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Happy Hour: Celebrating the Body as a Gift that Serves

Introduction

Hello friends. Hi everyone. If you can hear me okay and the audio is alright, give me a thumbs up. Audio's good? Fantastic. Welcome to Happy Hour. I'm Nikki in Mountain View, California on unceded Ohlone land^[1]. As always, we are starting Happy Hour by warming the space with mettā^[2], with saying hello.

It is nice to see you. For those who don't know, I'm subbing for Gil^[3] this week at 7:00 AM, so I'm teaching both at 7:00 AM and at 6:00 PM. It is good to see you on different topics, of course. We have folks joining us from all over: New Hampshire, Santa Cruz, Illinois, California, Las Vegas, Dallas, Spokane, Oahu, Houston, San Francisco, El Paso, Alameda, DC, and even the early hours in the UK! We are definitely international right now with folks joining from lots of different time zones. I think the space is nicely warmed. I feel warmed up; my heart is warmed up by all these greetings, friendliness, and shared hellos.

Let's formally begin. I've changed the settings so accidental unmuting will not be enabled. If you're new to Happy Hour, we have a Google Group, and you're welcome to join. You can also send host chats if something dramatic happens, like my voice dropping out, but otherwise let's keep that channel quiet because it can be distracting while I'm teaching.

For our practice today, I'd like to invite us into a practice that's been coming up for me. It is a sense of appreciation, and I would say radical gratitude, for the body. For having a body, for there being a body. For aliveness, for having senses. Even if this sense of knowing, this perceiving in this plane of existence of ours, is challenged, painful, or difficult.

I feel like my heart is being called to not say so much, but instead just invite you into the experiential space and guide you there as well as I'm able to. Whatever you need for this practice will be shared with you. Whatever arises or does not arise, it's not a problem. It's not a mistake as long as you have kindness towards it. Even if it's a crowd of sorrows, just be kind. Be kind to yourself and to whatever arises. Without further ado, let's practice together.

Guided Meditation

Arriving. Arriving in the seat, arriving in this moment. Opening our senses far and wide, as if you're opening your heart wide to itself. Even if challenges are present. Breaking down the barn door. Opening the windows, trusting. Seeing that openness. Sunshine in the heart space. The sunshine of mettā, of care, of kindness, is healing.

Opening your senses as you close your eyes. Opening the sensations of the body, your sit bones. Opening every cell of your body if you can. The sensations present. The air cool. As if your body, your holy senses, is hearing, feeling, touching. Even perhaps seeing, as your eyes are closed, just some colors perhaps, or darkness, or light.

Getting out of your head. Not so much in the space of thought, thinking, and wondering, but in the world of the senses. This body. This fathom-long body. All the senses. The sensations of the body are not so overwhelming, perhaps, but soothing. Soothing in the way of grounding you, even if the sensations themselves say there is unpleasantness in the back, or the neck, or somewhere. The fact that these sensations ground you, tether you here. Here, dear heart. Here, dear mind. You're alive. We're here. You're sensing. You're feeling. Not so much thinking about it, but being immersed.

As if it's a carnival. Can you sense perhaps even just a little bit of the joyousness? The vibrations. The aliveness. The body breathing. Sensing. Hearing. As if you're relaxing the body open, soft. It doesn't take any energy or effort. It's as if you're floating on top of the water. All these senses caressing you. Soothing, grounding. Washing over you, opening you up for something different. Not the usual thought patterns, whatever you usually fall into. No, not today. Let there be space for something else. Who knows what? It doesn't matter. It's good that we don't know. The unexpected, the delight.

Sensing, feeling grounded in the body. The joy of the senses. Radical gratitude for the bounty, this mystery of all these sensations. Touch, warmth, heaviness, lightness, tingling, coolness. Light. Hearing. How amazing to have a body, to be embodied. Awakening happens in this fathom-long body. Awakening love, compassion. All of it expressed right here. So get to know, get to love, appreciate the earthy humanness. The precious impermanence of having this body. Pleasant, unpleasant, neutral—doesn't matter. Let your heart be nourished by the stream of knowing this right here, what's passing through, and what we often take for granted.

Here. There's so much here already. You don't need thoughts, distractions. Release them. Let yourself be immersed. This stream that's already here is nourishing. It can fill your heart with abundance. So much here that may not be here tomorrow. Appreciate. Open up. Your heart fully drenched in this stream of the body's perceptions that are here. Grounded, joyful, celebrating even. Joy nourishes the heart. Let your heart have a party with the bounty. Sensations, vibrations. The body: your bottom, your hands, your heart, your face, your abdomen, the bottom of your feet. Each breath. Pretty awesome. Lots of awe. Pretty awesome.

What's here? Even if it's unpleasant. As I'm guiding you, there's plenty of unpleasant sensations in my body known as pain, and yet it's delightful. Wow, all these sensations. What a bounty. What a joy to be able to feel and sense.

Celebrating the body. This vehicle for our life, our awakening, our expression in this world. Kindness, compassion, love. Celebrating this body, even if it's our teacher with pain, challenges, malfunction, disease. Celebrating nevertheless—not in spite of, but because of all that it offers us. All the goodness, all the challenges. Wow.

And can we offer this body? Can we offer this body as a vehicle for goodness to others through our deeds, actions, thoughts, and speech? This body as a vehicle, an offering to the life force in service of goodness. In service of our awakening and others', bringing goodness forth as much as possible in the world. This impermanent vehicle is fruit of the earth. Our body offered. Our actions, our kindness expressed through thoughts, words, physical actions.

You might imagine yourself, if you like, seeing yourself doing what you love. Maybe it's work, maybe it's caring for others, maybe it's your passion, maybe it's arts, maybe it's meditation. The body offering itself wholeheartedly to the life force. It's not for us to keep or take with us; it's impermanent. This body has a function to cherish, to appreciate, and to be generous. How else do you express your kindness, your care, your love, your goodwill, other than the acts of this body?

In the last minutes of this practice period, formally take the time to appreciate, to thank this body. This mystery of billions of cells. So many different levels and layers of function, understanding, perception. The cells, synapses, organs, perceptions, thoughts. Appreciating this body and this awesome mystery for being your, my, unique vehicle for sensing, feeling, knowing in the world. And for offering, acting. Yes, it ages. Yes, it falls sick. Thank you for all that you do, including the challenges you give me. May I grow, may I appreciate that this body is my vehicle for awakening, to give my gift to others.

May all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be embodied. Feel the gloriousness of having a body, whatever its shape or form. May our cultivation towards goodness, appreciation, awakening, and kindness serve all beings everywhere. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free, including ourselves.

Reflections and Q&A

Thank you all. Thank you for your practice. We have a few minutes for reflections. If you wish to offer any reflections or thoughts from this practice—if something came up, an aha moment, a gift to others, something that might have opened up, or a challenge.

Don: Thank you so much, Nikki. Your statement of offering our body struck a chord with me. I liked that one. I thought it was an interesting perspective.

Nikki Mirghafori: Thanks for highlighting that. It's true. This is our vehicle, right? This is how we speak and act, pick up a phone and call up a friend who's having challenges, and take care of ourselves, feed ourselves. All of it.

Richard: I sort of feel like my body is there all the time. I don't have to work to make it appear, or focus on it. Instead, I just sort of fall into it. Partly because I often meditate on my back, so I have this sense of just falling and relaxing into it, as opposed to looking at this part of the body, and looking at that part of the body.

Nikki Mirghafori: Yes, Richard, many of us have a tendency to do what is easy for us. We've done that and we keep doing that, but that could be limiting. This meditation was an invitation to not just do the usual, to not have blinders on and think, "This is what I always do, this is the path I always take." It could be a lovely path—it might have lots of flowers—but it's the same path. What if you go down different paths? Wow, different things could open up. Maybe there's a different path to awakening that your body has access to that you have never even imagined, just because your usual way is easy and you always do it. So, consider that. Thank you for bringing that up.

Barbara: What came up for me today was an opportunity to appreciate a little pain. I had a routine dental appointment this morning, just a routine teeth cleaning. I said, "You know, since I'm here, I gotta say that I have sort of an ache in the side of my face and it's been there for weeks. Could you take a look at it?" They looked and went, "Oh yeah, your bite is off. Let's just polish it here and do that there." And so I was like, "Oh, thank you so much." It was such a gift that I had just this little aching that was informing me.

Nikki Mirghafori: Nice, I like that. This appreciation for the pain as a signal, as a way to say, "Oh yeah, this is what's going on, let's bring attention here." And also, in a way, I'd like to tie it into what I was bringing today in the practice, which is opening up to the possibility of completely shifting the perception about unpleasant sensation, or even pain, as being bad. Not just finding value in it as a signal, but taking it one level beyond that.

As I was sharing with you while you were sitting here, I have pain in my body, and yet there can be gratitude. There can be celebration, like, "Yes, I have a body that senses, that has pain." It's a celebration for everything in life. There's a saying: "The Great Way is easy for those who have no preferences."^[4] Can there be a moment, maybe not always, where there is no preference? "Wow, unpleasant sensation. This is amazing. Feel the sensations here. How amazing to be human and have these sensations." So I appreciate what you said, and I'm using it as an opportunity to add this on top of it. Thank you, Barbara.

Let's turn towards practicing in small groups, and let's consider small groups actually as an opportunity to express kindness. You've been expressing appreciation, gratitude, and this sense of wonder for this body. Now, what if you express the sense of wonder with two other human beings who are conscious and can speak and act out of kindness? Remember, your body is a vehicle for kindness. Can you show up in the room as a vehicle for kindness? This is practice for being out in the world with your family, loved ones, strangers, people you have difficulty with, people who get on your nerves. Can you be a vehicle for kindness?

Share kindness in these small groups. The invitation is for you to say just one nugget, whatever you want to share. And if you want to share silence and hold kindness, that's fine. The next person will say one nugget, and we come back to you. Let's go in reverse alphabetical order and just say something offering kindness, not managing the group, not serving as a facilitator, just showing up with your own kindness. Here, this is what I have: my body as a vehicle. Let's see what might arise in this space. It's an opportunity to share kindness with each other. The prompt is: How do you take joy in your body being a vehicle in the world for kindness, for service?

(Small group breakout sessions)

Welcome back everyone. We have a couple of minutes if there are any reflections that have come up that you would like to share.

Sarah: I had a cool image come up during the meditation, and when I shared it in group, people seemed to really like it as well. It was this image of unwrapping gifts of sensations. Like having a sensation come up and opening it as if it were a beautifully wrapped present, to be able to fully embrace it and really acknowledge it more completely. A lot of times I'll push things away or kind of half-ass feel them, and this was a really supportive image to feel more fully. If some emotion or feeling comes up and I don't want to feel it, in this meditation it just presented itself as, "Okay, you can fully unwrap this, you can let it out, let it really take up space."

Nikki Mirghafori: Oh, that's so beautiful. Thanks for sharing that, Sarah. That is lovely. This gift that you're unwrapping, this sense of delight and appreciation and gladness. "Oh, this sensation is a gift." Was this for any sensation, pleasant or unpleasant?

Sarah: I was using it a lot of times with emotions disguised as sensations that came up through my torso. But no, it's for anything.

Nikki Mirghafori: Beautiful. I love this beautiful image, to not just let it be, but also embrace it, really accept it as a gift. "Hey, you are a gift. You're an unpleasant vedanā^[5], an unpleasant feeling tone, dear emotion, dear sensation, and yet you are a gift. Let me unwrap you and see what your potential is here." So beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.

Dear ones, thank you for bringing your bodies to this practice. Thank you for bringing your heart, your mind, your bodies to practice, aligning your bodies with your intention. May all beings be well. May all beings be free, including ourselves. Take good care. See you tomorrow morning for those of you who show up at 7:00 AM.