Welcoming The Present Moment With Rumi

So settling in,

Maybe there's a sense of being able to rest back,

To rest back and sink into your own skin.

Feeling yourself here,

Feeling your body resting on the chair,

The ground,

Your cushion.

Feeling the support and feeling the ease.

And then I wonder if you can come into the dignity of sitting,

Of sitting tall,

Taking up your space.

Feel the spine grow tall,

Feel the shoulders relax down.

Feel the heart open,

The chest buoyant,

Feel the belly full and soft.

And maybe with the in-breath you can connect with that spaciousness,

That dignity.

And maybe with the exhale you can connect with softening,

With ease.

With the in-breath maybe there's spaciousness,

With the out-breath softening.

And for this practice we're going to play or flow a little bit with the words of Rumi from his poem,

The Guest House.

So I'll read the poem now and we'll see how it could help us flow into our meditation practice just now.

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival,

A joy,

A depression,

A meanness.

Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all,

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.

Still,

Treat each guest honourably.

That guest may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought,

The shame,

The malice.

Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

So perhaps with the spirit of this poem we could feel what's here.

Maybe with the in-breath we could ask,

What is alive right now?

And with the out-breath,

Rest with that.

With the in-breath asking yourself,

What is alive right now?

With the out-breath sinking into that.

So with the in-breath,

What is alive just now?

And with the out-breath,

Can you let it be?

And as best you can when you ask this question of yourself,

Can you let the question illuminate your inner life for you?

And can you let that illumination be enough?

You don't need to analyse,

Explain,

Justify anything.

All we're here to do is ask the question,

Let the heart,

Mind,

Body answer.

Answering in a new way,

From someplace deeper than the mind.

With the in-breath,

What is alive for me right now?

With the out-breath,

Can I let it be?

And then let's bring our awareness to the mind.

We'll spend a little bit of time tuning into the mind,

Feeling what's here,

Welcoming what's here.

So with the in-breath drawing your awareness,

Your breath to the mind,

With the question,

Where is my mind right now?

And with the out-breath,

Can I let the mind be?

With the in-breath,

How is the energy of the mind just now?

With the out-breath,

Letting it be.

Where is the mind?

Is there a story,

An idea,

An analysis,

Some describing?

The out-breath,

Just letting it be,

Letting it go.

With the in-breath,

How is the mind?

With the out-breath,

Can you let the mind be?

I was wondering if the question could illuminate the answer for you in a non-word way.

How is the mind letting it be?

And I wonder if the answer could be revealed in the way that a flash of lightning in the dark reveals the landscape.

With the in-breath,

How is my mind?

With the out-breath,

Letting the mind be.

And then let's let our awareness drift down to the heart,

Once again with the in-breath,

How is my heart?

And with the out-breath,

Can I let it be?

Breathing in,

Feeling the heart,

With the question,

How is my mood?

And with the out-breath,

Resting with what is.

Breathing in,

Can I feel my heart?

Breathing out,

Can I let my heart be?

Maybe the in-breath touches the heart as you draw the breath into the heart with the question,

What is alive in my mood just now?

And with the out-breath,

Can I let it be?

What is present with the in-breath?

Can I rest with that?

The in-breath tuning in to how you feel,

To what's in the heart,

And the out-breath just resting right there,

Letting it be.

Again,

No need to analyse,

Describe,

Explain or make sense of anything.

Can feeling be enough?

And then perhaps we could let awareness suffuse the whole body,

Feeling your whole self sitting here,

Resting.

Breathing in,

What's alive in the body,

Breathing out,

Resting into your body.

Breathing in,

Where do you feel most alive?

Breathing out,

Letting yourself be.

Breathing in,

Where is it a little cloudy or foggy?

What is less obvious,

Less easy to feel or find?

And breathing out,

Just resting there in those quiet,

Shy spaces.

Breathing in,

Feeling the body,

Breathing out,

Letting the body rest.

With the in-breath feeling what's alive,

With the out-breath,

Nothing to do.

Breathing in,

What's alive in the body for you just now,

Can you feel and rest with that?

And perhaps now we could come back to that sense of resting back into our own beingness,

Resting back into our own skin.

And here we are,

Sitting here on the earth with heart-mind-body.

And as we rest back,

Perhaps our perspective could open.

Perhaps we could take in the span of what's going on in the mind,

The mood,

The body.

And maybe with the in-breath we can play with what we notice right now,

And with the out-breath letting it be.

What is alive right now?

Letting it be.

With the in-breath noticing,

With the out-breath resting.

Noticing feeling,

Resting being.

And then maybe we can deepen into the sense of being this guesthouse,

Of being this wonderful host who stands at the door laughing,

Inviting in whatever,

Whoever arrives.

Perhaps with the inhale we feel what's here,

Say yes to it.

And perhaps with the out-breath there's a hint of a smile,

Smiling at what is.

Smiling a yes.

Breathing out a smile.

Open receptive,

Receiving whatever washes in with the present moment with a yes.

And with your out-breath a smile.

With the in-breath present moment,

Yes.

With the out-breath,

Just now,

Smiling at it.

Breathing in what do you feel?

Can you say yes?

Breathing out can you rest there and smile?

Breathing in what is alive?

Heart,

Mind,

Body,

Yes.

Breathing out,

Smiling,

Resting,

Letting be.

Resting back.

Open receptive,

Yes,

With the in-breath.

As you feel what's alive.

With the out-breath smiling at whatever you find.

The dark thought,

The shame,

The malice.

All welcome here.

Just noticing if there's any resistance in the fingers,

Any tension in the fingers.

Just noticing if there's any resistance in the forehead or the temples.

Let the forehead and the temples soften and relax.

Just noticing if there's any resistance in the jaw or the tongue.

Let the bottom jaw fall away from the top jaw.

Let the tongue relax.

Maybe the corners of the mouth turn up a little and smile.

With the in-breath,

Yes.

With the out-breath,

Smile.

Present moment washing in,

Yes,

Receiving.

Present moment washing out.

Understanding what's here,

Letting it be.

Noticing receiving,

Letting it be.

If you have a big no,

A lot of resistance,

Maybe you can let that be even.

With the in-breath,

A yes.

With the out-breath,

A smile.

This being human is a guesthouse.

Every morning,

A new arrival.

A joy,

A depression,

A meanness.

Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all,

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.

Still treat each guest honourably.

That guest may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought,

The shame,

The malice.

Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from the beyond.

With the in-breath,

Grateful for what's here.

With the out-breath resting here with what is.

With the in-breath greeting whatever is here.

With the out-breath letting whatever guest is visiting be here with you.

Meet them at the door laughing,

Invite them in.

What is happening right now?

Can you say yes?

What is here right now?

Can you say thank you?

Breathing in,

Yes.

Breathing out,

Thank you.

Breathing in,

Yes.

Breathing out,

Thank you.

Present moment washing in,

Yes.

Present moment washing out,

Thank you.

Welcome and entertain them all.

Breathing in,

Yes.

Breathing out,

Smiling your thank you.

Treat each guest honorably.

That guest may be clearing you out for some new delight.

With the in-breath meeting them at the door laughing.

With the out-breath sitting down at the table with whatever you find resting at ease.

Breathing in,

Meeting what's here at the door,

Breathing out resting with what is.

Breathing in,

What is alive for you just now?

Breathing out,

Letting it be.

Breathing in,

Yes.

Breathing out,

Thank you.

Thank you so much for joining me on this guided meditation inspired by Rumi.

I will leave you now.

Thank you.