Meditation: Calm Like a Mountain, Open Like the Sky with Dr. Rick Hanson

I offer these every week along with a short teaching just click the Subscribe link below to be notified through YouTube when I post the recording of the latest one or if you'd like to join me live which I'd really welcome go down into the description section below and follow the link along to be able to sign up for [Music] free I'm rck and I'm glad you're here uh it just feels like um for me being here feels somewhat like coming home in general and maybe that's related to the ways in which meditation itself is a kind of homecoming you know it is sometimes said that the root of all illness or the root of all sickness is homesickness and there are many ways to understand that that deep um proverb and and the root of all Health therefore is coming home and being at home including at home in yourself at home in the present at home in the place where you are uh at home with all that you're experiencing so let's meditate together here and come home um together to that deep place inside that is a kind of Refuge from which we can be with and be aware of thoughts and feelings emotional reactions desires flowing through awareness while U being a witness to them with an increasingly calm and and deep and stable sense of presence of beingness that is aware of the ongoing stream of Consciousness that's really the essence of meditation it's um we've all meditated if only seconds at a time in our life and here we're deliberately training in this way of being so that increasingly it tends to pervade and Infuse uh everyday life even even when we're not formally practicing so let's let's uh let's dive in find a posture that helps you to be comfortable and alert often it's useful to plant your feet firmly on the floor if you're sitting you know help yourself settle into your chair maybe a little back support um can be helpful you can have your eyes open or closed kind of a central quality uh in meditation is a kindness to ourselves uh we're setting aside this time we're welcoming inner kindness we're welcoming um every part of ourselves to the party uh we're welcoming whatever we're experiencing it's okay and we're kind of standing up for ourselves inside if something's painful or difficult we're helping ourselves to be with it so here we have qualities of homecoming Landing arriving and we have qualities of heartfelt including toward ourselves let's take a few moments here to explore the combination of the sense of [Music] arriving homecoming combined with a sense of however you feel it of being warmhearted [Music] or openhearted together this is a sense of being present with an open heart for e it's okay if thoughts and feelings little mini movies pass through awareness that's fine let them come let them go well you explore what it's like to feel present with an open heart maybe particularly aware of the feeling of breathing in the area of the heart e e it can help to let attention wander through your body to feel more and more connected with every part of your body you can do this systematically paying attention to different parts of your body let's say starting with the feet and working your way up to the head or down from the head to the feet and using this body awareness to deepen the sense being present with an open heart if your mind wanders just come on back if it's uncomfortable to be aware of your body that's quite common it's okay if you like you could be aware of the room that you're in a sense of its spaciousness and stability stable floor sturdy walls solid ceiling whether you're aware of your body or the room that you're in it's a way to establish yourself in a sense of place with a sense of okayness so it's all right to be openhearted and stably present e e e you can be gently intentional about remaining present you can be Gent ly determined to stay present making the minimal but necessary effort to remain present and undistracted breath after breath e e from time to time you can recognize what it's like to rest with a open and kind heart on while staying stably present what's this like and you can be aware of what feels good about it which will help to internalize it help to establish this way of being in you in its way it's a combination of being loving and strong together present and openhearted together there might be a sense of being like a mountain the Buddha talked about that stable inviting rooted undisturbed by the storms that pass on by can you can you find a sense of this of being like a mountain accepting and [Music] inviting while being strong and enduring and present e e e e e you might have a sense of something deep within [Music] you connecting with something deep within the Earth perhaps a sort of line of energy or an intuition you like a [Music] mountain rooted in the Earth e e e e e e as you inhale you can explore possibly feeling that something deep inside you in your body your diaphragm and belly and pelvic floor and inner thighs and legs as you inhale there's a kind of opening there opening downward opening into the Earth and as you inhale a kind of rising energy or sensation moving up from Below in a ongoing flow connecting you like a mountain feeling increasingly stable and rooted and strong e e e and like from a mountain you can see very far in all [Music] directions here in this meditation you might find a combination of feeling both very rooted and also very open with a heart open spaciousness of awareness extending in all directions what's this combination like stably rooted while being spaciously open and warmhearted and aware e e e e e e e e e e e that's [Music] [Music] [Music] the for