Tara Brach - Meditation: Loving Presence - with smile body scan (2017-03-29)

Episode Date: March 30, 2017

Meditation: Loving Presence - with smile body scan (2017-03-29) - This guided meditation helps cultivate the heartspace that can hold our life with tenderness and grace. We begin by using the image and felt sense of a smile in a body scan, and then open to the spacious presence that includes the changing moment to moment flow of experience. The meditation closes with a few minutes of offering loving blessings to our inner life, dear ones in need and all beings. Free download of Tara's 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. A beautiful way to begin a practice is just to sense the quality of heart that you'd like to hold the practice with. You might sense your intention to regard what arises with a real gentleness, kindness, friendliness. And part of the way you can embody that intention

is with the image and the sense of a smile. You might visualize vast open space of sky and let the image of a smile spread through that sky, this curve and receptivity of a smile, filling the sky, imagining your mind merging with that sky, so that the smile is filling your whole mind, gently feeling the region of the eyes, sensing a smile spreading through the eyes, lifting the outer corners of the eyes slightly, slight smile at the mouth. And see if you can sense the inside of the mouth smiling.

Notice the sensations of aliveness that fill the whole region of the mouth, tongue, gums, teeth, lips. And I'd visualize the curve of a smile at the throat and feel a sense of a smile spreading through the throat. So that the throat fills the whole neck and there's that receptivity and aliveness that can be felt in the space of a smile. Again, softening the eyes, a smile spreading through the eyes, slight smile at the mouth, the throat. And sense that you could smile into the heart, that a smile can spread through the heart and chest area, that curve and receptivity of a smile.

Sensing how the space of a smile doesn't cover over anything, it makes room for the life that's here. You might sense that space, of receptivity, that openness widening out to include the shoulders. Just letting the shoulders relax back and down a bit. Feeling from the inside out, the sensations, the movement of energy in the shoulders, sense the length and the volume of the arms. Let the hands rest in a very easy way, effortless.

And notice if you soften the hands, how much more aliveness you can feel. Again, feeling an openness at the chest, a smile at the heart. Loosening, softening the belly. You might visualize and sense the felt experience of a smile at the belly. That curve, that receptivity, that openness, filling the belly.

You can feel the aliveness, the sensations all the way to the back. the spinal column, filling the whole abdominal area, and scanning down, sensing the curve of a smile, filling the pelvic region, sensing in that receptive space, again, the play of aliveness that becomes possible. The eyes are smiling, soft, slight smile at the mouth, smile at the throat, visualizing and having the felt sense of a smile spread through the heart, the chest area. Feeling and sensing the curve of a smile through the belly in the pelvic region, right down at the base of the spine, as if a vase with its base on the earth. Sides spreading upwards you can feel the earth energy flowing into,

filling you with aliveness and sensing the image, image and the space of a smile spreading out in all directions. So you can feel this whole field of energy within and around you, expressing within this openness and receptivity of a smile. Rest in that openness, that tenderness, right here. Just noticing the moment to moment flow of experience, the sounds that are the sounds that are

are moving through, coming and going. The sensations and aliveness bubbling up, appearing and disappearing, the moods or emotions, the weather systems that move through us. Appearing and disappearing in this heart space, this receptivity, open presence. Notice that when the mind is lost in a cloud of thought, there can just be a noticing of that a relaxing open, letting the cloud come and go, resting again in that open,

tender heart space, like a great sky, all the weather belongs, everything belongs, the clouds, the moods, the sensations. If you find yourself lost in the storyline or contracted or reactive, You can begin fresh in this or any moment, reopening the attention, just listening, feeling the moment.

You can gently sense softening in the eyes, a smile there, a slight smile at the mouth. Again, smiling into the heart, reconnecting with that heart space where everything that is is welcome. Everything belongs. You might take some moments to deepen your attention and notice if there's anything going on inside you in your life right now that's really wanting your attention, wanting your presence. And if you sense something in this human heart

that might be difficult to be with or that wants your attention, just sense what happens when you bring, a very tender presence to the life that's here. Let that part of you know it belongs. You intentionally send a very deep quality of care to let it be bathed in care and tenderness. Notice what happens.

From the most awake part of your being, from this awake heart space sending whatever message most resonates to your own human beingness, your human heart right now. Sending a blessing, a prayer inwardly and widening the attention to sense someone else in your life that you'd like to feel held in loving presence, filled with loving presence, healed in loving presence, just offering your heart space to hold that being and widening in all directions, that kind of boundless heart space that really includes the earth, our mother, and all beings everywhere. May all beings everywhere be filled with loving presence, held in loving presence.

May all beings know loving presence as their deepest nature. May all beings touch a great and natural peace. And may all beings know the natural joy of being alive. May all beings awaken and be free.