Resting In Presence - Living In The World

Welcome.

This meditation is an invitation.

An invitation to pause,

To put down the weight of overthinking and striving,

And to rest more deeply in your body and in the world.

Wherever you are right now,

You are welcome.

There is nothing to prepare.

There's no state of calmness you need to achieve before beginning.

You do not have to manage your mind or change the way you feel.

You are simply here and that is enough.

Take a moment to notice the support beneath you.

Perhaps you are sitting on a chair or lying on a bed or resting on a cushion.

Feel the surface that holds you.

Notice how it takes your weight without effort.

There is nothing you need to hold together right now.

You are supported.

You are safe to rest.

Let your shoulders drop a little.

Let your jaw soften.

Allow your hands to be heavy where they are resting.

Feel the natural pull of gravity inviting you to let go.

Now bring your attention to your breath.

There is no need to change it.

Your body already knows how to breathe.

Simply notice the inhale and the exhale.

The rise and the fall.

The gentle rhythm that has been with you since the moment you were born.

Notice that the breath asks nothing of you.

It simply flows.

As you arrive more fully you may begin to notice the activity of the mind.

Thought coming and going.

Stories playing out.

Commentary about the past or the future.

That is natural.

That is what minds do.

From the perspective of the three principles this is how all of our experience is created.

We feel our thinking in the moment.

Not our circumstances.

Not other people.

Not the future or the past.

Just thought appearing now.

Notice this for yourself.

If the mind is busy you may feel a certain heaviness in the body.

Perhaps tightness in the chest or a restlessness in the stomach.

If the mind is quieter you may feel lighter,

Softer,

More open.

Either way,

Nothing needs to be fixed.

Thought is simply movement.

It comes and goes.

Allow yourself to rest in that understanding.

You do not need to control or manage the mind.

You do not need to force thoughts to stop.

They are like clouds moving across the sky.

Temporary.

Ever-changing.

And certainly not who you are.

What you are is the awareness in which they appear.

The stillness beneath them.

The sky that holds them.

So for now,

Come back again to your body.

Notice your feet.

Feel them in contact with the ground or with the surface beneath you.

Notice the steadiness there.

Notice the support.

Bring awareness into your legs.

Feel the weight of them.

The simple presence of them.

No need to judge or explain or analyze.

Just notice.

Move your attention into your hands.

Perhaps you feel warmth or tingling or heat.

Or heaviness.

Notice their contact with the world.

The surface they're resting on.

The texture.

The temperature.

This is presence.

This is the world.

Notice your posture.

The placement of your body.

Any areas of ease.

Any areas of tension.

Allow it all to be just as it is.

You do not need to change anything.

Take a slow,

Gentle breath in.

And a soft,

Easy breath out.

Let the rhythm of your breathing anchor you here.

This breath.

This body.

This moment.

As you rest here,

Notice how thoughts may continue to appear.

Perhaps they pull at you.

Inviting you to follow their stories.

You don't need to push them away.

You don't need to chase them either.

Simply notice.

This is thought.

It's not reality.

It is not permanent.

It is passing movement.

See if you can feel the difference between being lost in thought and resting in presence.

When you are in your head,

Everything feels urgent,

Pressured,

Heavy.

When you are in the body,

In the world,

There is a steadiness.

A simplicity.

A sense that you can rest.

Notice this contrast for yourself.

Feel into it.

You don't need to do anything with it.

Just let the awareness itself guide you.

From a three principles perspective,

Peace is never something to chase.

It's not something we earn by thinking the right thoughts.

It's our natural state,

Revealed when thought quiets.

Even if only for a moment,

You may notice that peace here.

It has always been with you.

It has never left.

Take a few moments now to rest more deeply in embodied awareness.

Notice the breath.

Notice the body.

Notice the space around you.

Each time the mind pulls you back into its stories,

As it most definitely will,

Simply return here.

Return to the breath.

Return to the body.

Return to the world.

There is no need to strive.

There is no need to try hard.

Presence does not require effort.

It is what remains when effort drops away.

As you continue to rest,

Reflect gently on this truth.

You are not broken.

You never were.

Any sense of separation,

Of stress or fear is simply the result of busy thinking.

Thought makes it look as though peace is gone.

But beneath thought,

Peace is always here.

Imagine a snowglobe that has been shaken.

The flakes whirl round,

And it looks chaotic.

But when it is set down,

The movement naturally settles.

The water clears.

Your mind works in just the same way.

When you stop shaking it with effort and resistance,

It naturally finds its own calm.

Let yourself be that snowglobe now.

Rested.

Settling.

Clearing.

Notice the steadiness of the world around you.

Perhaps you can sense the chair beneath you.

The ground beneath your feet.

The air on your skin.

All of it steady.

All of it here in this moment.

You do not have to leave your body to find peace.

You do not have to climb into your head to work it out.

Peace is here.

In the body.

In the world.

Take a deeper breath now.

Inhaling fully.

Exhaling softly.

Notice how the body feels as you breathe.

Notice the gentle rhythm that never asks for effort.

Allow yourself to rest here for a little while.

If the mind wanders,

Return gently to the body.

Return to the breath.

Return to the presence.

You may begin to notice a spaciousness.

A quieting.

Not because you forced the mind to stop.

But because you remembered that thought is not reality.

It is simply passing movement.

And beneath it,

There is always stillness.

This is the stillness of your true nature.

This is the presence that was with you before thought appeared.

It is the presence that will remain long after thought passes.

Rest here.

Allow yourself to be held by this awareness.

This peace.

This truth.

From this place,

You may begin to see that living in the world feels very different from living in the head.

In the head,

Life is heavy and complex.

In the world,

Life is simple,

Grounded,

Clear.

Your body is always in the world.

Your breath is always in the world.

And you can return here at any time.

Take a few more gentle breaths.

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

Notice the rhythm.

Notice the ease.

Notice the quietness that grows when you stop trying to make things different.

As we come toward the close of this meditation,

Carry these reminders with you.

You are not broken.

You do not need to fix your thoughts.

Thought will always come and go.

But beneath it,

Peace,

Love and wisdom are your natural state.

Living from presence is not about striving.

It's about resting in what has always been true.

Take one more deep breath in.

And a slow,

Gentle breath out.

Feel the steadiness of the ground.

Feel the presence of your body.

Feel the simplicity of this moment.

When you are ready,

Begin to bring some small movements into your fingers and toes.

Perhaps stretch your arms.

Perhaps roll your shoulders.

And when it feels right,

Gently open your eyes.

And now notice the world around you.

The colors,

The shape,

The sounds.

All of this is the world.

And you are here living in it.

Remember,

You do not need to strive to stay in presence.

You can return again and again simply by noticing and by asking.

Am I in my head or in the world?

And each time you ask,

You are already closer to present.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for returning home.