Tara Brach - Meditation: Rest in Awake Awareness (2016-07-06)

Episode Date: July 8, 2016

Meditation: Rest in Awake Awareness (2016-07-06) - When we allow the body to be a portal, we discover the ever-present background of awareness that includes the whole play of sensation, sound, aliveness. This meditation awakens us through a body scan, and then invites a relaxing back into the space of awareness. The guidance is to let everything be, just as it is, and become the silence that's listening, the stillness out of which all forms arise. 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. One of the most direct portals into full presence is waking up through the body. You might feel the region of the brow, feeling your eyes and letting them soften, letting the brow be smooth. just sensing kind of from the inside out, the tingling and vibration and aliveness in that area,

letting the jaw be unhinged, sensing that the tongue could relax and fill the lower jaw, relaxing the tongue right down to the root, feeling the sensations that fill the area of the mouth, the lips, sensing the scalp and the skull, the sensations that fill the head, just sensing into the brain, just feeling the light, tingling, vibrating, aliveness through the head. You might sense the breath at the throat

and feel from the inside out, the aliveness inside the throat area, allowing the shoulders to relax back and down some, letting the shoulders fill with awareness so that you can feel from the inside out any sensations and aliveness that's there. And if you notice tension or tightness, see if you can let it float in awareness,

naturally untangle itself, aware of the length, the volume of the arms, feeling the awareness inside your thumbs, inside all the fingers, the palms, the backs of the hand, so that you feel the whole hand from the inside out and then purposely soften and continue to receive the sensations,

the aliveness inside the hands. Sense that intimate presence that's receiving this life moment to moment. Right in the hands, you can wake up that same presence throughout the whole body just like a cup is filled with water. This whole body is filled with awareness. Feeling the awareness that fills the chest

and sensing the heart from the inside out without any interference, just witnessing and feeling the aliveness there. Relax the abdominal area. Let this next breath be received in a softening belly. this breath and again and again letting awareness fill the belly

feeling from the inside out the aliveness that's there allowing the attention to scan down to the pelvic region awareness filling that region feeling the aliveness the sensations moment to moment you might sense the length and the weight the volume of the legs.

And sense how awareness can fill the feet. So you're aware of the pressure and warmth of where your feet contact the floor. Aware of the feet filled with tingling and vibrating. And again, feeling the hands, filled with awareness. Feeling the torso. Pelvic region, belly, the chest,

filled with awareness. Shoulders, the mouth and the eyes. head. So if you open wide the lens of attention, you can feel this whole body simultaneously, this energy body, as a field of living sensation. Relax back into the space that's all happening in the space of awareness that receives this play of sensation,

the space of awareness, listening to the changing play of sound. It's listening to and feeling the whole moment. You can sense in the foreground the changing play of sound, sensation, feelings. And in the background, that alert inner stillness, the awareness that's aware. When the mind drifts into thoughts,

you can notice that. Awareness will notice that. And simply relax back. Let your way home be a relaxing back. This being that awareness, that space that's receiving, this changing play of sound and sensation. Nothing to control. Just letting everything be just as it is.

You might notice where your attention is right now. And if the mind's been drifting in a kind of virtual reality, just gently relax back again. You can reopen the attention to include sounds, the sounds that are right here. So let them wash through. You can take some moments to re-relax the body, softening in the shoulders and the hands,

relaxing the heart, opening to the play of sensations. that lives through these bodies, aware of the movement of the breath. Know that you're here, right here. You can continue to rest with the breath that supports you, being more stable and here, or even let go of that and relax back fully. Just be that space of awareness

that listens to and feels this changing moment-to-moment life. Sensing now how awake awareness experiences your human heart and sending whatever blessing to your own being resonates in this moment and sensing the heart space, this open-hearted awareness that includes all beings and sensing your prayer, sensing what you want to offer as a blessing to all beings.