The following meditation is led by Tara Brach.
Let your attention,
Your awareness sink into your body and you might feel yourself breathing in the breath at the heart area.
And as you let the attention rest in the area of the heart you might sense what your intention is right now for this sitting.
What really brings you to meditation?
Allow yourself to touch into where you feel most sincere.
What's important to you?
Take your time.
At first you might hear some words in your mind and just keep dropping in and sense,
Well,
What really matters to me?
Am I looking for more presence in my life?
Opening my heart?
Being more connected with others?
Am I trying to touch more peace?
Really touch inner freedom?
Really knowing who I am?
What's your intention?
In this stillness you might gently scan through the body and notice if there is any areas of obvious tightness or tension.
Just letting tension soften a little if possible.
Scanning more slowly sensing the brow.
Often we furrow our brow,
We tighten with thinking just to soften the eyes and let the brow be smooth.
Let the eyeballs be like orbs floating in water.
Soft,
Easy.
And hinging the jaw,
Letting the mouth be in a slight smile.
You might sense that the tongue can relax and spread through the lower palate.
See if you can relax right down to the root of the tongue.
Sensing the mouth full with sensation.
Letting the shoulders drop away from the neck.
Let the shoulders be filled with awareness and sensation.
Perhaps you'll notice tension in the shoulders.
See if you can let it float a little in awareness.
Aware of the energy that moves up and down the length of the arm right into the hands.
The hands can rest in a very easy way,
Very effortless,
Soft.
Try softening the hands a little more,
A little more.
And feel from the inside out the aliveness inside the hands.
Soft,
Awake hands.
Tingling,
Vibrating.
Just as a cup is filled with water,
This whole body can be filled with awareness.
You might sense an openness at the chest.
And then feel inside the heart area,
Just aware from the inside out of the sensations there.
Notice what happens if you smile into the heart.
You visualize and feel the curve of a smile spreading through the heart.
Can that make space for what's actually here?
That smile,
That kindness.
Scanning down further,
Letting this next breath be received in a softening belly.
This breath right now.
And now this breath.
Feeling that inflating.
And now this one again.
Softening,
Inflating,
Receiving.
Feeling from the inside out,
Aware of the sensations in the belly,
Moment to moment,
Breath by breath.
Can you keep the attention,
The open presence at the belly and soften the hands a little and still have a smile at the mouth?
Sensing down and sensing the sensations and aliveness in the pelvic region.
Perhaps you might imagine right at the base of the spine,
Spine like a great tree with roots in the earth,
Just sensing earth energy flowing into you,
Filling the pelvic region.
The belly and the heart.
The neck,
The throat,
Face,
Head.
Aware of the feet on the ground,
The sensations inside the feet.
The tingling of the hands.
Widening the attention so you can feel simultaneously this whole body as a field of sensation.
Tangle,
Vibrating,
Heat cool,
Pressure flow.
Just letting everything happen.
Including the sounds,
Sensing the space in the room.
The sounds.
And utterly open,
Including this whole living world of sound and sensation.
Focusing too and feeling the moment.
That's a way to stabilize this mind.
Stabilize this mindful awareness.
You might rest a bit with the movement of the breath in the foreground.
You can let the breath be a kind of home base,
A portal to presence.
You might notice how much you can relax with the movement of the breath.
Letting yourself deeply enjoy resting in the inflow,
Resting in the outflow.
Aware of the surface waves of breath and sound and sensation.
In the vast sea of beingness,
That which you are,
Moment to moment,
Aware of that vast wakefulness.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
That which is aware of the changing waves.
It's natural for the mind to drift.
So notice right now if there is a trance of thinking that the attention has been drifting in and gently open up into the immediacy of what's right here,
These sounds.
Just re-relaxing a bit in the body,
Softening the shoulders,
Softening the hands,
Relaxing your heart,
Feeling the aliveness,
Sensations,
Emotions that live through this body,
Breathing with whatever is here,
Relaxing with whatever is here.
And close with a little bit of the loving-kindness practice.
Just to scan and sense if there is anything in your life,
In your heart right now that's calling for some kindness.
You might experiment a bit by just gently putting your hand on your heart.
And if something comes to mind,
Just offering some message,
Some energy of care inwardly.
Might be a quality of forgiveness or of in some way trusting yourself or just letting whatever is there know it belongs.
And then sensing how you carry the world in your heart.
And if there is some particular part of this world calling for your kindness right now,
Just letting that be right in the center of your attention.
Those that are suffering,
Those that most need your attention,
And sense that the touch of your hand on your heart is really touching all of their hearts and taking these last few moments to offer your prayer of care.
May all beings be free from harm.
May all beings be held in loving presence,
Filled with loving presence.
May all beings touch great and natural peace.
May all beings be free.
Namaste and thank you.
