Tara Brach - Meditation: Yes to Life (2018-11-21)

Episode Date: November 22, 2018

Meditation: Yes to Life (2018-11-21) - After relaxing our bodies and quieting our minds, this meditation guides us to open to the changing experience of being alive. We ask ourselves two questions: "What is Happening Inside me?" and "Can I be with this?" By learning to bring an unconditional presence and an accepting Yes to our lives, we begin to touch openheartedness and freedom. Free download of a 10 min meditation from Tara: "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. Coming into stillness, making yourself at home right in this moment, perhaps feeling the movement of the breath, becoming aware of your body sitting here, breathing, and let your attention gather in the area of the heart. You can connect with whatever feelings or mood,

is right here, right in this moment, and asking yourself, what is my deepest intention right now for being here, for coming to practice meditation? What is it my heart really longs for? Feel what's most sincere for you, what really matters to you. You might also widen to sense our shared aspiration that are practicing together, be of benefit, wake up the hearts, and minds, our own and of all beings. Feeling this body, sitting here, breathing. And you might extend and lengthen the in-breath so that you're filling the lungs, a long, deep in-breath, and a slow-out breath, releasing, letting go, letting go. Again, a nice, full deep in-breath, and releasing the breath slowly, feeling the sense.

of letting go, relaxing outward, and again long deep in breath and a slow out breath, relaxing, letting go, and allowing the breath to resume in its natural rhythm, aware of the quality of presence that's right here, gently scanning through the body, noticing if there's areas of habitual tightness or tension, softening where possible. You might bring the awareness to the shoulders and sense the movement of dissolving, of ice to water. See if you can feel that on the inside of the shoulders, ice to water, and then water to gas.

Notice if there can be a flow of energy through the arms that you receive and feel, and then feeling right into the hands. Let the hands rest in a very easy, effortless way. Softening the hands, softening again. Again, that receptive presence, noticing the tingling and vibrating in the hands. Feel from the inside out. Let there be an openness at the chest. And then allowing this next breath to be received in the belly.

as it softens, as it opens to receive this breath and now this one and again, letting the awareness fill that softening belly, that receptive presence to the sensations there. Be aware of the touch points, the places where your hands touch your thighs or each other, or your bottom touches the chair, cushion. Your feet contact the ground. Feeling the sensations of warmth and pressure and letting the awareness from the inside out

feel your whole body simultaneously. There's a field of sensation. Not stopping anything, not opposing anything. receptive to this dance of heat or cool, tightness or flow, tingling, vibrating, discovering in the midst of that flow, the stream of the breath, receiving the breath. No need to control anything, as if you could listen to and feel the breath with a very delicate attention. For some you might be attending at the nostrils to the in-flow outflow there

or maybe to the expanding and deflating at the chest or belly. You might feel the breath as the whole body breathes, expanding and unsettling, even in a cellular way. How fully can you relax with this gentle, in-flow and outflow of the breath. At some point you'll become aware that the mind has drifted inside the clouds of thoughts, the future, the past, a kind of subtle commentary sometimes. Just noticing thinking allows you to open outside the cloud, to relax back right into the aliveness here. Come back in a gentle way.

You might notice the next in-breath or out-breath, rising breath, falling breath, and re-relax, resting in the movement of the breath, letting the breath be a kind of home base, and yet if something strong arises, some strong sensations, maybe burning or tightness or squeeze, ache, or maybe it's an emotional, calling of fear, sorrow, anger. You can continue to feel the breath but include what arises. Not pushing anything away. It's breathing with it and feeling it. Be the ocean that says yes to the waves.

Yes to the sorrow. Yes to the fear. Yes to the discomfort. Notice what happens. When you allow with kindness whatever arises, it could be a positive experience, excitement, love, gratitude, tingling, happiness. Yes. And when nothing strong is arising,

then to gently rest with the breath, this simple movement, of this life breath. There are two questions that can help you deepen a mindful and heartful presence. The first is, what is happening inside me right now? It's asking and letting that inquiry

bring your full attention to the life inside you. The second question is, and can I be with this? Can I say yes with kindness to what's right here? Explore what happens when your heart says yes to exactly what's going on inside you. A pure, unconditional, kind yes. Asking what is going on inside me right now

and sensing the tenderness of this heart saying yes. May we love ourselves into. healing with the tenderness of yes. And may that awakening heart space include our lives, include all lives, include this whole living world. May all beings heal, awaken and be free. Namaste.