A (0:00)

The following meditation is led by Tara Brak. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrack.com the sitting posture really is what makes the interstate possible. It makes it kind of conducive to, if you're sitting upright, being more alert and awake and then at ease. See if you can, in the midst of that uprightness, see what can relax, what wants to let go a little. So there is that blend of awake and relaxed, awake and relaxed. You might let the breath lengthen a bit so you have a nice full in breath and a slow out breath. And again, nice full in breath, slow out breath. Letting the breath be natural, just a little more collected here. Feel the attention at the heart. Breathing and feeling the heart. We take some moments to sense our intention, the invitations to really touch into what matters to you. It's a very powerful reflection just to ask what is it that I really aspire to? What does my heart long for? What matters? Perhaps it's to be more present in your life or more open hearted. Maybe it's to come to more realization as to who you really are, your true authentic nature. Maybe it's to relax, to be more at ease, just to sense what matters to you. We let that be a kind of opening prayer. In the stillness and the quietness, we can deepen presence as we wake up through the body from the inside out, feeling the energy that is here. You might begin by simply feeling the eyes. Let the eyes be like orbs in water, just floating. You might sense that the outside corners are slightly lifted up. Just kind of imagine the curve of a smile spreading through the eyes. There is a real sense of softness, letting the brow be smooth. Aware of the sensations, the felt sense of aliveness in the area of the eyes. You might sense the mouth in a slight smile and the inside of the mouth smiling. Let the tongue relax, let it fill the lower jaw. See if you can relax down to the root of the tongue. Feeling the sensations in the tongue, the gums, the teeth, the lips. So in a global way, you can feel the whole mouth alive, vibrating. You might sense the throat filling the neck. Be aware of the aliveness and energy in the area of the neck. Allowing the shoulders to fall away from the neck, relaxing back and down some. Feel the awareness that fills the shoulders. So you are feeling the shoulders from the inside out. And if you notice any tension or tightness, imagine and sense that it can float in awareness, that there is space for it to naturally loosen or untangle. It can help to imagine a dissolution like ice melting to water. Then imagine water evaporating into vapor. Feeling from the inside out, the shoulders, the aliveness that's there. Be aware of the length and the volume of your arms. Sensing the arms running into the wrists, into the hands. You might feel your fingers from the inside out and sense how they are filled with energy and aliveness. Notice what happens if you soften the hands. And again feel from the inside out, vibrating, tingling, very intimate attention. To feel the life that's there. You might sense an openness in the chest. And imagine that smile, the curve of a smile spreading through the chest, spreading through the heart area. This is to help discover the space that has room for whatever is here. Open, receptive, gentle feeling from the inside out, the region of the heart. Discover with that intimate attention the quality of energy, the movement of energy that's there. The hand still soft, slight smile at the mouth, the eyes soft. Continuing to scan down the body. You might loosen the abdominal region. Let this next breath be received in a softening belly. This breath. And then again, receiving the breath in a softening belly. And again letting the awareness fill the belly. You can even imagine the curve of a smile through the area of the navel. Sense an ease and an openness there. And feel from the inside out with that intimate attention, the energy that's there, the aliveness. Continuing to scan down and letting the awareness now fill the whole pelvic region. Feeling from the inside out. Quality of energy, this dance of sensation, a relaxed receptive presence. Let yourself be aware of the length and the volume of your legs. So awareness is filling the legs, running down into the ankles, the feet, so you can feel your feet from the inside out. Aware of the vibration, the tingling, the aliveness that's there. You might imagine. Visualize this vast planet and atmosphere that's below you and around you, just filled with aliveness. And imagine it flowing and pouring into your body. The that life through the feet, filling the legs and the torso, arms, head. Just letting life live through you. Sensing this body as a field of sensation. It aware of the dance of sensation and also the play of sound. Just another frequency of aliveness coming and going. Sound of these words, spaces that are between. Sounds close in sounds, the more distant sounds that you can perceive. So you're listening not just with your ears, but with your whole awareness, with your whole awareness. Listening to and feeling this very moment completely here now it at some point you'll notice that the attention has drifted into thoughts. That's natural. Our practice is to notice when we can. You might Even mentally. Make a note. Okay. Thinking, thinking. Then relax, open again, back into the senses. Come back home into the aliveness that's right here. You might notice again the sounds that are coming and going. You might bring the awareness again very consciously into the body. Feeling the awareness inside the shoulders and maybe letting go again. Softening the hands, feeling the life there, loosening the belly, softening and feeling the aliveness there, relaxing your heart. So again there's a sense of resting, being the awareness that's right here, that's listening to and feeling the moment. You might check and see if it's possible to let go just a little more right now. Letting go of any thoughts that are sticky or clinging, possessing the mind, let go of tension in the body. Letting go again into that awareness, that space and awakeness that's right here. That presence is listening to, receiving this moment to moment flow of experience it as a way of closing, you might sense of the awareness that's here. This presence is experiencing this human heart. How awareness is receiving the heart right now. Sensing the aliveness or the vulnerability, the tensions or the flow that's there. Sense that you're listening to your life, the life of the heart. Taking a moment to offer whatever prayer of metta, of loving kindness you'd like to your own human heart. Sensing the heart space that's here, that's quite inclusive of this human heart and all human hearts and all beings everywhere. So you close by offering your prayer and we'll offer our prayer together. Just holding this whole world in our hearts. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings touch great and natural peace. May all beings be happy. May all beings everywhere awaken and be free. Namaste.