Welcome to this breathing meditation to help us dissolve feelings of separation between heart and mind.
We can let go of preconceived notions about the nature of heart and mind and how they interact or how they differ,
And we can let go of notions about breath so that we can fully and honestly be available for our direct experience just now.
It's helpful to settle into our posture,
Whether seated or lying down,
Fully appreciating the support the earth provides,
Support of the furniture,
And also support of the atmosphere we breathe.
This body,
This dear mammalian body that is our companion in life,
Is breathing just now.
Feel the breath at the nostrils while the air flows in and out.
Allow your attention to gather around the nostril openings,
Attentive and curious,
Fully available to sense the flow of breath.
Perhaps you'll notice how the outgoing air is warmer than the incoming.
We also have this activity we call mind.
The mind very often competes for attention.
So as attention gathers around the nostrils,
Soon enough the mind attempts to draw it back to thinking,
Planning,
Remembering,
And so on.
And you notice how the mind has a flow of its own.
Attention then is moving between the flow of breath and the flow of mind.
The flow of breath is simple,
Relatively.
In and out movement of airflow.
The flow of mind is more complex.
Sometimes it's better described as a texture or vibration.
If agitated,
The texture of mind is buzzing.
If serene,
The texture might be silky and still.
Or something in between.
So there is the simple texture of breath at the nostrils and the complex texture of mind above and behind the nostrils in that mysterious organ we call a brain.
Continuing to bring attention back to the airflow at the nostrils.
While noticing the tug of the currents of mind.
Not judging or even fighting them,
But simply noticing and allowing attention to gather around the nostril openings and the sensations there.
Sometimes when we pay attention to both the flow of mind and the flow of breath,
We begin to feel that there is just one flow with different textures in different regions.
There's a flowing quality,
Almost tidal,
That connects the activity of mind behind and above the nostrils with the flow of air at the nostril openings.
See if this becomes part of your experience just now.
Isn't it interesting how attention can be guided?
We've guided it toward the nostrils and now we can guide it down.
Let it follow the next in-breath all the way down into the lungs and the torso.
Gradually attention gathers around the movement of the chest and belly.
The forward expanding movement of chest and belly on in-breath and the backward settling movement on out-breath.
Breath by breath by breath.
Attention gathers ever more comfortably and fully around these movements.
Very curious.
Of course,
The torso is an area of feeling,
Particularly in the heart area.
When we feel safe,
Supported,
And connected,
The feelings tend to be warm and full.
Or,
If we feel more frightened,
Less safe,
More lonely,
The feelings might be cooler,
Tighter,
Heavier.
Lots of variations.
The burning feeling of shame or anger,
The heavy feeling of sadness or grief.
Just noticing the feeling tone just now.
And noticing,
Too,
How the feeling in this area overlaps with the sensations of movement,
The expanding and settling of inflow and outflow of breath.
So just as was true up in the head and mind area,
Where breath and thought co-mingled,
Here in the heart,
Feeling and movement flow together.
And you let the movement of breath become an energetic flow and experience,
Not thinking of it as a body that's heavy and solid,
Like you might read about in a textbook,
But experiencing the body as you actually live it,
As an energetic aliveness that moves and flows.
And the feelings in the same area that likewise move,
Likewise flow.
So there becomes the sense of this weaving together of feelings and motion as energies that are felt in this area,
The heart region,
The torso.
Not anymore naming them or categorizing,
Simply feeling them just now.
And on your next out breath,
Allow that energetic movement in the torso and heart,
The feelings and the activity to extend upward.
And on a next in breath,
Allow the energy of mind and breath around the nostrils and brain to flow downward.
So the two can meet somewhere in between,
Mind and airflow moving down on in breath,
Energies of torso and heart moving up on out breath.
Perhaps you're like me and accumulate tension in that area between heart and mind,
The shoulders,
The neck,
The throat,
The jaws.
As this flow goes back and forth in its tidal way,
Some of that tension might soften,
Might be washed free,
No longer trapped.
So the feelings of movement and airflow and thinking and emotion gradually become one flowing current,
One ocean with some different regions.
The region of heart and torso differs from that of nostril and mind,
Still the same ocean flowing this way and that,
Up and down,
Letting go of the whole idea of nostril,
Brain,
Mind,
Thought,
Feeling,
Emotion,
Torso,
Heart.
All those words,
So unnecessary really,
And we can just feel this multi-textured ocean of energy,
Of aliveness in this body,
This companion.
And you can follow the energies wherever they take you.
Sometimes they might expand outward like wings.
Sometimes they might wrap around you like an embrace.
Sometimes they might grow down into the earth like roots,
And sometimes they might open upward like flowers.
Don't need to question what happens,
What's real and what's imaginary.
So unimportant when we have this direct experience.
Just now,
Allowing your own ocean of life.
Just allowing.
Isn't it interesting when we just let life lead us,
Let it grow,
Let it be.
We can even let the life lead us as we slowly and gently prepare to bring this guided meditation to a close.
We can let life decide whether to continue on our own without the recording or to wiggle our fingers and toes and breathe a little more quickly and deeply to return to an active day.
Life can decide.
Life knows our situation.
Letting life as it breathes help you,
Support you,
Even love you,
Growing and becoming.
This person,
This being,
Just now.
