Welcome,
And I hope that each one of you may come to find peace within yourself.
There's so much that I want to talk about,
And I find I have to narrow it down every time,
So I don't say too much.
By nature I'm not a wordy man,
So I always try to be concise.
There's the old adage that he who speaks does not know,
And he who knows does not speak.
And while I know,
I don't want to speak too much.
In fifty-two years of meditating I've tried so many things.
Meditation sitting down,
Meditation standing,
Meditation with my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth,
Staring at a candle for two hours,
Going three days without talking,
And much more.
And it isn't that any of that is wrong,
But I found that for myself in the long run it just isn't necessary.
And I also found that the breath is everything.
Learning to focus on your breath can help you deal with pain,
Anxiety,
Sleep problems,
And more.
I've alluded to the fact that I had two strokes the year I turned twenty-nine,
And I had my worst stroke when I was thirty,
And my left side of my body was completely paralyzed.
I had a huge team of specialists that told me I would only live five years and I would never walk again.
That was forty-two years ago,
And now I walk five or six miles a day.
I can't come out and say that breathing made me walk.
But what being in touch with my breath did is it centered me.
It kept me calm.
It helped sustain me during difficult times.
Imagine,
If you will,
Hold out your left hand and spread your fingers.
Now look at your thumb,
And look at your little finger,
And imagine trying to touch your thumb to your little finger,
But it takes you more than five minutes to do so.
That's when getting in touch with my breath really helped.
In future lessons,
I plan on covering box breathing,
Alternate nostril breathing,
Mantras,
And more.
For me,
The concept of life being like a river has been so important.
In my favorite book,
Siddhartha,
Siddhartha is on the river,
And my favorite passage is the river flowed on and on,
Always different,
Yet always the same.
Think about that in moments of quiet.
Your breath flows like a river,
And I found that if you incorporate that into your life,
It can change everything.
Make it a habit.
Two minutes here,
Three minutes there.
I've said before,
You have to learn to take advantage of the pauses in your day.
Lying in bed in the morning,
In the elevator,
On the bus,
In your car waiting for a relative.
There's so many times throughout our day that we can snatch to get in touch with our breath,
And each time we do,
Our life is a little better,
A little calmer,
And no one is too busy.
It makes a huge difference,
And gradually,
As you breathe more and more often,
It becomes easier.
Your breath is life,
And when you get in touch with your breath,
It can help you with pain and anxiety during dental procedures and much more.
We all need to remember that there is only this moment and no other that we can be sure of.
There's no past.
The past is gone,
And it's unchangeable,
And the future does not exist.
In the next ten seconds,
A guy could have a plane crash on me,
And that would be it.
So the only moment I know is right now,
Here,
With you,
With myself,
With my thoughts,
And with my breath.
Close your eyes now,
And let's get in touch with our breath.
It doesn't matter if you're sitting,
Lying down,
Or standing.
There is nothing we have to do,
And nowhere we have to be in this moment.
So let's settle in.
First,
Let's scan our body and begin to relax.
Relax your neck and shoulders.
My neck has always given me problems.
Relax your arms and your hands.
Maybe flex your fingers.
Let go of any tension in your chest or belly.
Let your jaw relax.
Feel yourself getting heavier with each breath.
Relax your legs and feet.
And as you begin to relax,
Let's start to focus on our breath.
Our breath is also like a river as it flows in and flows out.
Inhale slowly,
And then gently exhale.
Notice your breath as it flows in.
Notice when you feel it in your body,
A cool sensation that comes in through your nose.
The movement of your chest and your belly as the breath flows in,
And then back out.
Just continue to breathe at your normal pace,
And don't ever force anything.
You breathe at the level that you feel comfortable with.
Just breathing in and breathing out.
Let your breath flow like a river,
Sure and tranquil and calm.
Thoughts,
Of course,
Are a part of us.
They're a constant part of our world,
Thousands and thousands every day.
But you needn't concern yourself with them when you meditate.
Just let them float on past.
Just as a river doesn't pay any attention to the things that are floating on it,
So too we shouldn't concern ourselves with random thoughts.
Just focus on your breath and let thoughts pass across your mind.
We are only concerned with our breath as it flows in and as it flows out.
If you hear sounds in the room,
Just let them go as well.
We make no judgment about the things around us.
We aren't trying to stop our thoughts.
We're trying to focus our mind,
To take in this beautiful,
Special,
Precious present moment.
Your breath moving slowly in and slowly out is a powerful river of calm.
A river of peace,
A stream of tranquility.
This river can have a powerful effect on your life.
It has on mine.
Being able to get in touch with this current can transform your life.
It can help you to deal with tension and insecurities.
Following the river of your breath can help you to deal better with the problems in your day.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And I promise you,
By following our breath on a regular basis,
It leads to a sense of peace.
Following the river of our breath,
Moving in and moving out,
Guides the flow and the course of our river and makes your life more joyful.
I have followed the river of my breath for so long,
Half a century,
And it's become a part of my life.
Meditation isn't something I do.
It's an integral part of my life,
Like sleeping or talking or eating.
And I can tell you from my experience,
The more often you connect with your breath,
The better your life will be.
You will be more calm,
More peaceful,
And you will be more in control of the current of your life.
And if you come to a close,
Open your eyes and come back into the room.
Stretch.
Extend your arms and legs and wiggle your fingers and toes.
And realize that you are here,
Alive,
In this present moment.
And it's a wonderful place to be.
I hope this has been a beneficial and calming practice.
Till next time.
