Tara Brach - Meditation: A Witnessing, Kind Presence

Episode Date: September 12, 2024

Starting with scanning through the body and awakening the senses, we then rest in presence, with the breath as a home base. The meditation invites an openness to whatever arises, and a gentle kind attention if we encounter physical or emotional pain. We end with a prayer that includes our own being and all beings.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. Sitting with a very simple reflection on intention, you might ask your own heart, you know, what is my deepest longing? What's my real intention for practicing, for meditation, for being here,

listening inwardly to what feels most sincere in you, right now. Sincerity is a sign that you're more at home and your intention. What matters? Awakening often starts with being awake and present in our bodies. We'll scan down the body with awareness, mindfully waking up as we go. You might begin with the area of the brow, just softening the eyes. perhaps imagining a smile spreading through the eyes, let the brow be smooth.

You might sense that same smile, a slight smile at the mouth, let the inside of the mouth smile, relaxing the tongue right down to the root of the tongue, letting the tongue just spread through the lower jaw. feel the inside of the mouth awake, the gums, teeth, tongue. Is there aware of sensation, space inside the mouth, allowing the shoulders to relax back and down some? And sense the awareness filling the shoulders. You might imagine a kind of dissolving from ice to water, a melting inside the shoulders. Ice to water, and then water to vapor. See if you can sense the tingling and vibrating and aliveness inside the shoulders,

letting go. Let the hands rest in an easy and effortless way when the legs are touching each other. And soften the hands. See if you can consciously soften and then feel from the inside out as you're softening, the aliveness that's it. here. Just as a cup can be filled with water, this whole body can be filled with awareness,

liveliness and awareness. Let the chest be open and feel the region of the heart. See if you can feel from the inside out the heart, whether there's a sense of tightness or flow, tenderness, numbness, pressure, vibration, heat or cool, just let it happen. See, if you can sense the aliveness and space inside the region of the heart, loosening and relaxing down the torso, letting this next breath be received in a softening belly. This breath, now this one, and again, softening the belly, feeling. the breath deep in the torso and still with a slight smile at the mouth and still with

the hands saw. Feeling the belly from the inside out, the aliveness of sensation, feeling and imagining the space that sensation arises from the space inside the belly, letting the awareness fill the pelvic region, and again sensing the space and aliveness it's there. there, this whole dance of sensation, feeling the length and the volume of the legs, and feeling the feet from the inside out, the tingling and vibrating there, sensing your aliveness rooting deep, deep into the earth and the earth below and around you, this whole field of energy flowing through your body, through your feet, up your legs, filling your trunk through the head,

filling you, so that if you widen your attention, you can feel your body as a whole field of sensation, merging with the universe around you, tingling, vibrating, heat, cool, let everything happen, not resisting anything, including in this dancing field, sounds come and go, letting sounds washed through you, listening to and feeling the whole moment in the foreground, continuing to sense this dance of sound and sensation feelings. And in the background, that alert inner stillness, that timeless presence, it's always here, just relax back, being that presence, witnessing, feeling, listening to the change in life. In not too long you might notice the attention drifts. It's quite natural.

So if it's helpful, you can gently shepherd the attention back by resting the inflow and outflow of the breath. It's a way to kind of anchor or stabilize the attention a bit, relaxing with the breath, still aware of the sounds and sensations, the aliveness that's here. in the background of this quality of presence, of pureness, that wakeful openness, moment to moment that's aware. And if something arises that's difficult, some fear, some physical pain, then let the presence be a caring, kind presence. Just bring that added sense of gentleness to contact what's going on, a soft presence.

Just notice how it is, notice how it changes. Breathe with what's going on. You're a loving witness, connected and yet big enough to be with what's here. And if nothing strong is calling the attention to rest, again, with the inflow and outflow of the breath, simply open to the changing flow of life, moment to moment. You might see if it's possible to relax or let go to. just a little bit more right now. See if there's anywhere in your body that is ready to soften. Relax your heart, gently resting with the movement of the breath, the senses awake,

aware of this background of presence, of pureness that's really our home. We close in a simple way bringing that loving, witnessing presence, to our own heart. Just sense whatever our own heart needs right now, offering with care, some blessing or message, whatever's needed to our own human heart. And sensing from this loving, witnessing presence, our larger community, the community of all beings, just sensing what most feels natural to offer as your prayer of care to our world. world.