Tara Brach - On Deepening Our Meditation and Guided Meditation from Retreat

Episode Date: September 7, 2016

Meditation Instructions and Guided Meditation from Retreat (2016-08-27) - Tara gives morning instructions about how to deepen our meditation, then leads us in a guided meditation.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. I'd like to just offer a bit of a framework or sense of the structure of our practice in a way that works for me, and that is to understand that the beginning, when we first start practicing,

we're really arriving in our senses. We're calling ourselves here. And so often it's through a body scan, through waking up in the body, so that we're less in that trance, we're more above the line, we're more inhabiting awareness. And then as a way of sustaining that presence,

We often use a support of an anchor, and it's really, there are different characteristics to different anchors. So if your mind is very spacey, then it really helps to have a narrow anchor of the breath. But if your mind is tense and tight, it can sometimes help to have an anchor of sound or openness. So there's a way in which we kind of feel our way to an anchor, and there's a value to, to, once you have an anchor, like the breath, to deepen your familiarity with it. It becomes stronger with practice. So we have the support of an anchor, the support of naming or noting what's going on. These are called skillful means.

The purpose of the practice is not to be with the breath and stay with the breath. That's not the end of the path. It's just a support. the actual essence of the practice is to inhabit that awareness, to be that awareness, that awake awareness that's knowing what's going on, to be that openness and wakefulness and tenderness that's right here. And so it's very valuable once there's an arriving and a settling and once you've been with the anger for a while to, at some point,

just let go and be to stop the doing. Encourage that with every sitting. We tend to keep thinking we need to do something. So give yourself that gift of at some point just letting go and just being, just resting as awareness. The other thing to mention is that as we're being and in that presence that things come up that end up creating reactivity. So some of the skillful means that we offer you have to do with deepening attention and investigating what's going on and bringing kindness, nurturing. So you'll sense these elements in the guided meditation and then we can see what questions there might be afterwards. You might begin by sensing your body's sitting posture

and making whatever subtle adjustments allow you to see. sit in a way that most serves being awake and alert and at ease, upright, sitting tall, aligned, balanced, and relaxed. You might be aware of the body breathing and then in a simple way to bring the attention so that you're aware from the inside out. You might sense the region of the brow, the eyes. I like to imagine a smile spreading through my eyes. The outside corners of the eyes lifted a little. Just to soften the eyes, let the brow be smooth. In a similar way, a slight smile at the mouth, the inside of the mouth smiling. This image and sense of a smile directly affects the nervous system.

It allows us to come more into the parasympathetic nervous system, which is more ease, more sense of benevolence, relaxation. Feel the inside of the mouth. You might feel right down to the root of the tongue relaxing at the root, open to the whole play of sensations, the gums, the teeth, the lips, letting the shoulders relax back and down a bit. You might sense that shift from ice to water, kind of easy letting go, softening, ice to water, and then water to gas, feeling the shoulders from the inside out, sensing the movement of sensation.

and the space that's there, space that's happening in, interior space. Softening the hands, notice as you soften the experience of receiving sensation, and perhaps softening again a little more. Very intimate attention now. Feeling the tingling, the vibrating, the aliveness that's there. Can you imagine the space that fills the hands? the interior space that this aliveness is happening in, feeling the area of the chest and the space that fills the chest, the aliveness, the movement of energy and sensation there.

Can you imagine the space inside the heart, feeling the very particular aliveness and sensations there? Still sensing a slight smile at the mouth. hands are soft and then scanning down to the belly loosening, softening there and see if you can sense from the inside out the aliveness of the belly

where of the space that's happening in the interior space that all sensations arise from and scanning down to sense the pelvic region a space that fills the pelvic region and the whole dance of aliveness receiving that in awareness scanning down to the legs sensing the length, the volume of the legs

letting awareness fill the feet filling the energy that goes right deep into the earth so you can feel the earth's energy below around and sensing how it flows into this body, pours into this body, animates this body. So if you widen the attention to feel the whole body all at once simultaneously, you can sense this field of aliveness, this dance of sensation,

just not opposing anything, not stopping anything, including the rising and passing of sounds, sensing the vastness of space with sounds and sensations arise in, and resting in this openness of awareness, listening to and feeling the whole moment, sensing how awake awareness is experiencing this changing flow as a way of supporting this wakefulness might allow to come into the foreground, an anchor, home base that can keep you connected. It may be the in-flow, outflow of the breath, sensing it the nostrils. It might be the rising, falling of the chest or expanding and settling at the belly. Perhaps it's a sense of the whole body breathing, opening to receive, settling and releasing.

even in a cellular level. For some, the home base might be sensations in a certain part of the body or sound, but it might be a combination. But just sense some sensory experience in the foreground, gently resting the attention with that experience, sensing in the background, this awake openness, presence that's right here. When you become aware that the mind has gone off into that trance of thinking, even under the line, not aware.

Then arrive again by gently reconnecting with your senses. Relax open the mind and listen to the sounds that are actually right here. By re-relaxing your body you can feel the aliveness again in a more intimate way. the shoulders, the hands, the belly. Relax open your heart. Just feel the life that's here. If the trance has been relatively uncharged, the thoughts have been meandering but not filled with wanting or fear, then it can be natural just to rest again with the anchor in the

foreground. But if you've been inside more charged thoughts. thoughts, more reactive feelings. Then rather than going back to the home base of the anchor, it's actually an invitation to investigate or deepen attention a bit. So notice what's going on inside your body, what emotions are there that have been driving the thoughts. If you just come back to the breath, you'll just get, you'll be kicked back into thoughts

again because you haven't really brought presence to the emotions. You can always inquire by saying, you know, what really wants my attention right now? What wants acceptance or inclusion? And to make sure that's not a cognitive inquiry, come right to the body, just check the felt sense in the throat, the chest, the belly. Wherever there's a sense of vulnerability, of activation, to continue to deepen presence there, you can breathe with the place in you that feels vulnerable. With interest and friendliness, just notice what it's like.

You can gently name what you notice. Oh, anxiety, fear, sadness, anger, hurt. And feel it as a constellation of sensations. the aliveness that's there. And the deep inquiry is if there's a real sense of activation, what is this part of mere place most need? And if you sense there's some call for loving kindness or compassion, then let that be part of your practice. To offer care to the vulnerability that's here. It could be with a touch of your hand on your heart or a message of care, just energy of warmth and tenderness offered to that part of your being.

And then notice what happens. Notice the quality of presence. Notice if there's a little less identification. There's more space. If there's no strong energy still calling you then we gently come back to the anchor to the home base or just rest in the awareness that's here. in the wakeful openness and tenderness that's experiencing the moment to moment experience right here, right now.