Welcome to our guided 15-minute meditation called Peace Within,
Including five minutes of silence toward the end.
Let's get started.
So by now you're sitting down either on a cushion on the floor or in a couch or on a chair.
And if you're on a chair or in a couch,
Go ahead and slide all the way back so your back is well supported.
And uncross your legs if you have them crossed and let both feet rest on the floor.
And just let your hands tumble down into your lap and let them rest however they fall.
And just begin moving into a deeper state of rest and relaxation.
I invite you to close your eyes and take three big deep breaths with me.
Breathe in and out.
Again in and out.
And in and out.
And allow your breathing to resume its natural rhythm.
One final posture adjustment.
Lift the top of your head ever so slightly toward the ceiling.
No strain or stretch,
Just a slight lift while at the same time dropping both of your shoulders down as low as they can go.
So again the head is lifted just slightly toward the ceiling while the shoulders fall as low as they can go.
This way you're in an alert yet restful state ideal for meditation.
And now let's begin to consciously release all of the tension and stress that we so habitually carry with us.
Bring your attention to the area of the face,
The eyes,
The mouth,
The jaw,
And just let go of all of the tiredness and strain.
Feel it draining away like water into sand.
Leaving your face restful,
Calm,
And free.
And now move your attention into your neck and shoulders and again here let go of all of the tiredness and tension and emotional pain and grief and worry and rage and anger and resentment that we tend to hold in our neck and shoulders.
Let all of that go.
Let it all drain away like water draining into sand.
Feel it disappear.
In the area of your chest allow any tightness or tension and anxiety here to release.
Feel the cells of your body opening as all of that begins to slip down lower and lower.
Into the legs,
Over the knees,
Through the calves,
Out into the feet and out of the souls of your feet,
Into the floor and into the earth beneath the floor.
Release and let go of everything that does not add to our highest good.
Feel yourself moving now into a deeper more restful state.
And now I invite you to bring your attention to the mind and the steady stream of thoughts.
We live in a difficult world.
It's often challenging.
There are many conflicts and disagreements.
It sometimes seems that everywhere we look there is struggle,
Even chaos.
How are we to find peace within under these conditions?
Well we can begin to move in that direction through a simple set of techniques and shifts.
Simply first begin to notice that all of our opinions and thoughts and assessments of the world are thoughts.
And thoughts arise and fade like clouds on the horizon of a clear blue sky.
What if we could begin to practice witnessing our thoughts the way we witness clouds move across a clear blue sky.
As we make this shift into the inner witness,
We notice that the state of stillness and spaciousness across which these thoughts move is unaffected by the thoughts.
Unwavering from the energy of the thoughts,
Whether benign or malevolent.
And as we practice shifting into this inner witness,
We come into the deeper realization that we are not our thoughts,
But we are the spaciousness in which thoughts arise and fade.
And that peace is not yet another thought.
Peace is not yet another condition to be created and maintained.
Peace is in fact our deepest nature and the quality of our inner stillness.
We are peace.
Peace does not need to be created,
Understood,
Or clung to like a treasure that is under any threat.
As we begin to prepare to move now into a time of silence,
Simply practice witnessing our thoughts,
Make that shift into the inner witness,
And feel at the level of experience,
Not as a thought,
But as the ground of being itself,
Your own deeply peaceful nature.
No matter what is moving around us or within us,
This deep state of peace is always present beneath the waves of the thought stream.
I invite you now to open your eyes and come out of the state of stillness and serenity that we have been practicing for the last five minutes,
And look around the room and feel free to move your body and stretch and come back into your perceptions and thoughts.
And as we prepare to bring this time of meditation to a close,
Know that as we walk into these beautiful,
Busy lives that we are about to reemerge into,
We carry with us this deep,
Abiding peace.
That peace is our nature.
It is the quality of our inner witness that at any moment we can shift into,
No matter what other people around us are doing.
And this freedom and peace is unwavering and our essential core.
Thank you for meditating with us today.
Namaste.
