Thank you for joining me today.
Welcome,
Welcome.
So I've been reflecting on this idea of parenting especially as my children grow into their lives.
I have two sons.
My youngest is 20 and my oldest is 27 and in recent years watching them move through life has really become a part of my awakening.
I can see how over the years I carried an identity tied up in being a mother.
Another label,
You know,
That felt important.
Another story that has defined myself and recently my youngest son told me that he's moving to another state about 2,
000 plus miles away and my first reaction there was an immediate sense of expansion and gratitude and I thought what a gift this will be.
As I've gone deeper and deeper on this path there seems to be a presence of excitement to walk through the fires of life sort of in the backdrop of my mind because I know that many things will be burned away so to speak,
You know,
The attachments,
The stories,
The identities,
The labels allowing me to go deeper and I am all in for that and then the mind began to spin its small movie,
You know,
The worry,
The what if,
The sadness,
The stories about not being there I just sort of watched the Jodi character feel a thousand different ways.
Notice how life gives us these tender invitations.
People come,
They go,
Forms change and each change becomes a mirror for awakening.
Our children,
Our relationships,
Our roles,
These identities we seem to cling to they're not who we ultimately are but they're really useful teachers because they present opportunities to see the mind's stories and rest as the awareness in which those stories are appearing.
So let's begin there gently closing your eyes if you'd like letting your body find a comfortable position just soft enough to feel relaxed noticing the awareness in your breath just noticing as it is the inhalation,
The exhalation,
The small pause between just noticing and just letting the hands rest perhaps softening the jaw releasing the tongue from the roof of your mouth letting the shoulders drop away from the ears softening the belly allowing the breath to rest easily with each exhale allow yourself to soften and relax and slow down some more noticing the breath as the body is being breathed and now widen your awareness keep the breath in the background and open to the whole field of sensations,
The sounds contact points temperature and the subtle aliveness that is always present just bringing a gentle attention to the sense of being here right now simply noticing as thoughts arise just let them appear like weather in this field of awareness who is it that sees these thoughts?
Can you notice the sense of me that claims ownership of anything coming to the surface?
But who are you before any role or identity that you may be holding in your mind?
If a memory or image appears watch that image as a shape in awareness see how the image changes how feelings arise and pass the image and the feeling are just happening they're happening in awareness they do not define it so you're just resting resting as awareness itself allowing the simple knowingness to be your home thoughts and images and sensations can still come and go like clouds you don't have to stop the clouds just recognize the sky,
This vastness this spaciousness welcome whatever is here just let it be noticed you could speak silently to whatever is present like I see you you are welcome to be here and then you might just let go and you might ask again gently who is aware of this feeling?
What is aware of these thoughts?
And as we bring this session to a close gently moving the fingers and toes and when you're ready,
Open your eyes presence doesn't leave when the eyes open it's always here meeting whatever life brings because it's the ever-present space in which all of life appears thank you for resting here with me today namaste
