Reflection and Meditation: Calm and Rest

Reflection Calm and Rest

Meditation: Bringing rest, calm and ease to the body, mind, and heart

Reflection

This week I have been thinking about the need of rest and of slowing down as part of the healing process –  all forms of healing. One of the great teachers of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hahn, writes of meditation as having three fundamental aspects:

The first is that of stopping, or in his words, the Art of Stopping. Sometimes we find our lives moving at an incredibly rapid pace in a steady stream of business: the business of work, of family, of worries and emotions, of thinking spirals, of messages and media, of distractions, and simply constantly doing, doing, doing….

Thich Nhat Hahn warns us that as we do so , we actually start loosing ourselves, becoming more like human “doings rather than human “beings”.  The practice of stopping and pausing help us to reconnect to our self as human “Being” and to recognize our runaway velocity.

Stopping or pausing to practice our Mindfulness can help us to recognize our runaway velocity, and our many over extended busy-ness habits: helping us to stop and pause, to slow down and become fully present, shining the light of mindfulness on all we do.

The second fundamental as Thich Nhat Hahn teaches  is calming: Pausing, going slowly, and looking deeply.  We can take a deep breath, re-center, and return to “being”  in the present moment. 

The third fundamental following Stopping and Calming is Resting, Something we almost never do!!

A story he tells,

“ Suppose someone standing along a river throws a pebble in the air and it falls down into the river. The pebble allows itself to sink down into the river. The pebble allows itself to sink slowly and reach the riverbed without any effort. Once the pebble is at the bottom, it continues to rest, allowing the water to pass by. When we practice sitting meditation, we can allow ourselves to rest just like the pebble. We can allow ourselves to sink naturally into the position of sitting, or resting – without effort. We have to learn the art of resting, allowing our body and mind to rest. If we have wounds in our body or our mind, we have to rest, so they can heal themselves. Calming allows us to rest., and resting is a precondition for healing.”

We all need more stopping, calming, and resting or what I describe as restorative rest… all of these are essential to our mindfulness and are essential parts of self care and self love.

This practice of shared meditation –will provide the gift of stopping for a short while, pausing in our busy-ness, resting, and coming together in self -care.  Our meditation will encompass some shorter body scanning, some visualization, and a loving kindness variation to close the practice.

Before starting, I invite you to bring your attention to this moment:  Here and now, calm and restful, with nothing else to do right now –

Closing  your eyes or softening your gaze, Finding  a comfortable position for your body with your back straight yet comfortable  and your head up but not stiff  - to open your chest and align your breathing.. with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap at rest..

BELL

Settling In

As we settle in, let us bring our attention inward, noticing how it feels to be in your selected position – wherever  your body is supported :  perhaps your back, your sitbones, or shoulders…

And then traveling the light of   your attention to the hands and noticing feelings and sensations of your hands – are they cold or warm – How are you holding them – open or closed, are they soft or tight – they do so much work for us – as you bring your attention to your hands, your palm and thumb and fingertips, feeling them begin to soften, release, and grow heavy in your lap… giving them your gentle attention…sending them comfort and ease

Pause

… Now  bringing the attention all the way down to the feet and toes  - Are they cold, warm, tingly, perhaps you want to stretch out your toes?  Are you barefoot or in shoes or socks? Do you notice any textures or the  sensation of  your feet touching the ground beneath them…. connecting you to the earth…. These feet that help balance you all day long , supporting you and guiding you in many movements .. sending them gratitude, comfort and ease as they rest in the present moment….

And Now up into the face – noticing any areas of tension of tightness that could be softened: your forehead, the areas around your eyes, your cheeks or jaw ……letting these muscles soften and grow heavy with gravity – maybe even smiling  - our yoga for the face -

Then down into the neck and shoulders , letting these muscles soften, unwind, and grow heavier and heavier, letting gravity pull them downwards, sending them your attention and care, …. maybe even doing a few small shoulder rolls for comfort  as you feel them unwinding….

Pause

I invite you now to bring your attention to the breath as it moves in... and out of the body  - Just your natural breathing – flowing inward and outward filling the body with the energy of air and life  - and then  breathing out again  in a steady gentle rhythm of inward and outward

Pause

Like Moonlight dancing on water. A constant rhythm of  movement and resonating within the body each second,  each  minute, each day - renewing us , revitalizing us, and as we pause to breathe with mindful care and attention, bringing calm into the body…

Pause

Becoming aware of the incredible living instrument of the body -  bringing ease, comfort, and restorative rest .. with each movement,  as the body softly dances with its own rhythm.

In

Out 

As you feel  the gentle energy and natural rhythm of your body, I invite you to scan the light of your attention across the whole body  -Noticing  any places of tension  or tightness or discomfort  - sending them comfort and ease - letting tensions unwind and soften, and in and  out… softening/ unwinding…. Ease and comfort… rest and restoration

Pause

And then Noticing any places of ease or neutral sensations and sending these areas your appreciation and gratitude for this ease and wellness - There is more right than wrong with us in this amazing ecosystem of the body - so much to be grateful for in this moment of awareness …

And whenever your mind wanders – as all our minds do, simply notice, and  gently bring your attention back to your body anchor – your hands, your feet, you breath, your sit-bones, whatever is best for you in this moment – returning to the home of your body. Letting your thoughts and distractions pass like clouds in the sky…..

You are the pebble at the bottom of the riverbed…

Pause

Now I invite you to bring your awareness to the heart and the heart space – you may want to bring your hand  or hands to heart – increasing  this feeling of ease and gratitude, - opening the doors of  loving kindness and compassion – perhaps thinking  of a loved one – a special friend - small child – a beloved pet… and  as you  continue generating this feeling of deep loving kindness– letting this feeling flow through you from your heart to your hands  up into the face and neck and shoulders -down into the torso ,the hips, the legs and knees and ankles, feet and toes and upwards again traveling up into  your legs and hips, into your torso, along your arms, up your shoulder and neck, to your face, and the very top of your head –

Pause

Imagining this flow of loving kindness, comfort, and ease gently streaming through all parts of you from the top of your head to the tips of your toes and looping back again to the top of your head : gentle waves flowing through you filling you with love, ease, comfort, serenity, and joy. 

You are the pebble at the bottom of the riverbed – resting and at ease – currents may swirl above you – they change and pass – while you rest with ease, comfort, and loving kindness……

Pause

As you Feel this love and tenderness surrounding you and comforting you, I invite you to bring all this this love and tenderness into your heart space,  Feeling  this gentle tenderness begin to  permeate all of your being and Smiling inwardly as the warmth and radiance of  loving kindness and comfort come into the heart and heart space.   

I invite you to Bask in this restorative rest and loving kindness.

Pause

We are give so much to others yet so often neglect our selves. We all need love, comfort, tenderness, ease, and joy. This is part of the teaching and practice of mindfulness, we all need love. Every being needs love.

pause

As this  flow of care and loving awareness radiates through you, you may notice sensations of warmth, expansiveness, connectedness, ease, and comfort  all filling you with expansive radiance…..

Pause

 I invite you to let this feeling and radiant loving kindness expand  ever outward to encompass all of those you love and care for, for all in your community, those you know and do not know.

Expanding your loving kindness and awareness to include All with whom we share this earth. Those we know and love, those unknown to us, those who are near or far, all those who are suffering from distress, who are victims of oppression and war,  who need healing and comfort, and outward to All who are working to serve our communities in so many different ways. Outward to include All with no loved ones nearby. All who are in challenging situations around the globe.

And With your heart space open ever wider,  I invite you to Imagine All beings on earth, interconnected as one, one family, one consciousness, one mind, one heart. All beings  on earth, joined together through the presence  of love.

May we all be filled with the radiance of loving kindness, compassion,

May we all have peace and restorative rest

May will all have comfort and ease

May we all be healed

And may our mindfulness guide us each day…

BELL

Transition 

Lifting and opening the eyes, stretching out , moving the body as we transition from inward to outward

I hope you will continue to Feel the resonance of  this peaceful, restful, loving energy in your body all day long and that you remember to give yourself time to practice the art of stopping!

Thank you for sharing this practice with me in togetherness!