Hi and welcome to your meditation practice.
Welcome to the practice of self-inquiry.
A practice where we get to sit with the self,
Arrive in presence and inquire within,
Presenting questions and reflections that allow us to explore our inner terrains.
Questions and reflections that allow us to investigate what's really there,
Underneath the most obvious and superficial.
So as you settle into a comfortable seat,
Allow your attention to turn towards the breath.
Notice the arising of every inhale and the emptying downward movement of every breath out.
Let the rhythm of your breath become the most important thing you have ever known.
The coming and going,
The breathing in and breathing out,
The sweet dance of fullness and emptiness meeting,
Becoming only to unbecome.
Let yourself begin to turn towards anywhere within you that feels a little bit uncomfortable right now.
Whether a physical sensation,
Attention,
A visceral sense of discomfort or maybe an emotional background or a persistent thought,
A narrative that has been playing out,
Grasping at your attention,
Pulling you away from the here and now.
Can you be here in the space of your body,
Aware of the rhythm of your breath and its coming and going,
While at the same time ever so slightly and gently turning towards the discomfort.
Not wishing it to be otherwise,
Not judging it,
Not pushing it away,
Simply witnessing that it's there,
Allowing it to be there.
And in the space of self-inquiry,
Asking it,
What do you need?
What would it be like to open to it?
To open to love?
To let love all the way in so that it can meet this place of contraction within you?
What happens when you present an inquiry?
What am I avoiding in myself?
What's the first thing that comes when you ask?
Allow your breath to meet any tenderness,
Any sensitivity that may be presenting itself.
No matter what thoughts or emotions or sensations,
You can see them as guests,
Guests in your experience,
Guests of your awareness.
They don't want to be told that they have to be fixed or healed.
They just want to be welcomed,
Allowed to be as they are,
Perhaps held by you and the loving embrace of your awareness.
And what would it be like instead of avoiding to turn towards that very thing that's so challenging to meet?
What if the very act of turning towards is what carries the healing,
The integration,
The deep peace?
So no matter where you are in the space of your meditation,
Allow your whole body to know that in this arena everything is allowed,
That each practice can feel completely different and so there is no right or wrong.
Here you are sitting and breathing and maybe it feels so peaceful or maybe you're so incredibly distracted.
Can we see both just as holy,
Just as sacred?
Yes.
So what kind of love do you most long for?
How would you like to be seen by others?
What would that give you?
What is scary about opening to love and letting it all the way in?
Notice what's happening now with any places that may have held this comfort.
Is it still there?
Is it transmuted into something other?
Can you give gratitude to every uncomfortable moment,
Every unsavory twitch and staring within you?
Thank you for showing me that I have a choice in how I show up and how I respond and how much I let love in.
So bathe that sensation,
That emotion,
That thought with your presence,
With your compassion,
With your welcoming.
We don't have to love everything that arises right away,
Sometimes it's impossible to genuinely feel that way,
But it is enough to say welcome.
The fight against what's already here is completely optional.
So tell me how would it be to open to love and let it all the way in?
Take a big breath in through the nose,
Exhale out through the mouth.
Before you open your eyes,
Rub your palms together really strongly to create some heat,
And then cover your eyelids with the warmth,
The familiarity of your own touch.
When you feel ready,
Separate your fingertips,
Let the light in,
Maybe bow towards your heart space.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
Namaste.
