So finding a posture that's comfortable and relaxed.
So sitting with your back straight,
Making any adjustments that would be helpful to you is to be sitting with your back straight.
Let your shoulders relax if you can.
And allow your hands to rest in your lap or on your knees or on your thighs,
Whatever's comfortable for you.
You might explore what feels comfortable in terms of a hand position for you.
And if you like,
You can gently let your eyes close and allow your attention to come inward.
If you prefer,
You can keep your eyes open and just maybe looking ahead of you a few feet.
Again,
What feels most peaceful,
Most comfortable to you.
Just feeling your body here on the cushion or on the chair.
Feel the weight of your body pressing down on your thighs,
On your buttocks,
On your sit bones.
And the contact of your body with the chair,
With the cushion.
Your feet with the floor.
Just if you can feel the sensations in the body from the inside.
There might be tingling,
Warmth,
Pressure,
Softness,
Or hardness.
Just notice what's present,
Coolness.
As we begin,
I just do some simple practices to help us to arrive as fully as we can.
One would be just to take a few longer,
Deeper breaths.
And then we can go to the next step.
And then we can just take a few deep breaths.
And then we can just take a few deep breaths.
And then we can just take a few deep breaths.
Longer,
Deeper breaths.
Just take a nice full,
Deep in-breath,
Filling the chest and filling the lungs.
Slight pause and then releasing,
Letting go on the out-breath.
Till all of the breath is released.
And then a nice full,
Deep in-breath,
As though you're inflating a balloon.
Oh.
Releasing,
Letting go on the out-breath.
Imagine you're breathing out any tension,
Any stresses,
Busyness.
Just letting it go.
You might invite in a quality of calm as you breathe in.
Say that word,
Calm,
Silently to yourself,
Peace.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Calming the body.
Breathing out,
Calming the mind.
There's a couple of seats over here in the corner.
And when you're ready,
Just let the breath settle into its natural rhythm.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And as you're aware of your breathing,
You might invite a smile to your face or a half smile to your face.
You can activate the muscles at the corners of your mouth and the corners of your eyes.
If it's helpful,
You could think of a dear friend or a loved one,
A partner,
A friend.
A partner,
A child,
A pet.
It's someone or some being that makes you feel happy or joyful.
Just let that smile come to you if that's possible for you.
See if you can bring that smile into your heart area.
And the smile sends a message to our brain and to our nervous system that we can relax and be at ease.
You can kind of let down the guard or our vigilance.
Just being here,
Feeling yourself in this space.
You might let the smile be the expression of how you feel.
You might let the smile be the expression of how you want to meet whatever it is that's coming up,
Whatever you're experiencing.
See if you can meet it with an expression and an attitude of a smile.
A smile,
Aware of and welcoming whatever is arising,
Whatever is appearing to you.
And just notice what's present for you in the body,
In the heart,
The emotions,
The mind.
See if you can meet whatever is here,
Whatever comes up with a kind and welcoming attitude.
You could note what you're experiencing and just meet what's here with an attitude of kind curiosity,
Compassionate curiosity.
You could name it.
There's tightness in the belly.
Just note that.
And meet it with kindness and with interest.
Or you notice your mind is being pulled to something going on in your life,
Maybe that you're concerned about.
And just notice that,
Too.
Notice the mind is active or worried.
And just breathe into that.
Note it.
Name it.
Let it come and go.
You might let your awareness be open and just noticing whatever it is that's coming up.
Hear a sound from outside.
Just notice how it comes and goes.
Or a memory comes up in the mind,
A thought.
And you feel happy with the memory,
Or you feel worried,
Concerned.
Just notice the feelings,
The thoughts.
Let them come.
Let them go.
See if you can find peace with whatever is present right now.
Whatever's arising.
In the words of Dorothy Hunt's poem,
Peace,
She says,
Peace is this moment without judgment.
Peace is this moment without judgment.
This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome.
This moment in the heart space where everything that is is welcome.
So you can just sit with this open awareness of whatever's coming,
Arising and passing.
Or if it's more helpful,
Particularly if the mind is kind of bopping around a lot,
Jumping around,
Lots of thoughts.
It can be helpful to have a focus just where we rest attention.
One of the most common focuses is our own breathing.
And you could just bring awareness to the breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Letting that be your anchor or your home base.
And just coming back when you notice the mind has moved,
Your attention has moved into thinking.
Just gently and kindly coming back,
Coming back to the body,
Coming back to the breath.
You're breathing,
And you're moving.
And as we finish this meditation,
You might just reflect on what you noticed,
What was predominant in your experience.
What were the main currents for you,
The main weather systems?
Was the mind very busy or was it calm and settled?
Were there strong emotions or challenging bodily feelings?
What's important is not so much what's here because it will change and different things will come up,
But how we meet what comes up.
Just cultivating this compassionate curiosity towards whatever is present,
Whatever's arising in the body and the heart and the mind.
We'll finish with this poem by Holly Hughes called Mind Wanting More.
Only a beige slat of sun above the horizon,
Like a shade pulled not quite down.
Otherwise clouds,
Sea rippled here and there,
Birds reluctant to fly.
The mind wants a shaft of sun to stir the grey porridge of clouds,
An osprey to stitch the sea to sky with its barred wings,
Some dramatic music,
A symphony,
Perhaps a Chinese gong.
But the mind always wants more than it has,
One more bright day of sun,
One more clear night in bed with the moon,
One more hour to get the words right,
One more chance for the heart in hiding to emerge from its thicket in dried grasses.
As if this quiet day with its tentative light weren't enough,
As if joy weren't strewn all around.
