are your friends as well.
With each breath recognizing the collective,
The collective worries that we all have that make us human and with each exhalation releasing us all from these worries and wishing upon all in our circles the same comfort,
Softness,
Light and warmth that we can generate with each breath,
With our movement,
With our moment experience.
If you find it challenging to bring to mind others or to release some of this energy,
Return to the felt experience of the breath,
Return to the physical manifestation of it,
Relaxing into the breath.
You may notice the release of light or energy most easily through your eyes by relaxing the muscles around the eyes to allow light from your environment to lightly penetrate your eyelids,
Breathing in that light and releasing it.
If the general suffering or pain of the world feels like too much,
Hone in on a particular situation,
Perhaps the individual or collective beings may be feeling and generate warmth and compassion and energy for that situation,
Releasing all of us from the bounds and the tensions of it.
Now let us take a few minutes to generate warmth and compassion for everyone in this circle.
For those of us who are present here today,
Let us breathe in any collective pain or suffering that we may be feeling,
Any areas of our lives that we feel stuck in and generate energy and light and breath on each exhalation for all of those here today in this session.
Visualize all of us together,
Whether or not we know what each other looks like,
Visualize just our presence with each breath,
Sending light out to each other,
Holding each other in warmth and compassion in this space.
You may want to physically manifest this energy by opening up your palms,
Spreading out your fingers with each breath,
Just noticing the felt sensation of the breath at the tips of your fingers,
Feeling energy being released,
Holding this group,
This group of individuals within a circle of warmth,
Compassion,
Healing,
Holding each other up within this circle of light,
Noticing any tingling or sensations again on the palms and on your fingers as you release that into the space.
Then in our final minutes,
Generating gratitude for showing up for yourself,
For each other,
And when you hear the bell,
And just sit in a moment of silence and then when you're ready,
Return,
Return to our session.
