Hi everyone,
My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice for about 30 minutes.
Just take these first few moments to settle into your body.
The smallest little changes,
The smallest little notions in your mind can help set you up for success.
And success here meaning to stay with as much gentleness as possible.
It doesn't mean anything other than that.
Just removing any ideas that our mind might have about what meditation should or could be and just let it be what it is.
And let it be what it is today,
No matter how many times you've sat down to meditate or done a walking meditation or had a practice of meditation that you judged as good or bad.
Today is just today and we've never experienced this breath before.
And you'll never again get to experience this moment in time.
And there's a real specialness to that.
Just noticing how the floor is touching you and you're touching it back.
Thich Nhat Hanh would talk about how are we touching the earth?
Are we kissing it with our feet or are we trying to leave behind our anxiety?
And not that the world can't hold it.
The earth is so big and vast she can hold everything that we are and everything that we experience.
But just noticing your feet touching the floor right now and how you're also being touched.
You're welcome of course to close your eyes or set your gaze downward.
Very often that becomes a part of our meditation,
These habits that we have.
Settling into a familiar posture,
Choosing familiar experiences within our meditations.
Our brain and our body love ritual.
And even within our most familiar and comforting rituals,
Can we seek these little tiny moments of comfort?
It's often why we have familiar rituals.
Like the first sip of coffee or tea in the morning.
The feeling of your teeth after you brush them.
We have all of these things that we do to provide ourselves comfort.
And here in this slow time we have this opportunity to really receive and appreciate.
Appreciate something as small as being able to take a deep breath.
There's a consistency and rhythm to your breath.
And yet everyone is unique.
If we had the vision to be able to see all of the oxygen molecules,
Every single breath,
The makeup of it,
Is different every single time.
I heard a friend yesterday talk about their appreciation of tension.
They were talking about the specific tension of change coming in their life.
The specific tension of knowing that they were moving into a different season of life.
And although they were excited about it,
They could recognize also a bit of grief of the change coming.
And not to cling to anything,
But that tension that they felt gave them an opportunity to really pay attention to all of these small moments,
Knowing that change is coming.
And sometimes we know change is coming,
And whether we've judged that change as positive or less than positive,
All change teaches us something.
And when we know change is coming,
Let's say our favorite co-worker is taking a new job,
We start to really appreciate all of the small moments with that person.
But very often we don't know change is coming.
That's why we don't slow down and appreciate every single breath.
But there's also so many other things to appreciate,
And we certainly have responsibilities and things to take care of.
But rather than waiting for change to occur,
We have these small moments right here in our meditation where we can pay attention to these little small things.
And I know I said this sometimes,
Take them for granted.
It's the fact that I turn on my faucet and there's fresh running water there.
Can you consider something that's happened yet today?
You can pause now and appreciate something that happens all the time,
A person that you know you're going to see.
What is it that you can appreciate about some of these small moments?
And then right here in this moment,
What is happening in this moment that you can receive and truly appreciate?
Just the fact that there's life flowing through your body.
What kind of small comfort can you receive right now in your body?
So often our mind goes to the future and the past.
Here in the present,
Some small comfort,
The right amount of warmth,
Your favorite blanket,
A bird song in the background.
It's here in the present moment.
And this ability to slow down and receive these tiny joys in the present moment help us create balance in our mind.
Help us create emotional resiliency.
If we seek the good.
Because our brain is already seeking what might not be safe for us.
That's already happening.
Your brain is brilliant.
But because our mind is churning,
Looking for what is safe,
Trying to understand what may be coming through past experience,
Sometimes we miss the present.
But this practice right here,
Perhaps the most important thing I will do all day.
And it doesn't mean that I'm negating all of the wonderful and maybe challenging things that are yet to come.
But this present moment is the only thing I'm guaranteed.
And those tiny appreciations can make all the difference.
And we're not trying to push away some big decision we're making or we're not trying to make our thoughts wrong for pulling up something that happened yesterday that we're still trying to understand.
It's to layer in both to let our brilliant mind to do its work,
But not let it run away from us.
To invite our beautiful mind back and just rest in these small appreciations.
And to receive these small tensions.
I appreciated that frame so much.
And this friend and I were talking about what are we grateful for in our life?
And they specifically said,
I appreciate this form of tension in my life.
The tension of knowing change is occurring.
And as I sit in this,
I'm really receiving the experiences of what's happening now.
And those little reframes are so good for our mind.
Every time we breathe in,
We create tension in our body,
A purposeful and very beneficial tension.
Sometimes the word alone,
We hear the words tension or pressure,
And they have a negative connotation.
But the pressure you feel beneath your legs right now is support from the air,
The opportunity to rest a little heavier.
And quite literally,
Every time we breathe in,
Our musculature creates tension.
They contract in order to draw fresh air in,
Creates a pressure exchange that air comes rushing in.
And then all of those breathing muscles,
They just soften when we exhale.
And there's a release.
Tension and release moment by moment.
And these little reframes help our mind find balance.
Stress brings us strength.
When we go to a physical movement class,
Yoga,
Taking a walk in the woods,
Whatever it is,
We're exercising our muscles.
We're creating positive stress on our muscles in order to create good change in our body.
Stress,
Tension,
Pressure,
These are not all bad things.
It's the label we place on things that sometimes keeps us stuck in the label itself.
And that certainly isn't to say that we want to be in stress all the time.
But so often our mind is churning and regurgitating a story so many times.
We have this low level stress,
Very different than our brain telling us,
Hey,
You're in imminent danger.
The ability to pause and just appreciate the fact that you can take a breath.
That you have access to running water.
That your incredibly tender and sensitive hands made you a cup of tea.
That we live inside a body of such complexity that there are experts for every single tiny inch of our body.
We couldn't possibly understand all of the tiny workings,
But even if we did,
Understanding how digestion works doesn't make it work.
It's the magic of the body.
I can't think my way harder into digestion.
It's just my body doing its work.
And we'll rest here in silence for a bit.
Just witness your body breathing for you.
The magic of being able to take a deep breath on purpose.
Maybe you sigh out the exhale.
And just notice how that changes sensation in your body.
We're not trying to override any thoughts.
We're just looking for these tiny small comforts,
And they offer support when little moments of difficulty arise.
What do you feel here as you breathe?
As you feel your body being held by the earth?
What do you feel in your body?
Moment by moment,
Present awareness.
So noticing your breath.
Notice how your body is being held.
Moment by moment,
Just noticing where your mind wants to head.
It just was.
Inviting your mind to land back.
Just this rhythmic,
Soothing movement of your breath.
Just watching as your body creates this positive tension as you inhale.
And the wisdom of the release,
The softening as you exhale.
It's what offers us balance in our mind.
It's first and foremost awareness of what is happening in our mind.
Our mind runs on repetition and pattern.
And very often the thoughts we think are stories we've heard a thousand times.
And just to notice that,
Invite your mind to rest for just a moment as your entire body rests in the exhale.
Your body is wise.
It knows that it can't always be in tension.
You can't take a deep breath forever.
We need both tension and release.
Expansion and softness.
There's a line from a Donna Ashworth poem.
She's a Scottish poet.
It says something like,
I definitely do not wish your ships to be tightly run.
I remember my grandpa saying that growing up,
Something about,
We run a tight ship around here.
And that's certainly beneficial at times.
Planning ahead,
Making sure our responsibilities are taken care of.
But if the ship is always tight,
Where is there space to rest?
And it's just right here.
Every single time you exhale.
Where is there opportunity for joy?
It's right here.
No matter what season of life you're in,
It's the small joy of being able to take a deep breath.
The comfort of these small rituals we have.
The ability to close your eyes and just settle for a moment.
Anytime we're seeking balance in our life,
Just simply come back to your breath.
The wisdom of your body is always teaching us about this balance of effort and ease,
Tension and release.
And I pulled up here,
That poem from Donna Ashworth.
And I'll share here,
Her beautiful words.
This is from a piece that she wrote called Ducks in a Row.
And this is a portion of it.
She says,
I do hope your ducks are not in a row.
I pray your eggs are not all in the same basket.
And I definitely do not wish your ships to be tightly run.
Life happens in the space between perfect and free.
And joy cannot slip through the cracks if there are none.
Nor can love wildly grow in a garden that's paved without a weed in sight.
Growth needs a mix of battering rain and pure unfiltered sunlight.
Messy is holy and freedom is the prize.
Breathe out that stifled sigh and lie hand on your beating chest.
You came here to rise and rest amid the eggs in your many baskets.
And ducks,
Waddling as they please,
Cares all flowing wildly as they must into the breeze.
You came here to rise and rest.
You can witness that in your breath,
The rising of your inhale,
The resting of your exhale.
So anytime today,
In this coming days,
This next week,
This season,
Anytime we're feeling like we need a little balance,
Just come back to your breath.
Watch it rise and rest.
Watch that positive tension that's created as you inhale.
And witness the wisdom of your body as it softens into ease.
And I'll invite you to bring your hands into your closing habits or practices.
Perhaps laying a hand on your beating chest,
Palms together like gratitude.
I'll end with a few loving kindness phrases,
Repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I remember the innate goodness of my breath.
May I witness tension and release.
May I give myself permission to release and rest.
And when action is needed,
May I choose to move with ease and peace.
May the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
Just whenever you feel complete,
No rush.
Find movement when you feel ready.
Take a moment to thank yourself just for showing up.
As always,
Thank you for being here,
Supporting each other,
Being part of our sangha.
