The following practice has been brought to you by the School of Kamma,
Empowering students through mindfulness meditation.
Before you begin,
Find a safe and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed.
For safety,
Do not listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.
Hi,
I'm Matt and I'll be your guide for this following period of meditation.
Take a moment first to make yourself comfortable.
You may want to sit upright with the back straight or if you're new to the practice,
Feel free to lie down and when you're ready,
Bring the eyes to a gentle close.
And we're just going to start by briefly bringing our awareness to the quality of the breath,
Not trying to change or influence the breath in any way.
We just want to see how it manifests in our present moment experience.
Sometimes when we are feeling a little stressed,
We can feel a strain on the breath.
So I invite you very briefly to just bring your awareness down to the area of the abdomen,
Not trying to create any new experiences,
Just observing the body as it is.
And maybe seeing if we can catch the gentle rise and fall of the abdomen,
As focusing on this area can usually invite the breath to dive a little deeper.
And stop it getting trapped in that region of the chest,
Which can make us feel a little anxious and a little tense.
And we can just feel the abdomen expanding like a balloon before falling back toward the spine,
Allowing it to assume this rhythm as we briefly check in with the body.
Starting with the sensations in the soles of the feet,
Just simply checking in and making sure that this area of the body is as comfortable as it can be.
Noticing the tops of the feet,
Shins and the calves.
Feeling the contact between this area of the body and the surface upon which we rest.
Feeling into the backs of the thighs and the glutes.
And just scanning over the tops of the thighs before giving a moment's awareness to the legs as a whole and allowing ourselves to make any adjustments here,
If we feel as though it would make us feel more comfortable or settled.
Feeling into the lower back as we begin to climb slowly up through the spine into the middle of the back,
Widening into the upper region of the back and making a mental contact with our shoulders.
An area where we can hold stress,
Especially in situations where we feel we may be forcing ourselves a little to hold back or maybe keep certain thoughts or opinions of our external situations to ourselves.
When we try to keep the peace in the world around us,
We can find that this tension that would otherwise be released is held in the body.
And we can just allow this to drop away as we glide down the arms,
Over the elbows,
Into the forearms,
Wrists,
Deriving into the palms of the hands,
Maybe a little warmer than before,
Maybe feeling a little tingling sensation in the fingertips,
Sensations which may or may not be present.
Revisiting the abdomen,
Checking in with the flow of the breath into the chest and the heart center,
Just noticing how this area feels as we move into the neck and throat,
Wrapping around the jaw and briefly scanning the face.
As we glide over the top of the head and stationing our awareness at the crown of the head,
We begin to turn inward and survey the quality of our mind.
One challenge that we all face at university is the challenge of living with other people.
In the beginning,
We may have very little control over the people that we share with,
And we may not know very much about them at all.
As we continue on our journey,
We may even find that their style of living and their routine are not entirely compatible with our own.
This can even be the case when we have chosen the people that we wish to share our university experience with,
And we may find that even though we have a good rapport and connection on campus spaces,
In lectures or seminars,
Or on nights out,
That the people we are at home when we are recharging and taking care of ourselves is not necessarily reflective of the people that we are on campus or at socials.
And so we are always faced with this potential of imbalance,
Changes in social dynamics,
And sometimes even conflict.
This is especially the case because we are all growing.
We're all experiencing similar challenges,
But responding to them in our own unique ways.
And so if we are to cultivate a harmonious living environment,
As we progress through this incredible journey,
It is important that we can express some kindness and compassion towards ourselves and also to those around us.
And this may be as simple as not causing a stir over the washing up,
Or maybe even helping with chores a little more now and again.
As it is usually such small and simple disputes that become the basis for resentment and disagreements,
Which are completely unnecessary.
As we settle into this reality experience,
We can remind ourselves that nobody is immune from the reality of these age-old sagas.
And it's important that we see situations such as these,
For what they are.
Which is common,
Ordinary,
And ultimately temporary components of a very short period of our lives.
When we choose to take a step back and cultivate patience,
Kindness,
And understanding,
We can learn to appreciate those other qualities that the people we share our living space with bring to our experience.
Things like laughter,
Advice,
Someone to turn to when things get tough,
Or even someone to force us outside of our comfort zone,
Especially when we get stuck in a little bit of a rut.
It's not always easy,
And it's perfectly fine to feel annoyed sometimes.
And it can be wise when we do to just remove ourselves from the situation for a little while.
We can find our calm and see it for what it is.
Just one of the many highs and lows that eventually we wouldn't change for anything.
Coming close to the end of the meditation period now,
Take a moment just to reflect on how you felt when you came into this practice,
Especially regarding your living situation,
Or any changes in social dynamics that you may have been looking to create some distance from.
Before I ring the bell,
You may want to set an intention for how you might move out of this safe space.
You'll now hear the bell ring three times,
And on the third ringing of the bell,
Gently open the eyes and return to the room.
