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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 you might close your eyes, let your tension go inward, feel the movement of the breath and see if you can sense and imagine and feel the breath at the heart, as if you're breathing into the heart and out of the heart. We begin with a reflection on the question, what is my deepest intention right this moment? What's my deepest intention for being here, for practicing meditation? You might even think of it in a broad way, your intention in your life, as if you were at the end of your life looking back, what would matter? What's the quality of heart, of presence you want to bring to the world? Just reflecting and sensing what you feel most sincere about. Sitting still and feeling the aliveness that's right here in the stillness. Gently scanning the body with your awareness and seeing what might want to let go a little right now. Where is your tension that when you meet it with awareness can relax, soften. You might want to bring your attention to the region of the eyes. Let the eyes soften. Sensing a smile, lifting up the corners, the outside corners of the eyes. Letting the flesh around the eyes be relaxed, the brows smooth. See if you can notice the tingling and vibrating in that region. As you relax and soften, you might sense a slight smile at the mouth. Let the jaws be unhinged, letting the tongue fill, lower palate, relax down to the root of the tongue. Feeling the gums, the teeth, the lips opening to the whole world of sensation in the region of the mouth. Letting the shoulders fall away from the neck, relaxing them back and down some. And sense your awareness filling the shoulders so you can feel from the inside out, softening, relaxing. Perhaps you can sense the shift from ice to water kind of melting inside the shoulders. Ice to water and then water to gas again as you soften, aware of the aliveness that you can perceive. Just the movement of energy. Let the hands rest in a very easy, effortless way. Softening the hands. Try softening again and feel from the inside. Can you notice the tingling, the vibrating, the pulsing places of pressure, warmth where your hands contact your legs or each other? Just as a cup can be filled with water, this whole body is filled with awareness. You might sense an openness at the chest, feeling inside the chest, from the inside out the region of the heart. What do you notice there? You might smile into the heart. Visualizing and sensing a smile spreading through the chest, creating the space for whatever's here to express. Pulsing tightness pressure flow scanning through the belly area. Softening the belly. Then letting this next breath be received in that softening belly. This breath. And then again. So you can feel the aliveness deep in the torso. This breathing body. Still a slight smile at the mouth. The hands are soft. Opening the attention and the awareness into the pelvic region. And sensing the awareness filling that area. Feel from the inside out the dance of sensation. Become aware of the legs. Letting the awareness fill the legs. So you can sense the length and the volume, the weight right down into the feet. Can you sense the tingling and vibrating that fills the feet toes. Then if you widen the lens of perception to feel this whole body now as a field of sensation all at once. Not stopping anything, not opposing or controlling anything, including sound. In this field of aliveness, perhaps the close in sounds, the more distant. Sensing the vastness of awareness that can include even the most distant sound. The awareness that's listening to and feeling this changing flow of experience. Sounds and sensations move like waves in the background. That great sea of awareness that includes and is aware of what appears and dissolves moment to moment. It. When the mind drifts into thought forms, which it inevitably does. The practices when we notice to relax back. Opening the attention again. Noticing the changing waves that are right here. The sounds, the sensations that live through this body. Might notice the inflow and outflow of the breath. Know that you're here, right here. The awareness that's listening to and feeling the changing flow. And if something arises, it's difficult sense how that awareness can be infinitely tender. Kind of keeping it simple. When the mind moves off into thoughts. Relaxing back to the senses. Sound sensation into the sea of awareness that's including the changing waves. Your own presence which is home. Waking up from thoughts, relaxing back into the senses. With thoughts which are a mental contraction come physical tightness. So you might re soften the eyes. Slight smile at the mouth. Relaxing the shoulders. Softening the hands and smiling into the heart. Relaxing the heart. You might let your breath come to the area of the heart. Feeling that heart space or presence that's here as part of closing this meditation. Sensing whatever wish or blessing you'd like to offer to yourself right now. What would bring healing and happiness to your life. Widening that heart space to include someone who's dear to you. Sensing your appreciation for that person's goodness and offering your wish, your blessing to them. And sensing the heart is edgeless, boundless, open, including all of life everywhere. May all beings everywhere be filled with loving presence. Held in loving presence. May all beings everywhere find great and natural peace. May all beings everywhere be happy Know the natural joy of being alive. May all beings everywhere all awaken and be free. Namaste.