My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice together for about 15 minutes.
Let's take these first couple of moments as we always do just to settle into your body.
And the good news is you're already doing it.
It's not something you have to figure out or try hard to do.
You're already in this body.
Just just a little bit of preparation to settle in.
It's finding some comfort,
A posture that feels supportive.
Very often we set this intention.
Of being gentle with ourselves,
Being kind to ourselves.
And I say it often,
But I don't say it every day.
My hope is that we always have that intentionality.
But I do think it's important to bring our attention toward our intention at times.
Because otherwise our old habits of mind just take over.
And it doesn't matter how long you've.
.
.
Meditated or practiced,
Certainly old habits will eventually start to shift.
But if we don't pay attention to them,
Sometimes they just take over in the background.
So setting this intention of being gentle with yourself gives you the opportunity to let go of any shoulds or supposed tos,
Any idea of what the meditation is going to be like.
And it gives you an opportunity just to be exactly as you are.
Welcome of course to close your eyes or set your gaze downward.
This physical invitation to go a little bit more inward.
Notice for a moment here.
Arise and fall of your breath.
The expansion of your ribs as you breathe in.
The softening of your whole body as you exhale.
In that foundation of Being able to witness your body,
The presence of your body.
Gives us a little bit of balance so our mind isn't always taking over.
And there's so much conversation and meditation about the mind.
What is the mind doing?
Where is it headed?
Sometimes there's this idea of we're trying to control it,
But it's never about control.
It's just noticing when your mind is controlling you.
And that happens on occasion when we get stuck in a thought loop.
We're stuck in anxiety,
We're stuck in anger,
We're stuck in a story.
And there's nothing wrong with anger,
Anxiety,
Or story.
It's when it starts to feel as if we can't let go of it.
That we suffer a bit.
And the more we try to push those things away,
The more they get sticky.
So there's never a need to push anything away.
It's just like that action of closing your eyes.
It's just a softening.
And then every time we breathe in,
We create a little bit of spaciousness to hold whatever we experience.
The joy,
The ease,
The moments that were just pure awareness.
Also to hold the moments where we're feeling challenged,
We're feeling sleepy,
We're going through a challenging season.
We have lots of tools to work with.
And one of the most foundational tools is your body itself.
The breath moving through you.
The invitation,
The intention towards tenderness with yourself.
And even the days you don't feel particularly tender,
The invitation of it.
Is enough.
It's not about changing your feeling,
It's holding space for it.
And also not following the story of it,
Just witnessing what you're experiencing in the present moment.
In our slowing down,
We have the opportunity to just witness ourselves.
Moments of presence.
Moments of thought wandering.
Moments of getting stuck in a story in our minds.
The part of you that's witnessing,
You are strengthening that part of you.
It's the part of you that doesn't react but responds.
Just the ability to witness,
Even if you're witnessing something challenging.
Is important.
I think sometimes we come to our meditation for ease and comfort and relaxation,
And all of those things are wonderful.
And we receive a lot of those things when we slow down,
Just naturally.
Also remembering we don't need to put pressure.
On our meditation practice,
On our yoga practice,
On certain relationships.
We are strengthening.
You are strengthening within yourself the ability to witness.
The ability to hold space.
The ability to be steady.
Even when the stream of life is knocking you down.
And that steadiness is this balance of mind and heart coming together.
The ability to stay with your body even when your thoughts are causing turmoil.
And this is part of that practice of seeing through the eye of the heart.
And again,
That can be so conceptual.
Our physical anatomical heart does not have a physical eye.
There's a line from The Little Prince,
That beautiful children's book.
And I don't think it's for children.
I think it's for all humans.
We are all just.
.
.
Little children inside of us.
But the book says,
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
And that word rightly,
I like to change it to clearly.
It is only with the heart that one can see clearly.
Even looking through our physical eyes,
Our brain is constantly taking things out that it's decided are not important.
Our mental constructs oftentimes cloud our vision.
So to see with the eye of the heart is to see clearly with empathy and with unconditional love.
And that's really one of our tools here.
Anytime I notice judgment coming in,
There's some construct of mind in there.
It's not bad.
I don't need to add judgment to judgment.
I just notice.
That's not full clarity from my heart.
If there is judgment.
Pushing out frustration or I'm holding in frustration.
There's some construct of mind that's keeping me from the full compassion of my heart.
And again,
You don't need to fix that.
It's just to see it and witnessing it.
And the more we can see it,
The more we can land fully.
And that place of compassion within our heart space.
Beyond these constructs of mind,
All of this is words,
Which is mental construct.
It's the feeling of connectedness.
It's the feeling of steadiness even when someone is pushing their anger out on you.
The feeling of steadiness.
Even when you're experiencing so much grief,
It feels like it might crush you.
And that steadiness is not something you're trying to replace.
Any other feeling with,
It's something that exists deep within you.
And we get to witness it every time we breathe in and out.
And just notice,
Oh yeah,
That thought is tinged with a little judgment.
Let me just land in my breath again and feel my heart in between my lungs.
Anytime I feel a little stressed,
Let me remember that my body rests every time I exhale.
Let me rest in this exhale right here.
Anytime we get caught in trying to figure something out.
And we need rest within it.
We feel confused.
We feel conflicted.
We feel a little bit too busy.
Return to your breath.
Our mind will want us to keep going.
But it's the wisdom.
Who you truly are that says to your mind.
All of that is important,
And in this moment,
Let us rest.
And in that way,
We can start to invite in this wise eye of the heart.
Space of intuition.
Your bodily wisdom.
And you start to combine your mind,
Your heart together.
Just one breath at a time.
Very often it's a slowing down.
Notice again a breath.
Let it be expansive on the inhale.
Where can you soften as you exhale?
That'll invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
And we'll end with a few loving kindness phrases.
And I'll share again that quote from The Little Prince.
It is only with the heart.
That one can see clearly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
We'll end with these loving-kindness phrases.
Just repeat them back as they make sense for you.
May I continue seeing through the eye of my heart.
May I continue to slow down.
In my slowing down.
May I get to know my intuition.
When action is needed.
May I choose to move with ease.
In peace.
And may the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
Go slow if you can.
Take a moment to thank yourself.
And movement when you feel ready.
As always,
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for supporting each other in our sangha,
Our community.
