← Tara Brach
Tara Brach
Meditation: A Relaxed, Open Presence (12:30 min.)
00:12:30
This brief practice calls on conscious breathing, relaxing, letting go and a touch of lovingkindness to nurture inner balance, harmony and ease.
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The following meditation is led by Tara Brak. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrack.com so, to begin, let's arrive together. And by that I mean wherever you are right now, allow your attention to come right here, now into your body, your heart, your mind. So you're turning your attention inward and you might come into stillness and then make some subtle adjustments. Just notice where you want to adjust so that you're sitting in a way that's upright. You can feel a quality of alertness and also relaxed. And just notice if there's ways you can listen inwardly and let go a bit. As part of arriving and allowing ourselves to settle, we'll breathe together. Breathe together in a way that I find is really a powerful part of letting go. So you might breathe in a long full in breath, you might count to four, hold for a few seconds and through the mouth a slow exhale. And then again inhaling to the count of four with the lungs full, holding for a couple of seconds. And then that long slow out breath, releasing and sensing the letting go, releasing through the mouth and again inhaling deeply, holding slow release. And with the release, actually sense your body. Letting go, letting go, letting go. And again inhaling deeply, holding for a moment and with that slow release, letting go through your body, letting go, letting go. And again inhaling deeply, hold for a moment and that slow release through the mouth. Letting go, letting go. And then allowing the breath to come into its natural rhythm. Observing the breath, becoming aware of the quality of presence that's here, just even in a few moments. Still aware of the breath, scanning through the body, noticing if there's areas of very obvious tightness or holding. And you might sense the possibility of bringing the awareness there and softening. You might let the shoulders fall away from the neck and feeling the awareness inside the shoulders. Letting go, softening, releasing, let the hands rest in a very easy, effortless way. Softening from the inside out and feeling from the inside out. Aware of sensation, vibration, aliveness. Let the chest be open and you might relax the belly. Letting this next breath be received in a softening belly. This breath and now this one. And again, feeling, awaking up, relaxing and opening through the whole torso. Aware of the legs, the length, the volume of the legs, feel the feet from the inside out. So that if you widen the attention now, you can feel the whole body as a field of sensation and continuing to widen out. Aware of the sounds that wash through. So you're listening not just with your ears, but your whole awareness, listening to and feeling the moment, sensing the possibility of relaxing with whatever arises, perhaps sensing the inflow and outflow of the breath, weaving through the moments it noticing how if the mind drifts, is pulled off, it's possible to relax back into presence, listening to and feeling the changing flow it and as a way of bringing the practice to a close, you might sense your heart right now. Whatever the state of your heart is just meeting the state of your heart with whatever, whatever is happening, with the same gentle presence and with some offering of kindness, in some way bringing kindness to this human heart. Notice what happens, just any gesture, any intention, any touch of kindness and sense how that heart space can connect you with all that is with this living world.