Welcome friends,
This is Padma and I'm so glad you're here.
So let's begin,
Let's begin by letting the eyes close.
And I invite you to take a moment to arrange your body,
Fix your cushions and allow yourself to sit with a long spine.
And if today is a day that your body wants to lay down,
Please,
By all means,
Lay down.
And if it needs to sleep,
Let it sleep.
Your subconscious mind will still receive the benefits of this meditation.
Let's turn toward our breath.
Let us begin this meditation with some deep awakening breaths.
Breathing in through the nose and really drawing your breath all the way up from the base of the spine to the top of the head.
And then exhaling through the nose.
Inhaling deeply.
And exhaling.
And this time,
Holding it at the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale.
And then just allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Bringing all of your awareness to the natural flow of your breath.
Let yourself settle into its rhythm.
Letting everything become still and quiet on the inside.
Allowing any thoughts to fall away.
If they're really important,
You can pick them up later.
And for right now,
Just let them fall away.
So you can be right here.
And begin to notice what it's like for the mind and body to begin to settle.
To begin to settle into a calm state.
You are making a choice to let your mind rest rather than following it here and there.
Rather than letting it run around in circles.
Because my friends,
From here,
From this steady place of calm,
You can choose to respond rather than react.
Just notice if there are any movements of the mind.
Whether you're wanting to follow your thoughts or create stories.
And then let yourself relax back into stillness.
Because right now,
You are cultivating the ability to rest in stillness.
To rest in stillness.
So when a situation arises,
And it will,
A situation where you're tempted to go back into the old reactive habit pattern,
Which might look like anger or fear or anything else,
You will notice the arising of a certain movement.
This is key.
To be so true to the stillness that you notice as soon as a contraction begins,
Or heat rises,
Or you're running thoughts of criticality or judgment or comparison,
That you notice and you rest into stillness.
And if any thoughts or sensations arise to pull you,
To propel you into a reaction where you make it about you,
And then you tell yourself a story,
You can just notice it,
Acknowledge it,
Make a conscious choice not to follow it.
Thoughts and sensations will naturally arise.
And when they do,
You have a choice.
Follow them or simply acknowledge them.
Be present with them.
Welcome them.
Every breath,
Every breath is an opportunity to return to center,
To the still point,
From which you can clearly see,
From which you can discern what is needed from moment to moment,
Moment to moment.
Let us take these last few minutes of our meditation time and sit silently together.
Resting in the still point,
Noticing the temptation to follow any reactive habit patterns and simply declining the invitation and saying yes to being right here,
Being right here.
Resting into stillness,
Trusting that you are held in love,
And I'll call you back in a few minutes.
Taking a moment and noticing how it feels to rest,
Rest in stillness.
And then slowly and gently bringing the palms together,
Resting by the heart.
Bow your head and take a moment to give thanks for whatever you may have received.
Trust that new pathways to stillness have been opened.
Deepened.
And now take a breath.
And slowly as you're ready,
Allow the eyes to come open and see the space around you.
Feeling yourself here,
Present and resting into stillness.
Thank you for taking this time to practice with me.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
