We're going to practice together for about 30 minutes.
And just a reminder to check in with your body,
Especially when we have an opportunity to be still for a little bit longer.
Just making sure you have the right amount of support.
These little tiny,
Tiny movements are gentle ways to take care of yourself,
To tend to yourself,
To begin this process of being kind to yourself.
And in a very loose way,
We've been working with our eyes as a focal point,
As a foundation,
As a stabilization.
And just a bit of information as we're settling into our bodies.
Our eyes obviously do so much for us.
Even for folks without sight,
The visual cortex in the brain still lights up in so many different ways with sound orientation,
With light orientation.
And our visual cortex,
It really takes up a lot of energy in our brain.
It's quite large.
And especially with technology,
We are using our eyes more and more.
Some studies are showing that with children,
Their visual cortex is growing and their ability to smell is actually shrinking.
And this isn't like proven science.
It's correlation,
Not causation.
But it's a really interesting consideration that what we rely on the most is what we tend to then continue to rely on the most.
It's just habit.
It's our brain's way of trying to save energy.
So giving our eyes permission to rest in a meditation is a really,
Really simple and foundational way to give your mind permission to rest as well.
Our eyes are always vigilant.
When we see something,
Our retina sends it directly to our brainstem,
Just in case we need to run or fight or freeze or whatever the response is.
So it's just this reminder that when we invite our mind,
I'm sorry,
When we invite our eyes to rest,
We also give our mind permission to rest.
So take a moment here before you close your eyes,
Or if they're already closed,
You're welcome to keep them closed,
Open them if you'd like.
But just allow your eyes to roll around a couple of times.
If they're open,
Just noticing the different viewpoints that happen as you roll your eyes to the right and up and down,
Then to the left and up and down,
Just going in a couple of circles,
Clockwise and counterclockwise.
And then eventually just blink a couple of times.
Just notice how simple it is to move your eyelids and create that rapid movement.
And then finally,
Take a moment,
You might even hold your hand up,
Just gazing at your hand for a moment.
You might move your hand,
Just looking at all of these intricate lines and perhaps appreciating how much your hands do for you.
And then from that close viewpoint,
Just take a moment to let your eyes settle on the farthest point in the room away from you.
And perhaps appreciating the simplicity of being able to do so.
And then when you feel ready,
You can just close your eyes.
Inviting in that softening,
Letting your eyes settle in their sockets,
Letting your lids be heavy.
And as you invite your eyes to slow down,
It is innately,
Inherently tied to giving your mind permission to slow down as well.
In this stillness that you're cultivating,
Never forcing,
Inviting in and then cultivating stillness,
Can you notice the movement of your breath a little bit more clearly as you slow down?
Inherently,
When we choose to close our eyes,
We're using our body to tell our mind we're in a safe space.
We wouldn't close our eyes if we were being chased by a bear in the woods.
We might momentarily squeeze our eyes shut if we get stuck in a freeze moment.
But this is an opportunity to choose,
Not squeezing your eyes shut to cut out the world,
But just to close and soften,
To settle in for a moment,
To give your mind,
Your body,
Your eyes permission to rest.
And in simple form,
Those little eye rolls that you were doing,
It's really good for your eye health.
Take a moment throughout the day to pause from your close view to look afar or vice versa.
It's good for your eye health.
It's preventative medicine in simple form.
Sometimes what happens is we don't really notice something until we're elated with joy,
Where we're starting to feel a little pain or suffering.
Sometimes we notice our eyes and we'll hear phrases or we'll say them like,
Oh,
My eyes are getting bad.
Oh,
I can't read this this way anymore.
My eyes are so dry.
My eyes are tired.
We tend to notice these things the most.
And instead of judging that,
Just witness that as a form of conversation.
Your body is telling you something.
Hey,
Pay attention.
My eyes are a little dry.
What can we do about that?
This little moment that we have here in this little moment in time to just let your eyes rest,
Let your body rest,
Let your mind rest,
Let your heart rest.
So we carry so much in these physical hands,
In our physical heart,
In our metaphorical heart space,
In the landscape of being human,
We carry a lot.
But it's not your job to carry everything.
It's our job to do it together,
Just like we come together in practice.
Right now,
Your only job here is to witness yourself and to be gentle with yourself to the best of your ability.
Eddie Hillesum,
An author,
A Dutch Jewish woman,
And she passed away in a concentration camp.
Before she did,
She wrote this really beautiful memoir.
And she talks in there about the appreciation of the ordinary.
She talks about the importance of being kind to yourself no matter what the circumstance.
And that when things are heavy in the world,
We need to go internal to find the resourcing that already exists right here.
She says your only job is to look within and find more peace within yourself.
And she said that in what I would consider maybe one of the most difficult situations to be in in a human life.
A massive amount of suffering.
But take a moment to go inward and just appreciate the breath you have in this moment.
Which gives you the opportunity to take wise action when it's needed.
But just to be here.
Let your eyes rest.
Let your mind rest.
Let your body rest.
Let your heart be open for a moment in this still,
Quiet space.
Just notice again,
Is my mind somewhere else?
Can I invite myself to come back to this breath?
Notice the heaviness of my eyes,
Which gives me permission to rest.
Anytime you need a little more support,
You might rub your hands across your legs or together for just a little bit more physical contact.
Just present moment awareness.
You might roll your eyes a couple of times in your head,
Just noticing the movement.
Those tiny,
Delicate muscles that support you all day long.
And then rest again.
Let this exhale right here remind you to soften.
Moment by moment,
Present awareness.
Just curious,
Where were my thoughts just now?
And that moment of recognition brings you right back to the present.
Can I just be with this breath right here?
Can I be with the whole of me?
Not allowing any part of me to say that I'm doing something wrong,
To say that I'm missing something.
Recognizing when I dismiss myself,
When I judge myself,
When I dismiss others,
When I judge others.
And not adding judgment to judgment,
But just noticing.
Just like we noticed this thought right here.
Oh yeah,
There's a thought.
It's the gentleness.
And then returning with the same gentleness.
Oh yeah,
That's right.
I was just noticing my breath.
I was just feeling the heaviness of my eyes and the enjoyment of being able to just rest here.
This breath right here.
This moment of rest on this exhale.
Is there anything in my body right now I can soften?
Sometimes even just letting your head rest.
Maybe you're sitting in a position,
You can let your head rest back.
Or you might rest your forehead in your palms.
Or place your forehead on your forearms across your knees.
Is there any way you can let your head just rest?
Another simple physical invitation to remind your mind to just settle for a moment.
Thank you for your vigilance,
Eyes and mind.
Can we just rest in the openness of this heart right here?
I'm going to share here another quote.
This is from the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
She won this in 2004.
Wangari Maathai.
Wangari Maathai,
As I've heard it said both ways.
But Wangari Maathai,
She said famously,
There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.
There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.
Sometimes even in our meditation,
When we've set aside time to just be still,
Difficulty arises.
It's just asking to be seen.
It's just asking to be felt.
It's just asking,
Pretending.
And it's not to do that bypassing thing where we're trying to find a silver lining before we experience grief.
But it's to recognize that in every moment,
There's opportunity to witness yourself,
To try to be a little more tender with yourself and others.
Even when you fail,
You learn something.
And this is coming from a woman who was jailed and beaten and physically harmed for her desire to care for her homeland of Kenya.
She was known as Mama Mati,
The Mother of Trees,
As she was trying to reforest her home.
She was not only brilliant,
But incredibly fierce in her tenderness.
It's taking the wisest action.
And that wise action sometimes required ferocity,
And every moment required tenderness for herself so she could keep going.
She also said,
Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking,
So that humanity stops threatening its own life support system.
She said,
We are called to assist the earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own.
Indeed,
To embrace the whole of creation and all of its diversity,
Beauty,
And wonder,
Recognizing that sustainable development,
Choice,
And peace are indivisible.
Democracy,
Development,
And peace are an idea whose time has come.
And that reminder that we are faced with challenges that call for us to shift our thinking.
And it's not just action,
Action,
Action,
But it's the pause.
The Buddhist system reminds us that first we need to look at our perception.
We begin with our wise perception.
From there we look at thoughts.
Are my thoughts wise?
From thoughts we look at speech.
How am I speaking to myself?
What does my speech sound like externally?
And then finally we come to action.
Can we remember that oftentimes the wisest action is to come back to ourselves,
Especially when the world feels chaotic.
We can trust that our mind and our eyes are vigilantly seeking safety,
Which means that we can pause and look for beauty,
That we can take time to connect with each other,
Because that's what we need the most for wise action.
And perhaps more importantly,
Connect with yourself.
Just come back to yourself again and again and again.
The only world you can change is your own,
And then we reflect it back to each other.
I have a deep belief,
I shared this with a dear friend today,
A deep belief that your healing is mine and mine is yours.
My healing is your healing and yours is mine.
When we heal the earth,
We heal each other.
When we witness atrocities and we stay with the grief within ourselves and we allow the rage to come up,
Everything changes.
We still have time right here in this moment just to sit and be.
Notice what comes up for you as we hear these wise words of Wangari Matai.
There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.
Can you take this opportunity right here in stillness to just be gentle with yourself,
To receive the softening of this exhale,
To let your eyes rest heavy behind your lids,
And just be for a moment.
Just receive the support of the gravity beneath you.
Just rest here.
And just notice again your breath.
Invitation to place a hand on your chest.
Is it possible to feel your heartbeat anywhere in your body?
And it's okay if you can't feel it.
The good news is if you're hearing these words,
It's already happening.
We can trust our beating heart.
We can trust the gravity beneath us.
We can trust in the innate goodness of our breath.
And because our breath connects all of us,
Every creature,
Every being,
Every nature,
Every molded form,
We all breathe in some way.
And because that's true,
Can we trust in the innate goodness of each other,
Even when it doesn't feel that way?
It's the last thing I'll share here.
It says again,
Wangari Maathai.
She also said,
I'm very conscious of the fact that you cannot do it alone.
It's teamwork.
We do this together.
And I'll invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
Just taking a deep breath.
Maybe even sighing it out,
Just releasing.
And we'll end with a few loving kindness phrases.
Just repeating them back as they make sense for you.
May I appreciate my eyes today.
May I appreciate my body today.
May I support and appreciate the beings around me today.
When action is needed,
May we each choose to move with ease and peace.
And may the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
And go slow if you can.
Find a little movement.
Take a moment to thank yourself,
Just for being here.
Thank you for showing up for yourself.
Thank you for being here for each other.
And as always,
Thank you for this connection.
