Tara Brach - Meditation: Body and Spirit

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

As we relax and awaken through our physical body, we discover the formless dimension of awareness or spirit that permeates all of life. This meditation includes a poem, "the spirit likes to dress up," from Mary Oliver.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. Take some moments to make yourself comfortable, finding that kind of a posture that is relaxed and also awake. We begin in a simple way of breathing together. So I invite you to take a nice, full, deep, in-breadth, filling the chest in the lungs, and a slow out-breath. And with that out-breath,

really sense a letting go. And again, a nice deep in-breath, and a slow, smooth-out breath, letting go, letting go. And again, breathing in fully, breathing in deeply, sensing with the out-breath now that you can soften down the length of your body, letting go. letting go, letting go, and allowing the breath to resume in its natural rhythm, sensing the possibility as the breath comes in of opening to receive, even in a cellular way, like a balloon filling up, opening to receive. And with the out breath, just that relaxing, the releasing, you might continue to feel, the breath and this receptivity and this releasing as you gently scan through the body now.

Beginning with the area of the brow, the eyes, softening your eyes, letting the brow be smooth, sensing with each out breath that you can release any tightness or tension that might be there. letting the jaw be relaxed, slight smile at the mouth, releasing any tightness or tension in the area of the mouth, letting all the little micro muscles and the face settle relax. You might feel the scalp and the skull. And with the out breath, releasing tightness, releasing tension, letting the shoulders fall away from the neck. and feeling the shoulders from the inside out, perhaps with the in-breath, feeling the sensations there, and with the out-breath letting go, relaxing, releasing. Let your hands rest in an easy, relaxed, effortless way.

Explore softening the hands and then softening again. And feeling the hands from the inside out. feeling the aliveness that's there, letting the breath be felt in the hands. Again, letting go with the out breath. You might sense an openness at the chest and feeling into the heart area so that as the breath comes in,

you can feel the aliveness and sensations there. And with the out breath, releasing any tightness or tension, you might be holding. Let the belly be soft, receiving the breath in a softening belly. Again, with the in-breath, contacting aliveness in the body. With the out-breath, releasing any tension or tightness you might be holding. Become aware of the upper back, breathing in, feeling the life that's there. And with the out-breath, releasing, releasing, tension, tightness. Aware of the mid-back.

Breathing in and sensing the experience of aliveness there. Breathing out, releasing tightness and tension. And now the lower back. Feeling the breath in the lower back, letting go of any tightness. So that now as you breathe in and out, you can feel the whole torso. So, breathing in, feeling the aliveness that fills you. Breathing out, releasing, relaxing, letting go. Coming aware now of the length and the volume and the weight of your legs, attending with

the breath. So you can feel the aliveness inside the legs, releasing with the out breath, any holdings, any tension, the feet from the inside out, the aliveness there. And now opening the attention wide to include the whole body, this energy body, this field of sensation, letting everything happen, not opposing anything. Feeling with the in-breath, the full aliveness, it's here, and with the out-breath, the space, the openness. sense how this field of aliveness is suffused with awareness with light with spirit awake and vibrant

relaxing and resting in this vibrant awake open presence you might let the movement of the breath be an anchor or home base when the mind drifts the way to come back again into presence into this mysterious, vital, awake presence. You can start fresh in any moment, this meditation and your life, letting your body be a portal back to presence, back to awareness. Just take a moment to feel the shoulders again, breathing in, and with the out breath, letting go again, relaxing. feeling the hands and softening, softening the belly,

and relaxing your heart, breathing with and opening to the whole field of sensation, sensing the aliveness that's here, the space that's here, and the light of awareness that shines through everything, relaxing back and being that awareness, opening moment to moment, to the changing flow of aliveness, it's here. Keep choosing to come back, to waken up from the thoughts and back to the body, the aliveness that's here, this inflow and outflow of the breath, this tingling and vibrating and aliveness of the body, and the light of awareness that shines through it. From the poet Mary

Oliver, the spirit likes to dress up like this. Ten things. fingers, ten toes, shoulders and all the rest. At night in the black branches, in the morning in the blue branches of the world. It could float, of course, but would rather plumb rough matter, airy and shapeless thing. It needs the metaphor of body. Lime and appetite, the oceanic fluids. it needs the body's world, instinct and imagination, and the dark hug of time, sweetness and and tangibility to be understood, to be more than pure light that burns where no one is. So it enters us in the morning, shines from root comfort like a stitch of lightning, and at night lights up the deep and wondrous drownings of the body like a star.