Tara Brach - Meditation: Say "Yes" to Life

Episode Date: March 16, 2023

Meditation:  Say "Yes" to Life - This guided practice awakens a relaxed and friendly attention that rests in the breath and opens to whatever is arising. We deepen that presence with the intention to truly say "Yes" to experience, allowing life to be just as it is.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. And as you come into stillness, become aware of this body breathing. You might imagine and sense the breath gently coming into the heart area, blowing out of the heart area.

So you can bring a attention, a listening to your heart. And we open with a very simple inquiry which is, what is my intention for meditating right now, for practice? What is it that really matters to my heart? What's important? As you're reflecting, you might gently bring your palms together at your heart and really bring your full attention and focus and listening inward. Sensing what matters, sensing your sincerity right now.

See if you can let your awareness come into the body. You might notice if there's areas of particular tightness or tension and see if just being aware helps to soften and loosen and relax. To connect with the spirit of friendliness, you might smile into your eyes, sense the outer corners of the eyes lifting a little, the flesh around the eyes. softening, the brow smooth, the eyes are smiling, and let the mouth be in a very slight but real smile also, the inside of the mouth smiling, how the face to be relaxed, feeling the aliveness in the face, and smiling into the heart, imagining and visualizing and feeling

the curve of a smile spread through your heart. And this isn't to cover over but rather to make room for whatever is here right now. The eyes smiling, the mouth and the heart. And if you imagine widening rings of energy expanding outwards that the whole body can be filled with the ease and friendliness of a smile. Feeling this body breathing is resting with the deep. gentle movement of the breath, the inflow, the outflow. Letting your practice be very simple just to rest with the breath, relax with the breath. And if something arises that calls your

attention, maybe some other sensations in the body that are intense or strong in some way, tightness or tension, ache, burning, cool, whatever, just to notice what happens, witnessing and say yes to it. Just let the life be as it is. It could be an emotion that comes up. Happiness, sadness, excitement, fear. Your only job is to notice what's happening. Let your heart say yes, letting this life come and go, letting the breath come and go, moment

to moment. It's natural for the mind to drift when you notice you can choose to gently arrive again right here, feeling the inflow and the outflow of the breath, noticing whatever experiences are arising with a friendly presence. just noting what's happening and saying yes to it. For the last few moments, experiment with relaxing completely with what's happening, sense how deeply the yes to life can go. The poet Dana Falls, in the shared quiet,

an invitation arises like a white dove lifting from a limb taking flight. Come and live in truth. Take your place in the flow of grace. Draw aside the veil you thought would always separate your heart from love. All you ever longed for is before you in this moment, if you dare draw inner breath and whisper yes. Namaste.