Tara Brach - Meditation: Relaxed Attentiveness (2017-11-08)

Episode Date: November 9, 2017

Meditation: Relaxed Attentiveness (2017-11-08) - The primary qualities of a healing and freeing presence are being alert, open and tender. This meditation arouses these qualities by engaging a mindful awareness of the breath, and then a relaxed, gentle attentiveness to the changing experience of the moment. It ends by bringing lovingkindness to ourselves 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. As you let yourself settle in the posture, you might bring your attention to the heart, sensing you could feel the breath coming into the heart and then breathing out from the heart. You can sense a heart space and let your attention rest there some.

Asking yourself a very simple question which is, what is my intention for this practice, for this sitting, for meditation? What really brings me here in this moment to be practicing? What matters to me? Sensing what you care about. Feeling quality of sincerity, being aware of your breathing, and then intentionally extending the breath. so that the in-breath is long and slow, filling the lungs,

and then a long, slow out-breath. It's so slow that you can feel the sensations of releasing the breath. And again, a long, deep, slow in-breath, filling the chest and lungs, and then a slow out-breath so that the length of the in-breath and the out-breath are matched. Long, deep in-breath, a slow-out-breadth, a slow-out-breath, a slow-out-breath, so that the length of the in-breath, a slow, release, letting go with the out breath. Continuing this way, long full in breath, long slow out breath, letting it be deep, the breath be smooth, air of the sensations of breathing,

long deep and smooth breath noticing the sensations as the breath flows in and the sensations of releasing with the outflow and releasing and releasing any control of the breath, allowing the breath to resume in its natural rhythm, a relaxed presence, just noticing the experience of the breath as it naturally comes in and out moment to moment, letting the breath be at the center of your attention but noticing if there's areas of tightness in your body as you sit here and gently softening wherever there's a clenching or attention, breathing and relaxing, breathing and letting go and relaxing in the shoulders. You can kind of let the shoulders fall away from the ears.

You can start to feel from the inside out the movement of life that's there, letting the hands rest in a very easy, relaxed way. So you can sit and feel the breath and feel the hands, the tingling inside the hands, the vibrating, the aliveness, letting there be an openness to the chest and feeling inside the chest to the area of the heart. If there's any tension there, just breathing and relaxing, letting go. I might soften the belly, relax down through the full torso, let go and soften through the thighs, hamstrings, the calves.

You can feel your feet on the floor, the pressure, warmth, hands in your lap or on your thighs, the warmth and pressure there, and your whole body sitting here, breathing, awake and present, relaxing with the movement of the breath, moment by moment. You may notice before too long that the mind's drifted. And when you realize that, it's an opportunity to practice homecoming. To practice relaxing back into presence. Just reopen the attention from the thought back into your senses, the sounds that are right here, the sensations that play through your body, relaxing if there's been more contracting or tension accumulating in the body, the shoulders,

the hands, relaxing your heart. And again, feeling this body sitting here breathing, relaxing with the movement of the breath, an awake, open, easy presence, moment to moment, noticing where your attention is. The mind's been often thoughts in a kind of virtual reality. Inviting yourself back to this living, immediate world right here of the senses, listening, feeling the aliveness in the body, movement of the breath, bringing an interest and a gentleness to the changing moment-to-moment experience, a relaxed presence. And if something in the present moment feels challenging, physically uncomfortable or painful,

if there's fear, hurt, grief, then to very intentionally bring a real kindness in some way your heart's saying yes, okay, this is what's here, making room with care, letting be. It's breathing with what you experience. Nothing strong is calling the attention to gently rest in the movement of the breath. Laxed attention moment to moment as a way of closing, just bringing into awareness the sense of this human being that's right here, the life within you, offering from the most awake place in your heart

whatever prayer or wish you'd like to offer for yourself. And from this awake heart space, sensing how all beings are included in your care, all of life, sending your prayer, your wish to our world, to all beings everywhere.