Hello dears,
Welcome.
Maybe you can find a position where your body can be comfortable.
You can sit or maybe lay down Allow your hands to rest easily.
And before we do anything else,
Simply not theirs.
That you have arrived.
There is nowhere else you need to be for these next few minutes.
Nothing you need to solve.
Nothing you need to accomplish.
And you don't need to try to become calm.
Just notice your body.
Notice the places where your body is being supported.
The weight of you,
The ground beneath you.
Take a slow breath.
In through the no.
And let the breath flow.
Leave a chance.
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Now allow your breath.
Define its own rhythm.
No need to make it deeper.
No need to control it.
Just let yourself be.
And that was practice.
We often speak about returning.
Not becoming something new,
Not adding more.
Returning.
Returning to what is already there.
When the water is stirred,
It becomes cloudy.
We don't make the water clear by reaching into it.
And moving everything around.
Instead.
We allow it to settle.
And slowly,
Slowly the water becomes clear again.
The mind can be like this too.
Thoughts may still be moving.
Feelings may be present.
There may be things still waiting for you when this meditation is over.
But the secret is.
.
.
You don't need to push any of them away.
Understand?
Let them settle in in their own time Bringing awareness now to the center of your chest.
Nothing to change here.
Simply.
Maldives.
In Chinese medicine.
We speak of the Shen.
The spirit mind that resides within.
In your heart.
When the shen is unsettled,
The mind can feel scattered.
We may find ourselves moving ahead of the moment.
Thank you.
Planning.
Remembering.
Anticipating.
And when we return not by forcing the mind to become still.
But by giving it somewhere to rest.
That's the way we return.
So perhaps you can let your awareness rest with your breath.
Till your inhale arrives.
Feel your exhale leave.
Slowly breathing in,
You are here.
Softly breathing out.
Like this salt You may notice the muscles around your eyes becoming softer.
Your jaw releasing,
Your tongue resting easily.
Your shoulders dropping away from your ears.
And your belly no longer needing to hold itself so tightly.
Baby now.
You can let gravity have a little bit more of you.
There is a Daoist quality called wuwei.
It is sometimes translated as effortless action or non-forcing.
It doesn't mean.
Doing nothing.
It means allowing things to happen without adding unnecessary effort.
So let's see if you can practice that here.
Instead of trying to meditate,
Let yourself simply sit or lay here.
Instead of trying to breathe.
Let breathing happen.
Instead of quieting your mind.
Allow the mind to settle when it is ready.
Nothing to force.
Nothing to chase.
Nothing to hold.
Perhaps beneath all the movement.
Beneath.
The phone.
Beneath everything that has happened today,
You can sense something quieter.
You don't have to reach for it.
It was already there.
So rest here for a few breaths.
And now,
Begin to notice your body again.
The surface beneath you.
The room around you.
The sounds near you.
And the sounds farther away.
Take one fuller breath in and slowly let it go.
As you slowly return,
See if you can leave a little space around whatever comes next.
Please remember that you don't have to carry this stillness perfectly into your day.
The idea is simply to remember that you can return again and again.
The quiet is not somewhere you have to go.
It is something you learn to hear.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Until next time.
Move gently.
