There's so much happening right now,
And it's so important that we have practices that we can engage in every day to help us work through so much of this heavy emotional material that piles up.
The following practice is something that I do really every day,
And it's something that I love to teach folks,
Particularly who are maybe new to meditation.
So to begin with,
I invite you to allow your body to come into a position that feels appropriate for you.
This means you can lie down,
Or stand up,
Or sit in a chair,
You can lounge on the couch,
You can pace,
Whatever feels appropriate for you.
We want to find ourselves in a physical position that allows us not to get distracted by comfort or discomfort.
And as we continue our practice,
Know that I am interested in you taking care of yourself,
Having the space and the choice to determine what is okay for you to practice.
So if you feel triggered,
Just notice that and just make decisions in the best way to take care of yourself,
Even if that means just ending the practice and engaging in practices and techniques that you know work for you,
Stabilizing you.
So as we continue,
If you're able to,
Bringing your attention to the seat,
Noticing the weight of the body,
Noticing the sensations of the body making contact with the seat,
Let this sensation ground you,
Let it anchor your attention.
I wonder if you can trust the seat to hold you.
Beneath the seat,
We can touch into the earth.
The floor that we're sitting or standing on or lying on is an expression of the earth,
Regardless of how far we are from the actual physical earth.
So allowing your attention to touch into the earth,
Noticing the earth,
Noticing the energy of the earth,
Which feels solid and firm.
In this moment,
Allow yourself to reflect on the indigenous ancestral history of the land.
Which communities occupy the land before colonization and imperialism?
Do you remember the name of the land that you're living and practicing on?
If you don't,
It's fine to look this up on the internet after the practice.
Just noticing the land,
Acknowledging the land,
Letting the earth hold you in the same way you're allowing your seat to hold you.
If you're able to,
Shifting your attention now to your breath,
Noticing the in-breath and the out-breath,
Allowing the breath to slow down.
If you're feeling a lot of energy right now,
Breathing in and out of the nose can be really helpful.
If you're feeling a little calmer,
Breathing into the nose and out of the mouth would be suitable as well.
So slowing the breath down,
Taking your time to inhale,
Taking your time to exhale,
Allowing the breath to uncover all the subtle emotional energy that we keep buried and repressed.
We can imagine our minds being wide open,
Spacious skies.
What does the sky look like on a really clear sunny day?
With a few clouds passing through the sky.
And how the sky seems boundless and infinite and vast,
But also clear and deep and present.
That is your mind.
And when we notice the clouds,
The clouds are only thoughts and emotions passing through the sky of our minds.
So as our breath deepens,
This emotional material and thoughts will begin to surface more and we just can begin to see them as clouds passing through the sky of our minds.
Let the sky of your mind be vast and open and clear.
Allow these clouds of thoughts and emotions to just drift through the sky of your mind.
You don't have to grab onto them,
You don't have to push them away,
You just notice and say,
Ah,
There you are.
So continuing to just sit with this openness of the mind,
Letting go of thoughts and emotions.
Maybe as you are noticing these thoughts and emotions,
Maybe there are maybe emotions that have been really difficult for you lately.
Maybe emotions of sadness or despair or anxiety or even fear.
Can you name these emotional realities for yourself?
When you look into the sky of your mind and say,
Ah,
There's the fear,
There's the sadness,
There's the anger.
I wonder if you can choose one of these emotions that you've been naming and identifying.
And when you choose one,
I invite you to tell yourself,
I am experiencing this emotion.
I am experiencing this anger.
I am experiencing the sadness.
This is just an experience.
This is just a cloud passing through the spaciousness of my mind.
The sky like spaciousness of my mind.
Again,
Just letting the thoughts pass through the sky of your mind.
Letting go.
Letting go.
And in this moment,
It's okay to let go.
Because we're trying to remember the spaciousness that's always present in our minds,
Though we forget that.
Because we get so contracted and shut down around the stuff that often feels really uncomfortable.
We slowly begin to transition out of the practice.
We begin by shifting our attention back to our seats.
Again,
Noticing the weight of the body.
Noticing the sensations of your body,
Making contact with the seats.
Feeling these sensations ground you deep in the body,
Out of the head and down to the earth or close to the earth.
You can continue on by beginning to slowly wake up the body by moving through a series of gentle movements.
Just feeling what needs to be awakened.
Just moving through,
Awakening that part of the body.
We can continue by taking a few deep cleansing breaths,
Breathing deeply into the nose and out of the mouth.
And as we exhale out of the mouth,
Imagine that we're just exhaling anything that feels stuck or thick or heavy.
Breathing that out of the body.
To close our practice,
I invite you to just dedicate the energy of this practice to the benefit of all beings right now.
We also dedicate it back to ourselves that we may continue to be benefited from practice.
Thank you so much.
