Welcome to this calm your mind,
Open your heart meditation.
I'm Victoria and today we'll be reading a short excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh's book How to Relax.
It's entitled,
Our Peace is What is Most Precious.
Awakening is something that happens today,
Not in 10 or 20 years.
Insights can come continuously to give us the understanding we need to untangle ourselves from attachments.
When our mind is entangled with anger,
Jealousy,
Or sadness,
We can be in that state hour after hour,
Day after day.
It's a pity because meanwhile life is wondrous.
If we only concentrate on breathing in and seeing that our body is a wonder,
We can see that nothing else is really important.
It's only the peace in our body and in our mind that matters.
Anyone can attain this insight.
While we sit,
We can be with our breathing,
We can let go of tensions,
And we can have peace.
This peace is the most precious thing there is,
More precious than any pursuit.
I invite you now to just bring your awareness to your breath,
Noticing the in-breath,
The short pause,
And the out-breath.
Being aware of the sensation of your body filling up with air and gently releasing the air.
Seeing your attention at the base of your nostrils,
Noticing your breath as it comes in is cool,
But as you exhale,
It is warm.
Feeling gratitude to your body for the wonder that is breath.
Noticing the rise and the fall of your chest,
Seeing how each breath is different from the breath before.
Bringing kindness into your body with each inhale and out into the world with each exhale.
Bring your attention down into your abdomen,
Breathing in slowly through your nose,
Filling up your whole abdomen,
And gently releasing.
Having love to every cell of your being with each breath that you take.
Feeling that your body is such a wonder,
Allowing yourself to sit in this calm,
Peaceful state of awareness in body and mind.
Breathing back into your body now,
Letting your senses awaken with the sound of the bell,
Noticing the sound until you can no longer hear it.
Have a wonderful day.
