Give yourself a chance to settle in.
You might need to wiggle or adjust or move around a bit so that you can find yourself a comfortable seated position.
Allow yourself to do whatever you need to do so that you can come to a place of stillness.
In a gentle reminder here that the intention of this meditation is not to feel any particular way.
So you're not trying to feel relaxed or blissful or anything else really.
You're giving yourself an opportunity to be with however you are.
Whatever is true and real and alive for you right now in this moment.
We give ourselves a chance to settle in and to hone our concentration a little bit by taking our attention directly to the sensation of the breath.
So that you're noticing the breath wherever you can feel it the most strongly in your body.
And holding your attention there like a single point of focus.
And again you're not trying to control the breath or change the breath in any particular way.
Just watching the breath and observing it as it is.
At any point if your mind wanders off.
It's totally natural for the mind to wander and begin thinking about what it's going to do next or what it's just done.
Drift off to some place in the past or some imagined future.
So when you notice that's happening,
That's the mind doing what the mind does and come back to the breath.
Now I'll invite you to take the thumb of your right hand and press it against your sternum.
The bone and the space just between your breasts on your chest so that the pad of your thumb is pressing down along this line of the sternum until you find a tender point.
And you'll know that you've found it because it will feel like touching a tender bruise.
It might be a really subtle sensation but you'll likely notice it as tenderness.
A little bit of an ache.
And when you find that spot,
Gently pressing your thumb,
Providing a little pressure there.
As if pushing this tender point could push your heart wide open.
You may experience a wave of emotion as you do this.
Perhaps some latent sadness or loneliness or anger.
Not trying to feel anything particular but giving space and room for whatever is there to be there.
And as you continue to press gently into this tender space,
Aware of your heart,
Your spiritual heart here,
As pure emptiness.
Emptiness that is pervaded by peace and a subtle light.
You don't have to go looking for light but you might notice that it appears in a particular shade.
And see your breath going in and out of this spacious spiritual heart.
And if you like,
Maybe relaxing your hand back to your lap and continuing to watch the breath go in and out of this open heart.
As you ask your heart what it needs to say.
What do you need to say?
And allow your heart to express itself without judgment or constraint.
Take the next minute or so to really listen to what the heart wants to say.
And here your heart will release emotions,
Memories,
Wishes,
Fears,
Perhaps dreams that have long been stored inside you.
And you'll notice yourself just paying attention.
Listen now to what your heart wants to say to you.
Honoring the truth of the heart.
Let it speak.
And as you do,
Perhaps you want to allow people in your life to appear before you.
Almost like a receiving line.
Just see someone show up in front of you.
Someone whom your heart wants to speak to.
Maybe this is someone with whom your words have been withheld.
With whom your anger has been stuffed down.
Maybe someone you've been keeping your sadness or your disappointment from.
Whoever shows up in front of you.
Trust that.
And let your heart say what it needs to say.
Perhaps your mother or a mother figure shows up before you.
Maybe your father or a father figure appears before you.
Or perhaps it's a sibling or a best friend.
An acquaintance or a co-worker.
Whoever shows up before you.
Let your heart speak.
Not what you need to say,
But what your heart needs to say.
What is it that your heart needs to express so that it can be free?
So that you can remove anything blocking the pure shining light of your true nature.
You feel that line is coming to an end and the expression of your heart is complete.
Then your work is done.
I invite you to sit in this space with your heart open until you feel you've given your heart a chance to say all that it needs to say.
And I'll close with this roomy quote.
Your task is not to seek for love,
But merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you've built against it.
Stay here letting your heart speak as long as you need.
And whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes and go on about your day.
Namaste.
