In this guided meditation, guest teacher Stephanie Noble invites you to come home to the present moment with loving-kindness and without judgment. By gently noticing your breath, body, and sensations, you'll practice releasing tension, embracing your interconnectedness with all life, and finding a sense of belonging in the simple experience of being alive.
This guided meditation session focuses on the practice of \"coming home\" to the present moment. By releasing judgment and utilizing physical anchors, the practitioner is encouraged to embrace a state of loving kindness and interconnectedness, recognizing that mindfulness is a non-linear journey rather than a pursuit of perfection.
So let's close our eyes,
just settle in, just
relaxing and releasing
any tightness,
any holding you might not have even been aware of with your eyes open.
If you don't like your eyes closed,
of course,
you can just have them lowered.
That's more comfortable for you, a downward gaze.
But with that one sense released,
suddenly the other senses become
stronger and more noticeable.
So you can really feel the seat beneath you
and your feet are on the floor, feel the earth
supporting you,
feel any tightness,
relax and release, let go.
What we're really doing is
coming home
to this
moment just
as it is,
noticing
all the
sensations,
noticing
The rising and falling of the breath in whatever way it naturally does.
Noticing
preferences,
opinions,
judgments, all
of these are part
of the mental
activity
that naturally
goes on.
But now we're just really doing
an exercise and simply noticing,
not judging them, not scolding ourselves,
trying to do better.
Just being as fully present as we can be in this moment.
Home to this moment, just as it is.
Home
to
this
moment,
just
as
it
is.
Greeting it with loving kindness, with metta.
Infinite loving kindness,
released of all judgment, preferences.
Wishing things to be different than they are.
Sensing in.
Felt
sense
of
being
alive
in
this
moment
that
you're
lost
in
thought
or
lost
in
a
fog,
drifting,
Invite
yourself
to
come
home
to
this
moment,
to
this
felt
sense
of
being
alive,
let
your
heartbeat
be
an
anchor,
sense
of
air
on
your
skin
be
an
anchor,
just
imagine.
All life holding you in an open
and loving embrace, intrinsic
interconnectedness, fully
supporting this expression of life,
putting itself into being
that you call I and me,
just releasing the labels
and letting yourself relax
into that open sense,
being fully home,
loving expression
of life, part of the earth
and the stars.
There's a poem from my book The Invitation
to Insight called Prodigal Mind.
When my mind returns to the breath,
there is such a sense of homecoming,
such a celebration of this most perfect union,
that I would not be surprised
if the invitations were sent out,
the band hired, and the cake decorated.
Were there only enough time?
Before my wayward mind sets off
to wandering again,
because that's the way it is, isn't it?
A little bit like dancing
on the head of a pin, but we get more
and more stability the more we
practice. And sometimes it's not.
It's not so stable. Sometimes it is.
It's not really a linear
progression, because life is not like that.
There are moments when meditation is just what we need,
but it isn't perfect.
Looking for perfection
is really a waste of our time.
Just in the last two minutes.
Oh, it doesn't have to become perfect, Gana.
It doesn't have to become perfect.
I don't think there is such a thing as perfection.
Thank you for that.
I'm going to ring the bell in one minute,
but I'm going to give you just one last minute.
To just come home fully into the body
to the felt sense of being alive and set
the intention to do this on a regular basis,
not just as a practice, but moment to moment,
being present and filled with loving kindness
in traffic, at the grocery store, everywhere.
Take a breath, release,
and set your intention.
