So let's do our meditation.
It will take I think about 10 or 15 minutes.
I want to give you a moment to stretch or tend to your needs if you need to before we start the meditation.
And you might sense which posture will most support you right now.
You might decide to sit,
To stand,
To walk.
And when you are ready you can close your eyes or lower your gaze.
And begin by noticing any sounds you may be hearing in this moment.
If there is no sound,
Noticing that.
Noticing the smells of this moment,
The tastes if there is any.
Maybe visualizing where you are or the group of people you are with right now.
And then bringing a kind attention to the sensation of touch,
Noticing your feet on the floor.
Noticing where your body is touching your chair or the floor.
And then from here you might sense which anchor will most support you tonight.
You might choose to anchor on your body as a whole or your hands or the sounds or your breath.
And for the next few moments just allowing your scattered attention to center and to collect around this chosen anchor.
Anything that comes up,
Letting it be there.
And then eventually with gentleness bringing your attention back to your chosen anchor.
And reminding yourself that this anchor is your resource.
It's your place of refuge.
And you can always collect yourself back here if you need to.
And you might strengthen the sense of centeredness and presence by tapping into any of your other inner resources.
Calling on beings who are loving or supporting.
Imagining your happy place.
Maybe tapping into a gentle and soothing breath.
Or grounding yourself to Mother Earth.
Just feeling yourself supported and loved in the presence of your body,
Of your anchor and your inner resources.
Jack Kornfield says,
Take one hand and hold it gently on your heart as if you were holding a vulnerable human being.
Because you are.
So you might hold yourself like this,
Put a hand on your heart and chest area compassionately.
Sensing your vulnerability,
Your fragility.
And beginning to reflect on any part of your life where there might be some grief or sadness.
Starting small,
Noticing your window of tolerance.
And if you come across any grief that feels like it's more than a five or six on the scale from one to ten.
Allowing yourself to turn away from that for the moment.
And then continuing to scan for some sadness or loss that may be there that feels manageable.
And if there's nothing that comes to mind right now,
That's okay.
We're not muscling through this meditation.
So if there's no sense of grief or sadness that's coming up,
You might just choose to maintain your attention on your anchor.
And if something does come up that feels manageable,
You might let this story play out a little bit in your mind.
Letting the emotions,
Thoughts and sensations flow.
Gently following them.
Letting them arise and fall like clouds in the sky or like waves in the ocean.
Making up some space,
Remembering that you are the ocean or you are the sky.
You are not the waves and you're not the clouds.
And holding this hurting part of you or this sadness as tenderly as possible as if you are holding this treasured item you were looking at earlier.
So really taking your time with it,
Letting it unfold slowly with no rush and no judgment.
As Thich Nhat Hanh says,
You might say,
Come,
My sadness,
I will take care of you.
And in this way you might embrace this sadness.
You might visualize this sadness in any way that you find helpful.
You might notice if it has a color,
A texture,
A shape.
You might visualize a friendly gesture like giving the sadness a cup of tea.
Or letting it take a seat next to you on the bench on a calm day in the park under a big blue vast open sky.
And you might notice the body as well,
The expressions on your face,
The posture of your body,
The sensations inside the body.
You might notice if they are changing and moving.
And at any moment you can remember to call on your inner resources.
You can sense your feet on the ground.
You can call on to other beings that are loving and supporting.
And you can notice how does this sadness,
This grief want to be approached,
How does it want to be held.
And if it has a message for you that you'd like to remember,
There could be a message of love.
This grief could be pointing at something that's really dear to you.
There could be something you'd like to learn from this emotion.
There could be something or someone you'd like to forgive or intend to forgive.
So not holding on to anything and allowing yourself to move through this emotion kindly,
Compassionately.
And letting things go as they are ready to be let go of.
Making space for anything that remains and letting go of anything that wants to be let go of.
Trusting this unfolding.
Trusting what can go and what stays.
And now in the last moments of this meditation,
You might let go of doing any meditation,
Of doing any practice and just allow yourself to be.
You might relax,
Notice your body and observe your quality of presence in these moments.
You might let go of doing anything that remains and allow yourself to be.
You might let go of doing anything that remains and allow yourself to be.
