Tara Brach - Meditation: Calming and Opening (2015-12-09)

Episode Date: December 11, 2015

Meditation: Calming and Opening (2015-12-09) - This meditation guides us in collecting and quieting the mind with the breath, and then relaxing all effort, and simply resting in what is. Free download of Tara's new 10 min meditation: "Mindful Breathing: Finding Calm and Ease" when you join her email list.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. Letting your awareness scan through your body and notice if there's areas of tightness or tension, wherever you might feel holding or tightness, sense the possibility of softening, of letting go a little. You might pay particular attention to the region of the eyes,

letting the brow be smooth, the eyes soft, relaxing the jaw, slight smile at the mouth, letting the shoulders fall away from the neck, and softening, loosening through the shoulders. Let the hands rest in a very easy and effortless way, softening the hands, and just feeling the aliveness from the inside out, sense an openness to the chest and relax the belly so that this next breath can be received

in a softening belly. This breath and then this one and again. Let me bring the breath be natural but very consciously now lengthen it so that the in-breath is longer, fuller and the out-breath is slow, continuing in this way, lengthening the in-breath, and in a matched way, slow out-breath, long-deep in-breath and slow out-breath, continuing with the in-flow and out-flows,

long and deep, the same length. You might slowly count to four with the in-breath and count to four with the out-breath. If the mind drifts, just gently bring the attention back, to this long, full in-breath, long, slow out-breath. No pause between. The breath return to its natural rhythm. And be aware of the quality of presence that's right here,

letting the breath be in the foreground of mindfulness. Just aware of the sensations of the inflow and the outflow. And yet in the background, aware of all the senses, aware of the aliveness of the body, sounds around you. Open attention if something strong arises and wants your attention. Strong physical sensation, emotion, sound. And letting the breath recede as the primary focus and letting what arises be right in the center.

You might feel that you're breathing with a feeling of tightness in the chest, a feeling of excitement or sorrow. Whatever strong, let it be there. Notice how it feels as sensations in the body and when it's no longer compelling. Gently rest again in the movement of the breath, like a raft resting in the sea, relaxing back with this movement of the breath, resting moment to moment in the changing sensations. For this last bit of the meditation, letting go of any notion of doing, simply relaxing

back and being the presence that's aware, letting everything happen, sensations, feelings. in the background, that alert inner presence that knows, that which is awake and aware, being that presence.