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Happy Hour: The Calming Waves of the Breath

Introduction

Hello, dear sangha^[1]. Hello, welcome. It is good to be with all of you.

To be in this world of ours at this time, given what is happening geopolitically, there may be some heaviness. Of course, it's hard not to have heaviness paying attention to the news and what is happening. During this evening's happy hour practice, I want to continue what we've been paying attention to last week in different ways, addressing the need for stability, the need for peace, and the need for groundedness, so that there is stability internally to hold and meet the challenges of the world.

We did equanimity practice last week. We also did calming the energy body with the breath; many of you seemed to like that, as it brings a sense of coming home. We did joy practice on Friday again as a way to support us in challenging times. All of these practices, including compassion practice, of course—both equanimity and joy practice can be support for a compassion practice.

So, what I'd like to invite us to engage in tonight is slightly different. We are attending to the energy body in terms of establishing calm, establishing centeredness, and establishing groundedness, which can hold both joy and sorrow. It can hold both, but there needs to be a stability. There needs to be a sense of equipoise and equanimity to hold whatever there is instead of toppling over, especially when the news in the world is so challenging, difficult, and heartbreaking.

That is all the framing that I think is necessary for tonight. Let's just settle in and practice together.

Guided Meditation

Let us arrive together as a sangha, as a community, and individually in this body, in this moment in time.

Turning the gaze inward, attending to whatever is arising in this moment here in this body, as if you are taking stock, greeting yourself. Sensing internally what's happening in different parts of the body. You can check in popcorn-style. Just getting to know: "Oh yeah, maybe the head is a little tight. Shoulders. Hands might be cool or warm. Maybe the feet are tense, maybe the sit bones are relaxed," or whatever is happening in your body. Take time. Take time.

Knowing what's happening in the body doesn't mean that we judge or we push away. We just know, "Oh, this is what's happening. Hello, dear body. Let me get to know you."

Is it possible to release, to relinquish thoughts and entanglements that are not helpful right now, as you take refuge in this moment? Taking refuge in your intentions, and the goodness of your intentions for being here, practicing. Aligning how you spend your time with your values. Taking refuge in this goodness. Just this moment, just this moment of cultivation is enough.

Maybe bring your awareness to the heart center area on the center of your chest. Let there be a sense of gentleness and kindness, as if you were gently caressing with your hand, holding the middle of your chest physically or in your mind's eye. "Okay, sweetheart. It's okay. It's okay." Softening.

Letting the breath be natural. Not so much that you are breathing, but you're being breathed. Let yourself be breathed. As if these gentle breaths are coming through the heart center, the middle of the chest. Expanding, contracting, billowing ever so gently. The rhythmic motion of the chest and the abdomen. Calming, soothing. The calming, soothing of the energy body, the body inside. Energetically releasing.

Letting yourself enjoy, be healed, be calmed, be soothed by the rhythm of the breath, the chest, the heart center, and the abdomen billowing through the body. Ever so gently happening on its own. It could be very shallow, that's fine. Let it be shallow. It doesn't matter. The breath might be slow, slow, slow. Each breath calming the body. Each breath a lullaby, reverberating through your whole body, calming the entire body. Slowly, slowly.

As thoughts arise, as they will arise, it is not a problem. No need for self-judgment or criticism. Simply notice: "Oh, this is what I'm thinking about right now. This is the thought that has arisen." For the sake of this practice, release. Not that there's anything wrong with thinking. For the sake of this cultivation, bowing to the thought, releasing: "Thank you. Please come back later. If you're important enough, you will come back."

Letting there be an enjoyment of the breath as if it's the lapping of waves. Waves lapping upon the shore of the body. The whole body. Lapping waves calming, soothing, moving through the heart center, the abdomen, the whole body. Releasing, relaxing, centering.

There's a gentleness, an expression of metta^[2], an expression of love in this gentleness of the lapping waves through the body. Filling the whole body with ease, with metta. Not overpowering, but gentle, caring. Responding to whatever is needed right now. Can you just be calmed with this loving, gentle energy? These lapping waves of the breath. May your heart be calmed, soothed, held. And your whole trunk, chest, and abdomen be soothed, calmed. The lapping waves of the breath. Gentle, gentle, ever so gently.

Can these gentle lapping waves of breath filled with metta radiate? Fill the limbs, maybe your shoulders. This calming energy moving up from the chest, filling the shoulders, the neck, radiating down the arms to the hands. Moving up through the head. Radiating down from the chest and the abdomen, down to the lower belly. Filling the sit bones. The waves calming the upper legs, pouring into the knees, the lower legs, and feet. Radiating down through the feet and upwards from the top of the head in all directions.

This calming, soothing energy of metta is not contained, not limited to where the skin ends, but further out, as if we're sitting expansive, spacious, with no boundaries of these waves lapping inside, outside. This container is greater than our body. We're sitting in this container filled with lapping waves. Gentle, gentle metta. Lapping waves of the breath filled with metta, kindness, benevolence.

This whole container that includes our body is filled with metta, with care for this being who is me. And a sense of ease. Of course, this care, this metta radiates outward. This whole body is a body of metta. Gentle, gentle, caring. Just being in the world, it radiates kindness, touching others. It doesn't have to be forced. How else could it be? A body filled with gentle metta will impact others with metta.

Let the energy body be calmed and radiate with the breath, with the metta-filled breath. Let these calmed, nourishing, lapping waves of metta be healing, grounding. Let yourself enjoy. Letting there be equal amounts radiating inside and radiating outside. This metta, this calm, this peace, radiating through the entire world as a gift you are offering. The gift of your calmness, your stability, your peace, offering that to the world with care.

May the fruits of our practice be of service, be offered freely to all beings everywhere. Our calm, our care, our stability for ourselves and others may be of service to all beings everywhere. Especially those in war zones, may they have peace and ease. May all beings be free.

Reflections and Q&A

Thank you for your practice, everyone. We have time for any reflections, any questions you may want to share. You can type in the chat if you like, or raise your Zoom hand. If you type in the chat, if it's typed to me alone, I won't read your name, just the comment so it's private. If it's typed to everyone, I'll read the name also.

Any reflections you'd like to share for the benefit of everyone in the sangha. Any questions. Also acknowledging that this practice can be quiet and very calming, this energy body practice, so you may not be moved to speak.

Bill says, "Wonderful session, Nikki, thank you." You are welcome, and thank you for your practice.

Another reflection: "Wonderful."

Deborah says, "I really appreciated the image of the lapping along the shore of the lake. Was I the lake or the shore?" Oh, I love that question. Was I the lake or the shore, or both? Love it. Thank you, Deborah, that's lovely. I love the image.

Vicky says, "Very calming indeed. I love the waves too, thank you." You're welcome, and thank you, Vicky, for your practice.

Catherine, I see your hand.

Catherine: Yeah, just... today is a very difficult day for me to settle or find ease. But I've been doing this practice now long enough to take refuge in the knowledge that that changes, and to just keep practicing and have much less reactivity to the difficulty of settling in this particular session. So I feel really grateful for that, that I can come as I am and accept myself as I am.

Nikki: Thank you for that gift. That gift of reflection, Catherine, indeed. Knowing that it's impermanent, it comes and goes. Causes and conditions arise, and sometimes it's easier to "settle," sometimes it isn't, and yet to hold all of that with kindness and acceptance, just as you said. Beautiful to have cultivated that acceptance and care no matter what. That is metta, yeah. It's not reward-oriented: "Only if you settle, then I will love you." No, "I love you either way, sweetheart. It's okay." Yeah, thanks for bringing that into the space, Catherine.

Okay, a couple more reflections: "Wonderful way to go off into the evening. Calm and centered. Very grateful, Nikki." You're welcome.

Megan says, "The wave imagery made me think of the Disney movie Moana. She is called to enter the ocean and embarks on a hero's journey. It's not easy, there are waves and storms, but she follows the call." Oh, I love that reflection! Yes, a hero's journey through our breath. Yeah, I love that. Thanks for that reflection, Megan, love the imagery.

Jerry says, "You mentioned that we need to reach out to all in war zones, but are we not in this world with the potential wars..." I'm not quite understanding the question, Jerry. I think what I meant to say is radiating out care to everyone and offering the calm. I'm not quite sure where the question is, I didn't quite get it.

"May the lapping waves shore up our body."

And one last reflection: "Thank you, Nikki. I feel strong enough to hold both joy and sorrow, yet light like a snowflake, almost free from gravity." Yeah, yeah.

Jerry is clarifying: "Are we all not in a potential war zone?" Oh, of course we are. Everything can change in any minute. Not to make us anxious, but life is just what it is. Anything can happen at any moment. You can be hit by a truck, it could be war, could be anything. And yet, can we stay calm? Can we stay centered in the middle of the waves of the ocean, supported by the internal waves of calm?

So I'd like to invite us to turn into sitting together, maybe just in silence. Maybe we just hold silent space for one another.

And one last reflection, this is from Julie on YouTube: "Thank you for a beautiful, soothing meditation. A great reminder to come back to the heart space at all times." Yes. Yeah.

So thank you all. I'll create the breakout rooms, and again, take care of yourselves, take care of each other. Maybe there's just need to hold space for one another. Maybe not much needs to be said, or maybe something needs to be said, it's all good. So I'm going to open the rooms in a moment and... yeah, take care. Here we go.

Closing Reflections

Okay, welcome back everyone. The rooms are closed, everybody's back. We just have a couple minutes if there are any last-minute reflections, especially from being together in the groups, if you'd like to share. The floor is yours.

Going once... going twice...

Okay, seems like there is a feeling of closure. Hope you enjoyed. I see a request to have some guidance about how to behave in the group. I think that is important. They often do say to please take care of yourself and take care of others, and speak from your own experience. Do not speak about other people's experience. Please, please do not do that.

And the person who privately messaged me, I would appreciate if you stay later and tell me if there are issues arising, because I really would like to make sure this is a safe place for everyone and that people don't drop out because they don't feel safe with someone talking about their experience, or anything else that's happening. So please do stay and help me help support the community.

And Deborah says, "I told my group that during the meditation I found myself stay-stay-staying instead of go-go-going." Ah, yeah. Is it a question or is it a statement? I wasn't quite sure, Deborah. I think it's a statement. Statement, yes. Okay, sounds good Deborah, we'll let that sit. We'll let that stand as it is.

So let's bring our evening to a close. Thank you so much everyone. Thank you for your practice, for your dedication, for your cultivation, both for your own sake and the sake of all beings everywhere. May all beings be free, including ourselves.

Thank you, and good night.