Cindy Bertaut

Bethesda, MD, USA

Bethany Lemon

Lucy Jenkins

Shepherdstown, WV, USA

Oregon, USA

Rebecca

Marion 

Sharon

Alexina

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Christopher

Lanchester, United Kingdom

Angela Armstrong

Melbourne VIC, Australia

Olivier

Fribourg, Switzerland

Ana Maria

California, USA

Manchester, UK

Chris

Massachusetts, United States

Annie A.

Kiama NSW, Australia

Beverly Watkins-Kowa

London, UK

Stassie King

Barbara

San Francisco, CA, USA

Alan

Montreal, Canada

Nova Franklin

Australia

Practice the art of not doing as you settle into your body and appreciate the simple ease of being.

Secular

Health & Happiness

Secular Mindfulness

Resilience

Mindfulness

Insight Meditation

English

Finding ease and appreciating awareness is an essential component of meditation, forming an important foundation for contemplative practice. Without a baseline sense of ease, it becomes challenging to use any meditation technique properly.

Finding Ease

 So taking a few moments to just relax and settle in. And before you do anything, just beginning by not doing. Our minds are so trained, so habituated to accomplishing things, that we tend to bring that conditioning into our spiritual practice. Applying a meditation technique as a strategy to produce some kind of a state or insight. And the process of meditation actually goes in the other direction. It's one of slowing down, arriving, and then looking deeply to see what's already here, rather than creating something new. So to begin with, not doing anything. Just sitting quietly. Perhaps taking stock of what's already moving in your heart, in your mind. The thoughts or energy of what you were doing before. The ideas or imaginations of what you'll do later. And without any need to change that, just simply acknowledging it. Like you're looking around a room and noticing where the windows and the doors and the furniture are. Noticing what's already here. And then perhaps, if you like, bringing forward the intention that for this time there's nothing we need to do. Nothing we need to accomplish, achieve, figure out, or become. That it's enough to just be here. It's like giving yourself a gift. A gift of this quiet, still and sacred time with yourself. This tone of just being here in a very simple and easeful way is very important for our practice. Learning to find that tone. That it's okay to just be here. Learning to find that tone. That it's okay to just be here. Recognizing that there's no pressure right now. No one's demanding anything of you. Can you sense how the space around you is open? Unobstructed. Non-intrusive. Just allowing the physical weight and heaviness of your body to gently guide your attention into the space of resting. Resting in this open space around you. Resting in this open space around you. Resting in this open space around you. Resting in this open space around you. Resting in this open space around you. Resting in this open space around you. Letting the mind enter the body. So that the steadiness, the stability, groundedness of the physical body begins to steady and stabilize our awareness. Letting your awareness fill the body. This is a very natural process. It's not something we need to strive or strain to do. The body is naturally awake. Our cells and tissues naturally feel what's happening. So we're just tuning in. Tuning into the body's own awareness in a relaxed and easy way. Feeling the steady sensations of sitting. Feeling the steady sensations of sitting. Nothing to do with the mind in any way. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. Nothing to get or have. A very simple, direct, moment-to-moment awareness. Feeling the weight, the warmth or coolness. There may be pulsing or tingling, a sense of stability or uprightness. Can you keep returning to this tone of easy presence? The ease and almost subtle pleasure of being here with awareness. You might notice sounds coming and going. The sensations of breathing in and breathing out may enter your awareness. Just allowing all of that to be known. If you notice the mind starting to struggle, get frustrated or even just wander off into a dream or a story, try not to make any of that into a problem. The knowing the awareness of whatever is happening is where you can return to this simple, available sense of ease, relaxed awareness, enjoying its own presence. Sometimes it can help to just recall the simplicity of sitting here. Just sitting quietly, nothing to do. How lovely to have the time, the space to just be with awareness. Using the body or the breathing as an anchor to steady your presence, appreciating awareness. punishes and Letting everything be exactly as it is. There's space for everything. Feeling the body sitting. Enjoying simple awareness. It's enough to just be here. It's enough to just be here. Enjoying simple awareness. Enjoying simple awareness. So as our meditation comes to a close, just wanted to offer a few reflections and suggestions on how to use this practice. This kind of relaxing into the steadiness of our own awareness. Appreciating presence. Very helpful and important to get familiar with so that we have the right tone, the right inner orientation in our meditation practice. Tone of warmth, enjoyment, and simplicity. Not trying to get anything or become something, but just being here in a very simple and easy way. And then from this place, we take up the various techniques and forms of meditation. Following the breath, scanning the body, cultivating loving kindness. So I find it helpful at the beginning of a period of meditation to take just a few minutes and remember, tune in to this kind of easy presence. Noticing and appreciating awareness for its own sake. And then you can allow that kind of natural enjoyment of being here. And then infuse your whole meditation practice from time to time during your day. See if you can slow down and stop. Come back to just appreciating being here. Thank you.