Tara Brach - Meditation: Breath and Presence (2016-10-12)

Episode Date: October 13, 2016

Meditation: Breath and Presence (2016-10-12) - For many, relaxing and attending to the movement of the breath provides a powerful anchor for presence. This guided meditation guides us in establishing the breath as a homebase, and then invites a clear and receptive attention to the changing waves of experience. This attention naturally unfolds into a full, tender, inclusive presence. Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With gratitude and love, Tara

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. In the stillness, you might sense, as you scan through the body, what might want to relax a little more, what part of your body might want to let go. Just see if you bring the awareness to where there's tightness or tension. if that naturally invites a loosening, a softening.

Most of us collect a lot of tension in the shoulders, so you might let this shoulders be filled with awareness. Just feel that from the inside out and see if there's a natural dissolving, sometimes just imagining ice to water and then water to gas, inviting a letting go. You can very consciously soften,

the hands, softening them, and just to feel from the inside out the aliveness that's there when there's a little relaxing, the tingling, the vibrating. Let there be an openness to the chest and relaxing the area of the heart, opening to the feelings, sensations, energy that's there. In my sense, if you can soften the belly some, perhaps letting this next breath be received in a softening belly. This breath, and now this one, and again. I might open the attention wide and sense this whole body

as a field of sensation. Just let everything happen, tingling and vibrating, flow or tightness, heat or cool, pleasantness, unpleasantness, in the midst of these sensations, sensing the sensations of the breath, the sensations of the inflow and of the outflow. You might be aware of the breath at the nostrils, or perhaps the rising falling at the chest,

the expanding, settling at the belly, or perhaps the whole body breathing, opening with the in-breath, expanding, settling with the out-breath. Even in a cellular way, sense the possibility of relaxing with the breath, that as this breath comes in, you relax open to receive. And as the breath goes out,

there's a releasing, a letting go into the universe around you, opening and letting go. It's the nature of mind to drift, to go off into thoughts. And it's also our capacity and notice when we've drifted. So when the noticing happens, when you wake up and notice thinking, you might gently just name what's happening,

oh, thinking, thinking, and pause so that you can re-relax whenever there's thoughts, there's subtle contraction in the mind and in the body. So when you notice thinking, Just pause and relax. Perhaps relax the attention open and be aware of the sounds around you.

Relax in the body, if there's obvious tension, perhaps the shoulders, softening the hands, relaxing the heart, and gently landing again on the breath, this home base of this life breath. Relaxing open with the inflow and releasing and letting go with the out. outflow. If a strong experience is calling for your attention, perhaps some physical unpleasantness, squeezing or pinching, aching, soreness, or some strong emotion, fear, sorrow, restlessness, anger, then let the breath recede into the background and allow what's expressing itself, the inner

to be in the foreground, bringing a gentle, clear attention to whatever's here. It's recognizing what's happening. Sometimes it can help just to name it. Anger, hurt, it's a sensation, burning, twisting. Just to name and allow what's here to unfold itself in awareness. Feeling it, witnessing it, being with it, noticing how it changes, if it's helpful to keep breathing with what's here, and when it's no longer compelling, to arrive again fully in this life breath, resting, relaxing,

mindful of the inflow, mindful of the outflow. It can be helpful sometimes to check and and see if there's a veil of thinking or concepts that's between you and reality. Just notice am I really here right now? What is happening right here inside me? Can I be with it? Feeling this life breath and including whatever sounds, sensations or feelings are predominant. And if there's something very strong and difficult that you're experiencing in the present moment, You might deepen your attention by naming it, whatever the experience it is, and whispering

gently yes, just opening to how it is with real kindness. Yes doesn't mean I like this or I want it to continue. It's just an honest acknowledgement of what's here, bringing your heart to the life that's here. nothing strong is calling the attention to continue to rest in this life breath, relaxing with the inflow and relaxing with the outflow. Coming back home into this moment, again, the inquiry, what is happening inside me right now? Can I be with this?

Breathing with your experience, feeling the life of the body, the heart, and saying yes, with a deep quality of kindness to whatever might be challenging, opening to and relaxing with the life that's right here, closing by being aware of your own human heart, sending whatever wish or blessing to yourself feels most resonant in this moment, and sensing the heart space that includes

those that are here right in this room and those that are practicing in the cyber field and really all beings everywhere, all living beings, sending your prayer of care.