Vipassana - Opening Our Hearts to Life as It Is

This meditation awakens the senses with a mindful scanning of the body, establishes an anchor for presence, and invites us to arrive again and again, deepening the pathway home. When difficult or intense experience arises, the practice is to learn to open to what is here with a clear, allowing and kind attention.

"...widen your heart and mind so you sense your hand is on the heart of the world. Sensing whatever prayer for the world most resonates at this moment and offering it..."

Transcript

The following meditation is led by Tara Brach.

Let your awareness scan through your body.

Just notice if there is areas of particular tightness or tension.

See if by bringing a soft awareness to those areas there might be a little loosening,

Letting go.

You might bring the attention to the region of the brow,

The eyes,

Softening the eyes.

Let the brow be smooth.

Unhinging the jaw.

Sensing a slight but real smile at the mouth.

See if you can let the shoulders fall away from the ears.

You might imagine a kind of dissolving in the shoulders.

Ice to water.

Water to gas.

And feel from the inside out the movement of energy.

Softening,

Letting go.

Let the hands rest in an easy,

Effortless way.

Softening the hands and feeling them from the inside out.

Just be intimate with the tingling and vibrating that is there.

Let there be an openness to the chest.

Feel the region of the heart from the inside out.

A soft,

Allowing attention.

Letting the life be just as it is.

Scanning down to the region of the belly,

Letting this next breath be received in a softening belly.

This breath.

And now this one.

And again.

Scanning down to the pelvic region.

And sensing from the inside out.

Relaxed,

Open,

Soft attention.

Allowing the life to be just as it is.

Feeling if there is any tightness or tension in the thighs,

Hamstrings,

Calves.

And softening,

Loosening.

Feeling the feet from the inside out.

The feet,

The hands,

Tingling,

Vibrating.

And widening the attention to feel the whole body.

Just dance this sensation.

Just let everything happen,

Not opposing anything.

Just receiving sensation in a very open,

Awake presence.

And because the mind so easily drifts from presence you might sense in the foreground a home base or anchor,

Perhaps the inflow-outflow of the breath,

As a way to stay connected with presence.

Feeling the breath at the nostrils or maybe at the chest expanding and settling,

Or the belly.

For some the home base is the whole body breathing,

Even in a cellular way,

Expanding and settling.

For some it might be sounds,

Listening to the play of sounds.

Or you might feel a part of the body and let that be your home base or anchor,

Perhaps the tingling in the hands.

The purpose of the anchor is to know that you are here,

Right here.

You might mentally whisper here.

Feel the immediacy and vividness of presence.

Our practice is,

When the mind drifts and we realize we have been in a trance of thinking,

To gently choose and arrive back right here.

Presence.

This moment.

This breath.

These sounds.

These sensations.

Right here.

This feeling.

It doesn't matter how many times the mind drifts.

Each time you invite the mind back to right here,

This moment,

Without judgment,

With kindness,

With interest,

You are deepening the pathway of arriving home.

If you discover in the present moment some strong energy that is challenging – perhaps physical tension or tightness,

Soreness,

Aching,

Squeezing,

Or emotionally challenging,

Sorrow,

Fear,

Anger,

Hurt – then instead of resting with the anchor,

The breath or sounds,

Open to what is here,

Perhaps breathing with it,

Letting yourself connect with the life of the moment,

With gentleness,

With interest,

With care,

Notice what happens,

Whether it gets stronger or weaker,

When it is no longer compelling,

Then to rest again in your anchor,

Your home base.

So the intention in practice is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

And when nothing strong is compelling,

To continue to collect and begin to settle the mind more with your home base.

So the intention is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

So the intention is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

So the intention is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

No matter how far the mind has wandered,

You can start fresh in any moment in your meditation and in your life by simply noticing what is happening and gently arriving right here,

Aware of these sounds,

Re-relaxing a bit in the body,

Softening the shoulders,

The hands,

Relaxing your heart,

Reopening to the life of the moment,

This inflow and outflow of the breath,

The aliveness of sensation,

Feelings,

See how much you can relax with what is happening right here,

On awake and kind attention.

So the intention is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

So the intention is to be with what is here,

To open to the different waves of experience with a tender and clear presence.

We close with a simple reflection to widen the attention,

To sense your life as it is right now,

Today,

Yesterday,

These last few days,

And sense if there is any part of you that needs attention that is asking for comfort or kindness.

And gently putting your hand on your heart so that the touch itself is caring,

Light,

To offer yourself some message or energy of care that is healing.

And widening again the heart and mind so that you sense that your hand is on the heart of the world and sensing whatever prayer for the world most resonates in these moments when offering it.

So,

It's been a long day here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Reviews

I owe so much to Tara over 15 years of meditation. So grateful.

Thank you Tara. I feel you are my teacher and my sister although we’ve never met. Thank you for all you’ve taught me in books and on line over the past years. 🙏🏽🩷

Absolutely exactly what I needed. The prompt to relax my heart…. Bliss 💛

As always. I love your voice meditation guidance and presence you bring. Thank you. Namaste🙏

Tara’s meditations are always the best for grounding yourself and finding peace within the silence 🕊️

Thank you! This medication brought some emotion to the surface. It was a feeling of calmness and peacefulness. This is what I needed to start my day - ❤️✨🙏

I love your soothing gentle voice that guides me into the present moment . I want to be consistent and evolve myself.
Thankyou for this opportunity 🙏🙏

A meadition full of peaceful and attentive connection to the Here and Now. First put on Insight Timer in 2018. Stiil so very relevant. Namaste 🤓🙏🏻

Beautiful meditation as always! Tara is my number one teacher to come back to. I also really recommend 'the power of Awareness' program that she and Jack Kornfield created. Really worth it ✨🙏

An incredibly helpful practice. The invitation to turn towards the difficulty that's already there, with a kind receptiveness. Just what I needed. Thank you.

Soft and easy, open-hearted, with gentle reminders to come back to here, now, with tenderness. Wonderful part of my beginners journey to which I will return

Love the moments of silence
Beautiful words a sense of going inwards

Deeply grounding. Tarra's voice is soothing. Meditation is perfect for anxiety and worry. Thank you!

Everything I wanted in a guided session. Thank you.

I’ve been practising in the mornings daily, and I feel more compassionate to myself and others. I highly recommend this mediation to others reading this comment,

Tara, your voice is so soothing and I appreciate the quiet spaces within the meditation. Created a sense of kindness and care.

Tara puts me right where I am and where I always want to be. She guides me into presence, grace and love.

One of my favorites I use regularly. Tara has such a calming voice.

This is such a wonderful meditation. It is a great guide into mindfulness.

Thank you for this well paced, kind, yet informative guidance!