Beginning And Endings

This recording of the April 28, 2021 "Midweek Meditation" was the last of this series, and so the contemplation addresses beginnings and endings. It was offered by Christie to a live Deep South Dharma practice group via Zoom.

Transcript

Allowing yourself to get all the way here,

Or at least more than 50% here.

But marking anything that doesn't need your immediate attention.

Being aware of whatever's happening in your environment,

In your own body,

Right this moment.

Settling in,

Recognizing first sort of the external environment,

You may become a little more aware of sound than you were.

Whether that is sounds of bird call,

Depending on where you are,

Or of traffic,

Or of others in the building,

Whatever building you're in.

Letting those things be as they are,

Sort of narrowing down your focus right now to be aware of how that sound reverberates in your body right now.

How it interacts with your breathing,

With your posture.

With the awareness of beginning and endings.

The beginning of a breath,

The end of a breath,

Maybe more easily marked than the beginning of a thought or the end of a particular thought.

But it's still good to just take note.

We can train ourselves to do that first by being aware of this beginning of the in-breath.

Realizing it ends,

Pauses,

And then you have the beginning of the out-breath.

The end of that,

A slightly longer pause as the next in-breath takes birth,

Gathers itself into the body.

Okay.

Allowing the mind to take an even deeper rest by just when you are with this in-breath,

Be just with this in-breath.

All right,

Trying to allow yourself to experience the pause without looking for the pause,

To notice the out-breath without anticipating it.

Taking a stance or an attitude of being interested in what comes and goes,

But without telling yourself a story about what's coming or going in your environment or in your own mind.

Let's talk've about what is coming.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.