The following meditation is led by Tara Brach.
To access more of my meditations or join my email list please visit tarabrach.
Com.
This evening's meditation is a Vipassana meditation.
And Vipassana means to see reality as it is.
We'll start as we often do by bringing a relaxed and wakeful attention to the body.
And you might begin with a long deep breath,
A slow long deep in-breath,
Inhaling.
And a slow smooth out-breath,
Releasing and letting go.
And again,
Inhaling deeply filling the chest and the lungs.
And releasing the breath slowly,
Letting go,
Letting go.
And continuing with a long deep breath.
This time as you inhale you might sense that you're filling your face with awareness.
Breathing in.
And as you exhale sense that you can let go of any tightness or tension in the face.
And again,
Breathing in deeply,
Filling the face with awareness.
And with the exhale relaxing even the small muscles,
Releasing,
Letting go.
And in the same way continue the long deep breathing as you now breathe into the shoulders,
Filling the shoulders with awareness.
And with the out-breath,
Releasing,
Relaxing outward,
Letting go.
And again inhaling,
Filling the chest and the lungs and feeling the shoulders from the inside out.
And exhaling,
Releasing,
Relaxing,
Letting go.
One more time inhaling deeply and filling the shoulders with awareness.
And with the out-breath,
Relaxing outward,
Softening,
Loosening,
Letting go.
Continuing with this breath feeling the hands filling with awareness.
With the out-breath,
Softening,
Relaxing,
Letting go.
Again feeling the hands filling with awareness as the breath comes in.
And softening,
Relaxing with the out-breath.
Breathing in and out of the chest so that you feel the chest and the heart area filling with awareness.
Sensing the possibility of releasing,
Letting go with the out-breath.
Continuing with the attention in the area of the chest so you can feel the upper back.
And with the out-breath,
Letting go,
Letting go.
In a similar way as you breathe in,
Feel the belly filling with awareness.
And with the out-breath,
Loosening,
Relaxing,
Letting go.
Breathing in again and feeling the lower back,
The mid-back,
With awareness.
And with the out-breath,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Continuing with this long,
Deep breath,
Feeling the pelvic region fill with awareness.
And with the exhale,
Letting go.
Letting the attention fill the legs,
The feet,
So that you're breathing in and out,
Releasing tension,
Letting go with the out-breath.
And then feel the whole body all at once so that as you breathe in,
You're filled with awareness.
The spaces between the cells,
Awake.
And with the out-breath,
Releasing tightness and tension throughout the body.
Several full breaths like this with the whole body.
And now letting the breath resume in its natural rhythm.
Not doing anything but observing or witnessing the breath just as it is.
Feeling the breath.
This life-breath can be your anchor or home base as you continue to practice.
Not a controlling of the breath but a place to rest your attention.
A receptive presence with the breath as it comes in and as it goes out.
For some,
If the breath isn't an easy place or a pleasant place to pay attention,
You might instead for your home base or anchor let sensations be your portal to presence.
Perhaps the sensations in your hands or your feet.
Or perhaps you're paying attention to the sensations through the whole body.
Letting that be a home base.
And for others,
Perhaps your home base might be sounds.
Just listening to the changing sounds right now as they appear,
As they disappear.
Choose what place you'd like to have as your anchor,
As your home base.
Breath,
Sensations or sounds.
And let this be a place that you can steady your attention.
Resting your attention in your anchor.
A relaxed presence with the changing breath or sensations or sounds.
And each time you notice the attention has wandered,
Gently return back to your anchor.
You might mentally note thinking,
Thinking,
When you found yourself drifting.
And then relax back,
Present with the next in-breath or out-breath or with the sounds or sensations.
Let all other experiences you may notice other than your anchor,
Let them rise and fall like waves of the ocean around your anchor.
For the next few minutes we'll quiet and steady this way.
Simply being our home base and returning when we've drifted.
It's quite natural for the attention to go off into the future or the past.
If you notice that the mind is inside a thought-cloud,
Let this be a moment of gently opening up the attention again.
Perhaps noting,
Thinking,
Thinking.
And relaxing back,
Resting again with the inflow or outflow of the breath.
Or perhaps with the sensations in the body.
Or with sounds.
Noticing the difference between being inside the virtual reality of a thought and the immediacy of presence when you're in your senses.
Now having settled for a time on your anchor,
You can explore expanding mindfulness and including the stronger ways of experience that may be arising and calling your attention.
When strong sensations arise,
Pulling your attention away from the anchor,
Deliberately shift and open your attention to receive the new experience with mindfulness and kindness.
You can name it gently with a simple acknowledgement.
Perhaps tingling,
Tingling.
Or tightness,
Tightness.
Or heat,
Heat.
Twisting,
Twisting.
Or stabbing,
Stabbing.
And it's fine to breathe with what arises especially if it's difficult.
Stay with and experience the sensations as they change,
Perhaps get more intense,
And as they pass.
And when you're at ease with what's there,
Are there no longer calling your attention,
Then return again to the breath or perhaps to the sensations in your hands or wherever you're paying attention for your home base,
Sounds.
In a similar way,
When strong emotions call your attention,
Shift from your anchor to what's calling your attention.
What do you feel?
What does it feel like in your body?
Fear,
If it's fear,
Just to name it.
Fear,
Fear.
Or sadness,
Sadness.
Or anger,
Anger.
A light mental noting.
Bringing an interest and allowing attention.
See if you can say yes to whatever arises.
Acknowledging that it's here.
Making room for it.
And if it's difficult,
Intentionally offering kindness.
It's okay.
You might breathe with what arises.
Staying with it until it passes or you're at ease with it.
And then returning again to your anchor,
To your home base.
Again and again noticing where your attention is.
And if the mind is drifted to gently relax back,
Arriving in your anchor.
Or if something strong is calling the attention,
Some strong sensation or emotion,
Opening to that.
Remembering that judgment will take you away from presence.
And acceptance will carry you home.
Simply noticing what's here.
Noting it if that's helpful to you.
Letting it be.
Allowing it to come and go.
And if nothing strong is calling your attention,
To rest with the breath or sounds or the sensations you've identified as your home base.
Moment to moment to moment.
Aware of what's happening right in this moment with a steady attentive presence.
As you practice in this way,
Let yourself become the spacious and relaxed witness to the breath,
Our body sensations,
To the sounds,
Or to the rising and passing ways of experience that most call to you.
Let your heart be open,
Meeting whatever arises with loving awareness.
The poet Dorothy Hunter writes,
In this choiceless never-ending flow of life there's an infinite array of choices.
One alone brings happiness.
To love what is.
In these last few moments,
Letting go of all doings,
Not controlling anything,
Letting the simple intention be to open to whatever arises with a tender heart,
With clear seeing,
With a full presence.
