Tara Brach - Meditation: A Present Heart (2020-01-06)

Episode Date: January 8, 2021

Meditation: A Present Heart (2020-01-06) - One translation of mindfulness, in Chinese, is "present heart." In this guided meditation we begin by awakening through the body and the senses, and then open the attention to the changing flow of experience. The intention is to meet whatever arises with a wakeful and kind presence.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. One of my favorite translations of the word mindfulness is the Chinese translation, which is present heart. And so we're going to have a meditation that awakens a present heart, that courageous awake heart that can really be here for our life. Wherever you are in whatever position suits you and serves you right now, you might let your attention go inward and find your way of feeling a sense of safety and groundedness

and connection right here. Just feel your body on the earth, sense the space around you that can really hold this life. You might even feel the beings in your life that give you. a sense of support. And as you deepen your attention right now, you might find your breath and sense your body breathing and intentionally lengthen the breath now. So you're taking a nice, long, deep in-breath, and then a slow-out breath, slow enough so you can feel the sensations as you release the breath. Good. And another nice, long, deep in breath, slow-out breath. releasing and sense of letting go with the out breath. Letting go, letting go.

And again, a nice full deep in breath and a slow, smooth out breath. Letting go. Letting go. And then as the breath comes back into its natural rhythm, notice the quality of presence that's grown just in a few moments, that you're a little more more here. And you can deepen that presence as you gently scan through the body, waking up through the body, relaxing through the body, and invite you to begin by simply feeling the area around your eyes. And you might see if there can be a softening around the eyes. The more we're thinking, the more of those little micro-muscles tighten. So just to soften a little. You might feel the mouth unhinging the jaw, perhaps having a slight smile at the lips.

Let the tongue fill the lower palate, let it spread out and fill the lower palate. See if you can relax right down to the root of the tongue. And then receiving the sensations through the mouth, letting your features be soft, spreading through the face, the scalp and the skull. You might imagine and feel the throat filling the neck, feeling the aliveness in the throat. And then letting the shoulders gently fall away from the neck, and the awareness fill the shoulders. And sense whatever letting go is possible,

whatever dissolving or releasing through the shoulders can happen naturally. Let your hands rest in a very easy way and effortless way. And now softening your hands and softening again and feeling the aliveness from the inside out. Noticing how the more you relax, the more you can feel, letting there be an openness to the chest. You might smile into the area of the heart, visualizing and having the felt sense of a smile spread through the heart. not to cover over but to create the space, this present heart space that can include what's right here and letting that present heart space spread out so that you can scan down and feel the belly soften, letting this next breath be received in a softening belly, this breath.

And now again and again, sensing the space that can receive the aliveness through the whole belly, receiving sensation in the pelvic region, but relaxing and feeling, relaxing and feeling what's here. Aware of the legs, the length, the volume, the weight. And feel your feet, perhaps softening and then feeling from the inside out. the sensations, the tingling, vibrating there, and widening the attention now. So you can feel simultaneously this whole energy body as a field of sensation, relaxing with what's arising, not opposing anything, sensing how this life lives through you.

You might include sounds so you're listening to and feeling the whole moment. And for some it might help to sense the breath in the foreground to maintain a steady sense of the presence that's right here. In the quietness for these next few minutes, to notice when the mind's drifted, coming back again and again to this presence. And if anything strong arises, pleasant or unpleasant sensations or feelings, to sense that you can include them, in this present heart space that you can say yes to what arises. They can meet it with a kind attention. When you notice you've been lost in thought, the pathway back to a present heart is one of gentleness, of relaxing back open the attention, to notice the sounds that are right here, listening, perhaps letting go again a bit through the body. You might see what wants to let go,

relaxing, feeling the heart, and breathing with whatever's right here. And if there's any reactivity, it's so helpful just to say, well, what's happening inside me right now? And can I meet this with kindness, with a present heart? As a way of closing, please bring your attention. to your heart and feel the breath coming in and out of your heart. And since whatever wish or prayer most resonates to offer to this human heart, just feeling your own awakened heart offering care inwardly with some prayer. And if it deepens it to bring your hand to touch lightly to your heart, please do so. a prayer of care inward.

And then feeling how this present heart really is edgeless, boundless. It includes all of us, all of us here, all of us, beings throughout the earth and beyond. Just feel in this moment what your prayer is for all beings everywhere.