Don't.
.
.
So just taking these first few moments to come into the body.
Touch into that felt sense of being in this posture.
Sitting or lying down.
Feeling the sense of ground underneath your feet.
Feel in the weight and support of the chair.
Just allowing the body to relax.
Never let go of any tension that's been held today.
And bringing awareness to the breath.
And just touching into that sense of energy,
Aliveness as the breath moves in.
And just dropping into the body a little bit deeper on the out breath.
Breathing in this energy and breathing out connection.
And just sensing the power of the breath to bring the mind and body together.
Just receiving each breath just as it is.
And just allowing this whole body awareness to be the backdrop as we bring our attention to the heart space.
Perhaps sensing the breath as the chest lands on the in breath and relaxes back on the out breath.
And just taking a moment to notice the quality of the heart space right now.
Noticing if it feels constricted or soft.
And just letting it be as it is.
And as you rest in this awareness of the heart space,
I would invite you just to take your hand and place it on your heart if that feels comfortable to you.
This is often a way that we can sort of touch into the experience of being connected with the body,
Connected with the heart.
And to just bring an image of yourself to mind.
And this might be an image now or it could be an image when you were young.
But as you feel the quality of your own touch and hold this image of your own being in the mind's eye,
I'll offer these phrases and I'll pause after each one allowing you time to offer the phrase to yourself silently.
May I be safe.
May I be free of suffering.
And may I know peace.
And now inviting you just to bring the people that you know and love to mind.
The people that are already in your circle of care.
And just to allow as many of these people to come to mind.
Just opening the heart.
Offering them this sense of care and tender compassion.
May you be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
And now just shifting our awareness and bringing to mind all of the healthcare workers right now.
The public health officials,
The doctors,
The nurses,
The respiratory therapists,
The nurses aides,
The cafeteria workers in the hospitals that are feeding everyone.
The people that make sure that the hospital is clean and disinfected.
And the emergency medical technicians going into homes helping people get where they need to go.
Just opening the heart to all of the healthcare workers on the front lines.
And just seeing if it's possible to touch into that deep sense of a quivering heart that knows the fear and the suffering that may be occurring.
May you be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
Just continuing to breathe in and out through the heart space.
And now bringing awareness to all the other essential service providers.
The farmers still producing the food.
The truckers who deliver the food.
All the workers in the grocery stores.
The people working in the warehouses packaging our supplies needed in the homes.
People at the gas stations.
Workers in essential services like electricity,
Gas.
Just all the people that can't be at home right now.
These people that we don't know but depend on so heavily.
May you be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
And now shifting and bringing to mind all the people around the world that are suffering physically right now from the coronavirus.
Whether that be with mild or moderate or severe symptoms.
Nevertheless impacted.
Just opening our hearts.
May you be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
And now shifting and bringing awareness to all that are suffering with economic insecurity.
Seeing the loss of wages and the loss of basic health care.
May you be safe.
Or that could be,
May we be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
And shifting now to all the people who are suffering mentally.
Who are scared,
Worried that they may not get through this.
Feeling lost or alone.
And again this may be you or it may be we.
May you be safe.
May you be free of suffering.
And may you know peace.
Just touching into the heart.
Breathing into the connection.
Now recognizing that we really are all in this together.
And that these categories touch us all.
And that if one of us is suffering,
All of us are suffering.
So opening the heart just as wide as possible.
To include all of us.
All seven plus billion.
All across the continents.
Using every corner of this earth.
May we all be safe.
May we all be free of suffering.
And may we all know peace.
Now continuing to tend to the heart space.
And expanding awareness out again to the whole body.
Sensing in to being seated right here.
And the space around the body connected to each of you and all of us.
That the connection widen,
Expand.
Exposing in the feeling of the interconnectivity of us all.
Thank you very much.
You You And as we come to the end of this meditation,
Just offering a dedication of the merit of our practice.
May this practice transform my heart and my mind.
And may it be of benefit to all living beings without exception.
May there be peace.
Orange stems in my heart.
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