(gentle music)
- I'd like to have us do a meditation
where we are practicing that element of rest,
and just kind of finding a home in our actual experience.
And so very commonly when that's done,
as I'm sure many of you know,
we choose an object of awareness.
We rest our attention on it.
When our attention wanders,
we see if we can let go and come back,
like no judgment or blame,
just see if you can let go and come back.
And that home base, that central object
very commonly is something like the feeling of the breath,
the actual sensation of the breath.
It's always present for us.
It's available when we're then out, you know,
commuting or whatever as a place of return.
But it doesn't have to be the breath.
You know, maybe for physical reasons or emotional reasons
the breath is not serving as that kind of restful place,
and so we would then say, well, that's fine.
You know, it's not a secondary practice
to do something else.
Just choose something else.
Another sensation in your body, something like that
where you don't have to make it happen,
you know it's happening anyway.
Okay, so I'll guide it as though it were the breath,
and you can sit comfortably, close your eyes or not,
however you feel most at ease.
Sometimes we start just by listening to sound.
It can be the sound of my voice or other sounds.
See if the sounds can just wash through you.
Of course, we like certain sounds and we don't like others.
We don't have to chase after them to hold on or push away.
Just let them come, let them go.
Bring your attention to the feeling of your body sitting,
whatever sensations you discover.
Feel the earth supporting you.
Feel space touching you.
Bring your attention to your hands
and see if you can make the shift
from the more conventional level, like of fingers,
to the world of direct sensation,
picking up pulsing, throbbing, pressure,
whatever it might be.
You don't have to name these things, but feel them.
This is where we rest our attention.
And bring your attention to the feeling of your breath.
This is just the normal, natural breath.
You don't have to try to make it deeper or different.
Find the place where the breath
is strongest for you or clearest for you.
Maybe that's the nostrils, or the chest, or the abdomen.
Find that place, bring your attention there, and just rest.
See if you can feel one breath
without concern for what's already gone by,
without leaning forward for even the very next breath.
Just this one.
And if you like, you can use a quiet mental notation
like in-out or rising-falling
to help support the awareness of the breath, but very quiet.
See, your attention's really going to feeling the breath.
One breath at a time.
When I was first practicing meditation,
I was so kind of frightened and hypervigilant
that I couldn't just be with this one breath.
As soon as this breath began,
I was sort of mentally leaning forward for the next 50.
So I used to say to myself,
settle back, let the breath come to you.
I'd also say, you're breathing anyway,
all you need to do is feel it.
'Cause it's own performance anxiety.
It's like, I'd never done it before.
Settle back.
Let the breath come to you.
You're breathing anyway.
All you need to do is feel it.
And as images, or sounds, or sensations,
or emotions might arise, if they're not very strong,
if you can stay connected to the feeling of the breath,
just let them flow on by your breathing.
It's just one breath.
If something comes by and it is very strong,
you get lost in thought, wrapped up in a fantasy,
or you fall asleep, truly, don't worry about it.
We say the most important moments in the whole process
is the next moment after you've been gone,
after you've been lost,
where you have the chance to let go, gently,
and begin again by bringing your attention back
to the feeling of the breath.
So we let go, we begin again.
However many times you have to do that, that's fine.
There's nothing to fight,
and right now there's nothing else to figure out.
You can just feel that quality of rest
on the sensations of the breath.
They're happening anyway,
nothing to shift, nothing to manufacture.
And when you feel ready, you can open your eyes,
or lift your gaze and mind the meditation.