Hello and welcome.
This meditation is inspired by the work of Ram Dass.
As we begin this meditation on presence and being,
Let's become grounded,
Settled,
Focused.
Find a comfortable posture.
If you are sitting,
Your feet are flat on the floor.
It helps to be upright and find some balance.
Focusing if you are balanced left to right and front to back.
Just becoming very grounded in your seat.
Keep your back straight and your front soft.
No tension across your chest or shoulders.
You are sitting up straight but in a relaxed position,
Letting your face and your whole
body soften.
Let your upper eyelids gently rest on your lower eyelids,
Your jaw relaxed,
Your lips
gently touching or apart.
Feel your whole body be at ease.
With hands resting on your thighs or lap,
The palms may be up,
Which is a receptive
position,
Or they may be down,
Which is more grounded.
Feel your stability,
Your muscles becoming heavy.
Breathing allows your body to teach your mind to be relaxed and open.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Take a deep,
Slow breath through your nose,
Pause,
Release slowly through your mouth.
Again,
Take a deep,
Slow breath in through your nose,
Pause,
Release slowly out through
your mouth.
Continue with that breathing pattern.
If your mind wanders,
Focus again on your breath.
Deep,
Slow breaths through your nose,
Pause,
Release slowly through your mouth.
Let your breathing resume its normal rhythm.
Become aware of your body.
If you are feeling tired,
Just let yourself be tired.
If you feel hot or cold,
If you're feeling the seat under you,
Sounds outside,
Don't
push anything away.
Just be with what is,
But keep coming back to what you are directly experiencing in this
moment.
If your mind takes you on a train of thought,
When you notice that,
Come back and experience
the floor under your feet,
The air on your cheek,
Or the presence of the room around
you.
Letting your mind not hold on to things,
But just be.
Thoughts arising,
Passing away,
Noticing which sensations present themselves to you.
Any sounds you hear,
The feeling in your leg,
A twitch in the muscle,
Maybe an agitation.
Perhaps it's a memory,
Or it's a judgment about yourself or something else.
Just notice it and be with it,
And let it stay or go as it chooses.
Whatever it is,
It comes and it goes.
Notice that what you were noticing as much as two minutes ago is already gone.
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations,
Memories,
Plans,
Crossing your awareness like clouds
passing across the sky,
Clinging to nothing,
Just being at rest with what is.
If there is agitation,
Just notice agitation.
Whatever state of mind,
Whatever feeling or thought or sensation,
Neither clinging
to it or pushing it away.
Just coexist with all of it,
Just be with it,
Just as it is.
Nowhere to go,
There's nothing to accomplish,
There's no expectation or goal,
Just this.
Just feel the awareness as a vast inner presence like the sky,
And all of the thoughts and
sensations and memories and plans and qualities of mind and judging.
It's coming from who knows where and goes who knows where.
Identify for a moment with the vast sky,
This vast presence within your being.
It hears everything and yet there is no effort,
It is not doing anything,
It's just being.
Perhaps it's time we acknowledge that within us,
It's just being.
As we come back to this room,
Shift your awareness to your body and breathe deeply.
Feeling your belly and your chest expanding and relaxing,
Relax the shoulders,
The hands,
The arms,
Relax the body.
Slowly start to move your body,
Feel your feet,
Move your toes,
Gently move your fingers,
Roll your neck,
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for your kind attention.
I wish you many blessings and inner peace as you proceed one day at a time.
