At Home in the Moment

This meditation cultivates a gentle, wakeful presence in the body, with a “smile down,” then guides us to resting in a home base of sensations or the breath.

Transcript

Take some moments to check your sitting position.

And you can do it really with your eyes closed from the inside out,

Making whatever subtle adjustments help you to feel aligned so that you're sitting upright,

Sitting tall but not stiff,

Balanced.

Sense what wants to let go a little bit right now.

Just right at the beginning,

Let go.

You might become aware of the movement of the breath.

And gently feel the breath in the area of the heart.

We begin with a simple reflection on aspiration.

What is your intention for this meditation sitting,

For this gathering?

What is it that really brings you here,

That matters to you?

Letting yourself sense what you sincerely care about,

What your heart longs for.

We can bring that quality of gentleness and receptivity into our whole body and being as we scan through the body.

Just relax.

It's helpful to use the image and felt sense of a smile.

You might sense a smile spreading through the eyes,

Lifting the outer corners of the eyes.

Letting the brow be smooth.

The eyes are soft.

A slight smile at the mouth.

You might sense the inside of the mouth smiling.

Let the tongue fill the lower jaw,

Relaxing down to the root of the tongue.

And widen the attention to feel the tingling and aliveness through the whole face.

Feeling the skull,

Just sensing that smile and aliveness that fills the brain.

Sense of openness,

Vitality.

Let yourself feel your shoulders and allow them to drop away from the ears.

From the inside out,

If you can sense the aliveness in the shoulders.

Perhaps imagining and feeling a kind of dissolving or melting sensation there.

And if there is a real sense of knots or tension,

Let it float.

Just let what's there float in awareness.

Let the hands rest in a very easy and effortless way.

Just touching lightly the thighs or touching each other in the lap.

And feel from the inside out the hands as you soften them.

Just explore that softening and then feel the aliveness there.

And soften again.

Feel the aliveness inside the hands.

So there is a smile at the eyes,

The eyes are soft,

The mouth.

You might smile into the heart.

And feel the curve of a smile spreading through the heart and the chest.

Feeling from the inside out the aliveness,

The energy in the heart area.

You can feel and imagine the curve of a smile at the belly,

Spreading through the navel area.

See if you can soften the belly.

Let this next breath be received in a softening belly.

Hands still soft.

Smile at the mouth.

See if you can feel the aliveness and sensation deep in the torso.

You might imagine,

Visualize and sense the felt experience of a smile spreading through the whole pelvic region.

And sense the aliveness there.

Not to cut off any region of our body,

Really open to the play or dance of sensation that animates this being.

Aware of the length,

The volume,

The weight of the legs.

See if you can feel the feet from the inside out,

The tingling and vibrating there.

And again the tingling and vibrating in the hands.

And widening to sense through the whole body this aliveness.

The body is a field of sensation.

And just let it all happen.

This whole dance of energy.

With the whole body.

If you notice the mind drifting into thoughts you can gently relax back into this field of vibrating aliveness.

You might sense in the midst of this field the aliveness or sensations of the breath,

The inflow and outflow of the breath.

Not controlling the breath in any way.

Just letting the body breathe itself.

You can gently rest the attention.

Relax with the breath.

In mindfulness practice it is helpful to have a home base like the breath or the whole field of body sensations to come back to again and again because the mind is so conditioned to time travel.

So we gently relax back over and over to this living vibrating reality right here.

Relaxing with the inflow.

Relaxing with the outflow.

And if something strong arises,

Some strong pleasant or unpleasant sensation or emotion you can continue to feel the breath but breathe with what is occurring.

If there is some ache or pain,

Squeeze,

Tingling,

Tension,

Tightness or sadness,

Fear,

Excitement,

Feel where it lives in your body,

Breathe with it,

Say yes to it.

Not to resist anything.

Notice what it is like.

Notice how it changes.

And when it is no longer calling your attention,

Come back again,

Relax back gently with your home base,

With the simple movement of the breath or the play of bodily sensations.

With the baton the Primeyer is purple.

You might sense right now,

Is this trance or presence?

So often there is that veil of thinking that is between us and really this living,

Sacred space right here,

This mystery of presence right here.

Gently relax back.

See if you can make yourself at home in this moment.

The resting in the breath,

Bodily sensations.

Or if there is something calling for attention,

Gently opening to it,

Saying yes to the life that is right here.

I am not here to protect you.

As a way of closing you might gently feel the breath in the area of the heart.

Sensing this human heart and offering whatever blessing,

Whatever wish or prayer you'd like for your own healing and freedom.

Sense the quality of kindness and care as you offer yourself a wish.

Then letting that kindness or care as it naturally does extend to include this earth and all living beings everywhere.

Feeling our shared prayer that all beings everywhere might be filled with loving presence,

Held in loving presence.

That all beings everywhere may be happy,

Know the natural joy of being alive.

May all beings touch a great and natural peace.

May all beings everywhere awaken and be free.

Namaste and thank you.

Reviews

Lovely, peaceful connection with breathing and heart. Thank you

Tara is the real deal. She is incredibly skilled at helping practice awareness, not judgment, and self compassion simultaneously. Practicing these elements has made such a positive impact on my experience of life and living.

Wonderful sense of peace and well-being -- thank you.

Wunderbare Stimme, so ruhig, liebevoll. Ich mochte die Beschreibung der Lebendigkeit und der Präsenz im jetzigen Moment.

Truly spellbinding… the gentle invitation to come back, again and again, to the body as a field of vibrations - a field of aliveness - and to re-relax into the experience of each in-breath and out-breath in all its mystery ✨✨✨

Simple & yet so powerful, gently melting & letting go into the wholesome now, Thank you Tara, I always so resonate with your meditations 🙏

I prefer ones like this that don't have music. Also the narrative and sound of the guides voice is well suited to me.

Every guided meditation with Tara leaves me feeling anchored and more at peace

Lovely guided “inner” scan, also fine for an experienced meditator. Keep sitting after guiding is finished!

Your meditations are so simple, beautiful and powerful, thank you.

Enjoyed - reminded me that I have everything I need in the present moment.

Thank you for this peaceful and present way to start the day.

A moment to enter in contact with all our feelings and physical sensations, to accept them, and to let them go. Thank you.

A great meditation to help guide you into presence. The guidance helps me return back to the present moment and stop the charter in my head. Thank you Tara 🧡🙏

This guidance offers a refreshing break from the day’s activities. Love the time travel metaphor to describe ordinary daily consciousness. So that’s why I love time travel stories😊. They’re so familiar.

Beautiful as ever ! Right pace & length .. Thank you … 🙏💗

As always, so deeply helpful in steering me toward a more accepting and peaceful moment.

Tara's work is always 5 star for me. No gimmicks or music or odd tone of voice, is very important to me. The content of her pieces cuts to the core of why I (we all) meditate, and the message is clear and supportive ❤️

Soothes the soul, as with all your meditations. Love and gratitude ❤️🙂🙏🌲

I absolutely LOVE Tara!!