All right,
So we're going to start with the meditation.
Settle in.
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Find a way of holding your body that's comfortable.
Relax in your chair or in a cushion.
And just have the feeling of settling in.
Let your energy drop in,
Sink in to this moment.
And have the sense that you're just kind of letting go of past and future.
Mind has a lot of thoughts about what's been going on and what's going to go on later.
And just kind of have this inner posturing of opening your hands,
Not really touching those thoughts so much,
But just kind of letting go of past and future,
Letting go of time.
And then getting curious about this present moment.
Because we're in time,
We're thinking about past and future so often.
And we rarely make use of the opportunity to really get curious about this moment and what's here.
What's here right now.
As usual,
To kind of anchor your attention in something that's not a thought.
I always invite people to connect with the breath.
So I'd invite you to just feel your breath,
The sensation of it.
Whether you prefer to feel it around your nose and in your nostrils or down in your belly is less important than feeling the sensation of breath.
And know that when you are putting your attention directly on the sensation,
It's something that's not thought.
You don't have to have a thought for the breath to be there.
It's already there.
And of course,
The mind often has kind of an incessant activity to it.
Keeps talking.
But more and more as we practice meditating,
We get the feeling and the sense that we don't need to stop the mind or do anything with that.
All we need to do is simply bring our attention to the breath.
And the mind keeps coming up with things and pulling for our attention and that's fine.
It's okay.
That's what it's supposed to do.
And just with gentleness,
Come back.
And keep coming back.
When you're focusing on the breath,
You're just feeling it as we're all feeling it in this moment.
You can feel how there's a way you can kind of tighten your focus on it.
You can kind of concentrate on it more.
Or you can let your focus relax a little bit.
So you're still focusing on it.
But you're not super tight.
The best way is a middle way.
Not too tight.
Not too loose.
Theater.
You And now that we have this kind of foundation,
Keep touching base with the breath,
But you can also let your attention widen a little bit and just feel your chest and your heart.
Just let your attention widen to include more of your experience.
And feel that tenderness in your chest or your heart's beating.
Or whatever sensation you feel in the heart region,
In your chest,
Your torso,
Just be open to it.
But notice how when you let your attention rest in this area,
You become softer and you can feel the sensitive nature of the heart.
And if you're just feeling it,
You might kind of get an intuitive sense and it's okay if you don't too,
But you can always be open to this kind of intuitive sense of how it's just the heart's nature to love.
Like our physical heart pumps blood,
Our emotional heart pumps love.
Give your attention to that,
To your heart.
And again,
Whatever you feel there,
If your heart feels closed,
It's okay.
Know that by giving it your attention,
You're loving your heart.
And if you do feel that kind of undercurrent of love,
That way that the heart is kind of pumping love,
Give your attention to that and let that love grow.
Let it become bigger.
Just like your physical heart pumps love all throughout your body,
Let your emotional heart,
Your spiritual heart pump love all throughout your body,
To all the parts of you that are hurting that need that love.
To all the parts of you in the dark that haven't seen the light.
Let that love go to them.
Let that love go to the places where it's needed.
And restore your system,
Your mind,
Your body to balance and to wholeness.
Be open to considering that this is your nature.
To love.
And then if it feels right for you,
If you want to just keep giving attention to your own being,
That's perfectly fine.
And if you want to open up the channels where this love is flowing to people in your life that you care about,
That you want to prosper,
That you want to help,
Let your heart open to them as well.
And know that just by holding them in mind,
And by having the intent to let this love flow from your heart to all these people in your life,
Know that it's doing something.
Know that it's received.
And you can use your breath.
Use your breath to give that love a little push.
Gentle,
Loving push out to those people that you hold in your heart or anything that calls to your heart,
The animals,
The earth,
The stars up above.
Just open your heart.
All you need is right here.
So now we'll be coming to the end of this.
And back with your breath again.
That physical force.
Feel the grounding of that.
And just say thank you to your inner experience,
To your heart,
To yourself for giving yourself this moment,
For creating it with your attention,
Where you put your attention.
Thank you.
And when it feels right for you,
Kind of come back to your body if it felt like you left in this room,
The room you're in.
And then when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
And then when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
