This is the deeply letting go meditation.
Learning how to be comfortable in our lives as they are is a vital component to a deepening meditation practice.
In this sense,
It's not physical comfort we are seeking to cultivate,
Which can be fleeting and very difficult to control,
But a mental comfort at ease within our world no matter the changing circumstances.
This meditation can help you to find new and deeper ways to let go of mental clinging,
Which is a main source of not only our mental discomfort,
But also the disruption of our peace of mind.
By learning how to let go on a deeper level,
We can also learn how to be more comfortable and at peace in our lives on a deeper level.
This meditation uses contemplative skills to create a feeling of letting go in the mind and in the body so as to get comfortable and familiar with what this deep let go feels like.
So now just finding a seated posture that is more or less comfortable,
Sitting upright,
Shoulders broad and relaxed,
And the feet more or less evenly balanced on the floor,
Getting yourself as physically comfortable in a poised,
Upright position as you can,
And then just settling in,
Allowing the mind to feel this settling in of the body,
Allowing the body to become more or less still in this posture,
And allowing the mind to notice what this feels like.
Letting the mind feel this feeling of stillness in the body,
Noticing how the movement of the breath really does nothing to disrupt the stillness of the body.
Breathing in to this sense of stillness,
Breathing out from this sense of stillness,
Seeing if you can release your body more deeply into this sense of stillness as you breathe,
Though the body will not remain perfectly comfortable as you sit here,
Just seeing if you can be perfectly comfortable in relation to the body in the mind,
Allowing yourself to be comfortable in the body and in the breath,
A comfort of mind safe within this gentle rise and fall of the breath,
A mind at ease in this flow of breath.
And when the mind wanders off into thought or some other distraction,
Just being comfortable in this act of beginning again,
Of lifting your mind back to the flow of the breath,
Feeling lost,
Nothing gained,
Just learning how to let go into this flow of breath,
Allowing an inner life,
An inner sensation of life and breath to simply rise to the forefront of your awareness,
No mental strain or struggle to make this happen,
Simply a practice of letting go into these inner sensations of this flow of breath,
Allowing beginning again an awareness of the inner sensations of life and breath and just letting go into it,
Fully and as we sit,
Perhaps beginning to notice some discomfort in the body,
Perhaps some muscle tension somewhere or pain or maybe even an itch,
Seeing if you can notice how the mind reacts to this discomfort and seeing if you can just watch this relation without adjusting your body in any way.
In this way,
We are practicing relaxing our minds into any physical discomfort we may or may not have in the body and then moving to adjust the body if necessary from this comfortable state of mind rather than from a state of discomfort and just kind of playing with this,
Maintaining comfort in the breath.
And as we sit,
Perhaps noticing an awareness of not quite being able to let go completely and becoming aware of a certain level of holding on,
We all have it,
This fear of letting go completely,
Afraid of the freefall perhaps.
So now just asking the question gently,
Lovingly,
What am I afraid to let go of in my life?
What am I holding on to?
Perhaps a worry about the future,
Perhaps a desire for your life to be different than it is in some way,
Perhaps a desire for a spouse or a partner or a child or a boss to be different than they are.
Looking into your life from the safe space of your meditation and asking the question of what am I holding on to?
Spending the next few minutes contemplating this question,
What am I holding on to that I could be letting go of?
And in this way,
We are uncovering understanding as we practice,
As we become aware of what surface is,
Without getting too caught up in the reasons of why we are holding on to these things.
And in this way,
Uncovering understanding as we practice,
As we become aware of what surface is,
Without getting too caught up in the reasons of why we are holding on to these things.
Just a simple understanding of what we are holding on to.
And just practicing being comfortable in the face of whatever surface is as you sit here and breathe.
And now asking the question,
What would it feel like if I let go of these things?
What would it feel like to let go of these things I've been holding on to?
What would it feel like to let go of worry or fear or wanting people to be different than they are?
What would it feel like to let go of wanting life to be different than it is?
Imagining what it would feel like to let go of what you're holding on to.
Resting your imagination for this.
And then seeing if you can allow yourself to feel the letting go.
And resting your awareness on this feeling.
A deep let go into the safe space of your awareness.
And whenever you notice the feeling beginning to dissipate,
Simply going back to the question of what am I holding on to?
And again,
Really imagining what it would feel like to let it go.
And bringing this feeling into the safe space of your meditation.
And seeing in this way.
Familiarizing your mind with what letting go on this level feels like.
Feeling comfortable in the deep let go of life.
Feeling closer to the truth of things than holding on.
And spending the next minute or so practicing staying connected to this feeling of deeply letting go.
As best you can.
And then just gently coming back to the breath.
The feeling of the body as it breathes.
And when you're ready,
Bringing some gentle movement back into the body.
Feeling whatever would feel good to be stretched.
And as the meditation ends,
Just opening your eyes whenever you're ready.
And moving back into your day or your evening with awareness.
