Welcome to a meditation for cultivating peace.
This is an essential practice for these times.
I was reflecting recently on how we're being reminded constantly not only by you know the legacy media organizations during this time but also by our friends on social media,
Our friends and family,
Our relationships.
We're being reminded of how polarizing these times are.
Whether it's consciously or not,
You know,
Or the intent is to,
You know,
Othering to say I'm this,
You're that,
I'm right,
You're wrong.
Now this isn't new,
You know,
Even the times of Jesus,
The times of the Buddha,
We look at yoga,
All of these wonderful spiritual wisdom traditions,
We see that these pairs of opposites have been a challenge for us throughout time and perhaps that's just part of this realm that we live in.
These pairs of opposites,
Night and day,
Right and wrong,
Up and down,
Left and right,
Yes and no.
And then we hear,
You know,
In yoga about Kundalini or the Buddha saying the middle path or some of the inspiring teachings from Jesus about turning the left cheek or loving and praying for those who persecute you,
All of this wisdom is speaking to being able to hold pain and pleasure at the same time because we're going to experience pain and pleasure,
It's inevitable,
It's a part of life.
And the polarizing part,
What makes this so uncomfortable,
Is that in our reactivity,
Right,
And it's almost like a natural subconscious,
Impulsive self-indulgent reaction when something affects our peace to snap at it,
To other it,
Because it's hard in the moment,
You know,
To hold the discomfort.
So what can we do about that and what does that have to do with meditation just before we get into the practice?
Well,
It is in the pause,
In the space between that we were able to hold the pain and pleasure at the same time.
And it's by entering into that space where we're able to hold or even,
I like pause,
It's in that pause that we will have the capacity to choose compassion,
To choose love beyond logic,
To choose mercy.
And it's in choosing that in our day-to-day moments that we will be an instrument of peace,
For peace,
During these times.
So I want to invite you to join me in this meditation here on the wonderful Insight Timer.
To join me in this meditation that is going to provide us with a unique opportunity to be in the space,
To soften our need to be right,
To invite an open mind and an open heart so that we can be in the space where mercy can take place.
So wherever you are,
Make your back straight.
Whether you're in a chair or on the ground,
Wherever you are,
You can lean against the wall,
Lean against your bed,
Do your thing.
But let's get that cosmic antenna extended and let's slightly tuck the chin in a little bit.
Just kind of tilt the head down a little bit.
Your eyes can be closed or slightly open.
Just place your hands wherever is comfortable for you on the knees or in your lap.
And all I want to do to encourage being in the space to start is notice that you're breathing.
Notice that there is breath in your nostrils.
And then as you're noticing that there's breath in your nostrils,
I want you to notice are there any areas in your body that aren't,
That just not feeling comfortable.
Maybe a little tweaky in your back or your hips or your SI joint or shoulder,
You know,
Your fingers feel a little tense.
And as you notice these points of tension,
Maybe you have pain,
Maybe you have an injury,
Maybe there's something,
Something's really bothering you.
This could be mentally too.
I mean any tension,
Discomfort,
Pain in your body,
Just scan it,
Notice it,
Take some inventory.
Now all I want you to do about a minute is see if you can meet that discomfort with some kind of ease.
Could be a prayer,
Could be a conscious physical relaxation.
And maybe,
Maybe it's just you're just noticing it and that's all you got today.
Wonderful.
Just see,
You know,
You,
You are an incredible being.
You have a wonderful capacity to heal.
You have the wisdom of the Mother Earth in you,
An inner knower that knows what's best for you.
The challenge is,
Is that we forget how to listen.
And all you're practicing right now is listening.
Listening to your body,
Learning to hold discomfort and ease at the same time.
And now just go back to the breath in your nostrils.
Just be as you are.
Be here now as Ram Dass said.
Now I want to,
I want you to think about some aspect of your life.
And you can do this meditation regularly and pick different things.
But for now,
Now that we've entered into the space,
I want you to think about some aspect of your life that's a little bit tense.
Relationship,
Financial situation,
Some kind of uncertainty,
Something on a personal level.
I want you to bring that into your mind and notice where you feel that tension in your body.
Maybe you feel it in your back or in your stomach or in your throat or in your neck,
Your fingers,
Toes.
Where do you feel it?
Now what can you do so that you can hold that discomfort with some ease?
Maybe you say a prayer.
Maybe you relax that part of the body.
Maybe bless someone or offer forgiveness.
What can you do in this moment to hold in this space the discomfort and then bring some mercy,
Some forgiveness to it?
Now I want you to think about something in the world that is occupying a lot of your mental,
Emotional bandwidth,
Physical even.
Maybe,
You know,
The situation in Ukraine or with Russia or maybe the situation in your country or the politics of your country.
And if you're listening this meditation and you're thinking,
Wow,
There's a lot of,
There's a lot going on for him.
You know,
You're being pulled out of the experience because you may hear the dogs or the birds or the.
.
.
Just imagine that you're here with me on this rooftop in San Pancho and Mexico and Nayarit and we're meditating together because we want to take this practice off our mat and into the world.
You know,
It's nice to pop on those noise cancelling headphones and block it all out but we want to get into it,
Man.
We want to really bring these practices out into the space.
So just making that offering here.
So I want you to think about some conflict in the world.
Some point of tension.
Remember,
You can do this every day or go back to it as often as you need.
And I want you to notice where you feel it in your body.
Give me your forehead,
Could be your chest,
Could be the same,
Could be different as what you did on a personal level.
But now on an interpersonal level,
I want you to notice where that shows up in the wisdom of your body.
And now bring some ease,
Some prayerfulness,
Some pureness of heart,
Some merciful forgiveness practice.
Say a prayer,
Relax this region,
Whatever you need to do,
Bring some medicine to this ailment to the best of your ability.
Say a prayer for the people connected to it.
Say a prayer for people who are,
You know,
Father forgive them for they know not what they do,
People who are because of their pain or inflicting pain on others,
Whatever it might be.
Now,
What I want to invite you to do when you leave this meditation practice is to notice when you come up against something that,
You know,
And you can notice when you miss the mark,
Like if you react or you get angry or you,
You know,
Lose your cool.
That's a lesson too,
And it's a great lesson.
So it's not avoid that.
Learn from it.
Create a new relationship to it.
But I also want to invite you to start to notice when you're feeling off,
Angry,
Depressed,
Anxious,
Tempted to participate in some addictive behavior.
Where does it show up in your body?
You've had an argument.
Where does it show up in your body?
Can you breathe through it?
And can you bring some sense of ease,
Prayerfulness,
Mercy,
And forgiveness to it?
And your commitment to doing so,
To creating that space,
To being in that space between the reactivity,
That's where yoga happens,
Right?
Yoga is oneness with God.
Recognizing that the other person is you,
That's yoga.
That's why we meditate,
Right?
To be in that space and in that space,
Mercy can happen.
Peace can be cultivated.
And we can create real change and be peacemakers in this world.
Thanks so much for joining in this practice.
I hope you love the practice.
If you loved it,
Please leave a five-star review and keep meditating with me on Insight.
Lots of love.
Bless you.
