My name is Larissa.
We're going to practice for about 15 minutes.
Settling in,
Making any adjustments in your body that you might need,
Just so you can feel comfortable.
And sometimes I use the word safe,
To feel safe in your body.
And that can mean a hundred different things,
But it's this idea of settling into the warmth,
Perhaps imagining you're nestling right between your heart and your lungs.
And you can feel your heart beating,
Your breath moving through you.
So maybe it's just as simple as making some neck rolls,
Just checking to see if there's any tension in your body.
And I'll invite you to take a couple of deep breaths.
Look for movement,
Expansion through your ribs.
You might notice your chest is expanding a bit.
And notice how your body softens when you exhale.
We don't always notice it in the busyness of a day,
But right here we can notice that subtle change between an inhale and an exhale.
And you might already have your eyes closed,
But if you haven't yet done so,
Just set your gaze downward.
Just notice the lowering of your eyes.
We have these natural inclinations of our body to rest.
Our exhale is always rest.
Quite literally,
Our accessory breathing muscles contract and do work on the inhale in order to draw air in.
And then on the exhale,
All of those muscles just relax.
And when we can slow down enough to really notice that,
You might start to see a little balance.
There are certain days where my mind gets going and I'm telling myself I have too much to do,
I didn't get enough sleep,
Et cetera,
Et cetera.
But when we can really slow down and dial into the moment,
Your breath is giving you all of these opportunities to take a tiny bit of action on the inhale and receive a little bit of rest on the exhale.
And just notice that for a moment.
Feel it in your body.
Really look for those expansive and then restful qualities of your breath.
And we have many little phrases in our meditation practice that start to pay attention to what we are looking at.
We have this idea in meditation of becoming the observer.
I'm just observing my thoughts,
Or I'm witnessing.
Both of those have an indication of seeing something.
But even here with our eyes closed or our gaze set downward,
Our mind is often still looking for something.
And the brilliance of your mind is always seeking safety for you.
So sometimes we become a little extra vigilant when we maybe don't need to be.
So just a simple request to close your eyes or to soften your gaze downward is this little indication that you're in a safe space because our eyes are very often seeking that safety.
So just closing your eyes is an indication your body is sharing to your brain,
We're safe here.
And just as the intelligence,
The wisdom of your body invites in rest,
Moment by moment,
Every single time you exhale,
When you let your eyes close or let them soften down in their sockets,
All the muscles in your eyes naturally rest as well.
And it's these indications in our body that our body is telling our brain,
We're in a safe space,
We can relax a little,
We can slow down a little,
We don't have to be so vigilant.
And then just witness again,
These natural inclinations to soften as you exhale.
Can you soften your jaw just 2% more?
Again,
This idea of witnessing,
Observing your thoughts rather than becoming the subject of them,
Creates an opportunity for you to just notice your breath again.
And not because the thought wasn't important,
But in this moment here,
Perhaps what's more important is that invitation to rest.
And very often once our mind starts moving,
We miss those little moments,
Those little opportunities to just soften.
And because our mind is always seeking safety for us,
It's often important that we also seek the little small joys that we look for,
These little moments of ease.
Rumi said it so beautifully when he said,
What you seek is also seeking you.
So if you're not looking for something,
You certainly won't find it.
I remember a friend of mine a while back now was telling me about one of their kids,
Saying,
Mom,
I can't find this item.
And her first question was,
Have you looked for it?
And her kid so funnily said,
No,
I haven't actually,
I just thought you might know where it is.
And it's just this funny thing to consider.
Have I sought joy today?
Because I know my mind is going to look for safety.
I know my mind is going to be vigilant and try to take care of me in that way.
So because that's always happening,
Because that's already happening,
Can I incline my mind towards these little moments of ease?
Can I look for little moments of joy?
And to remember,
Too,
The more difficulty I have in my life,
The more difficulty I see in the world,
Sometimes it's harder to find those pockets of joy,
Or perhaps I even feel guilty when I find them.
But to recognize that being human is both and,
Not either or.
We can experience both joy and difficulty,
Sometimes at the same time.
In the smallest things,
My feet are cold,
But I'm laughing as I'm ice skating with my niece.
And we can bring those little things into the big things when we slow down and pay attention.
Because often when we're in the moment of stress,
We get wrapped up into it.
So right here,
Where you've already set aside time,
Can you look for,
With the inside of your mind,
By opening the eye of your heart,
Can you just look for the small,
Easeful moments?
What feels good to you right now?
Just being able to take a breath.
Just the simplicity of having the proper amount of shelter.
Seek the good for a moment.
What can you name in your environment right now that feels pleasant,
That feels supportive,
That gives you some stability?
And I'll invite you here to set an intention for the day.
Set an intention to seek,
To look for little moments of ease,
Little moments of joy,
So you can recognize them and really savor them.
Because very often,
If we don't set an intention,
We will just go to the habits of mind.
And if we have a busier day,
It's easy to just go into habit.
Not that our habits are bad,
But very often our habits cause us to miss the little things.
So just setting an intention right now.
May I seek little moments of pleasure and ease today.
And then I'll invite you to place your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.
Even this movement that you make with your hands,
It's a reminder of your practice.
So anytime you need a reminder,
Anytime you're having a hard time,
Just tap your hands in this position even ever so briefly to remind yourself of your practice,
Of your intention.
You might repeat back to yourself again.
May I seek little moments of ease and joy today.
May I seek and receive small moments of pleasure today.
May I savor all of my sensory awareness today.
And just notice for a moment,
What does it feel like just to even invite in those words?
Savor,
Pleasure,
Ease,
Joy.
And we'll finish here.
Again,
Those loving kindness phrases,
Just using the word we.
Just imagining the folks together here meditating.
Perhaps zooming out,
Imagining the whole world.
May we seek and find little joys today.
May we seek and find comfort within our bodies today.
When action is needed,
May we each move with ease and peace.
And may the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.
And go slow if you can,
Just whenever you feel complete.
Just fluttering your eyes open,
Noticing the movement of your eyes even here.
And as always,
Taking just a moment to thank yourself.
Thank you each for being here,
Being a part of our community,
Our sangha.
Wishing you lots of joy from your physical eyes,
But in your body as well.
