In one of his most famous poems, Rumi says, “This being human is a guest house.Every morning a new arrival.” The poet urges us to consider every emotion that comes knocking on the door of our awareness with a spirit of openness and curiosity. “A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.” he says. “Welcome and attend them all!” (Read the whole poem here.)

I love this image so very much. I imagine us going about our lives, puttering about in in our slippers, and then hearing the doorbell ring. I imagine us heading toward the door with eagerness rather than impatience or even dread. I imagine us graciously greeting whoever stands at the threshold, offering a warm smile and a welcoming spirit.

What if we treated every experience in our lives with such reverence and respect? What if we welcomed everyone into our field of awareness with whole heart, even - and perhaps especially - the ones we’re not sure we want? Most days, this may be a bit of a stretch. But, doesn’t it also sound like an enlightened way of being in the world?

In this 25-minute gentle flow - interspersed with a generous helping of what meditation teacher Jack Kornfield calls “benevolent rest” - we’ll continually revisit the inner sensations of our lives as honored guests worthy of our attention. We’ll nudge ourselves toward accommodating with warmth the experience of the moment, moving beyond simply loving or hating every sensation we meet.

And maybe, through this experience, we’ll find ourselves settling just a little more faithfully into the guest house of our lives - welcoming all that is with respect, curiosity, and tenderness.

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It can be such a relief in the midst of our busy lives to give ourselves permission to set the to-do list aside and slip into resting mode, even for a little while. We settle into our favorite cozy spot - on the ground, in bed or in our favorite chair. We turn our gaze inward and we practice the fine are of letting everything be, just as it is.

What a relief! The world will spin on without us and it will be there for us when we return. In the meantime, for just a few moments we soften our clenched fists and release our fierce grip on the reins of life. We return home to a sense of unshakable wellbeing as we remember our deep connection with the greater flow of life.

This 12-minute guided relaxation offers an opportunity to practice resting deeply, even amid the busy-ness of our lives. Our bodies soften, our nervous systems settle and our minds grow clear. We remember who we are and how we want to live, in love and connection with the vast flow of life.

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We spend much of our lives fixated on the past and the future, and this habit has a tendency to perpetuate suffering. We rehash the past. We fret over the future. Our minds spin round and round trying to make sense of the world yesterday and life tomorrow.

And yet, the only place we have true agency and power is here. The only time we are able to take action is now. With feet firmly planted, with eyes open wide, we change the world one moment at a time, in acts large and small. We counter hatred with love. We answer deception with truth. We combat disregard with deep care. And no matter what, moment by moment and step by step, we remain committed to our primary mission here on earth: to ease suffering and cultivate love on behalf of all beings everywhere.

Sages the world over have taught us that the present moment is the ideal touchstone. Whenever we feel stressed or lost or uncertain, coming back to our senses right here and now can help us find our way. We breathe in and we breathe out. We sense our fingers and our toes. We move our bodies this way and that, paying close attention to the sensations that accompany each stretch.

Through these actions, we settle the nervous system and steady the mind. Life comes back into focus and we see more clearly who we are and how we want to move through life. We return to the loving, wise, clear-hearted beings we are always meant to be. We recover the unshakeable peace and unbreakable wellbeing that allow us to live with wisdom and compassion.

In being fully present we see most clearly the proper path forward.

This 30-minute practice helps us settle into the balm of the present moment. We rest a little, we move a little, and then we settle into stillness some more. We watch what happens as we return our attention to the sensations of life passing through us. Breath by breath, we are returned to ourselves: bright, vital, potent and clear.

We shift out of then-time into now-time. We climb out of fear and we return to love. We relinquish small-mindedness and we sense deep communion. We expand our identity, our compassion, our care, out beyond little time-bound mortal me and into the wide open sky of we, of us, of the whole wide world.

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Hatha yoga classes traditionally end with a guided relaxation called savasana, or corpse pose. After having moved the body and freed the breath, we rest in stillness. Within this quiet space, we cultivate a steady, rich awareness that helps us feel deeply alive in the moment and utterly at home in the world.

In many ways, the entire session leading up to the last few minutes of yoga class is preparation for savasana. In the more active portion of class, we move and breathe and release tension, so that when we come to stillness at the end of class, we are primed to open to the clarity and tenderness deep within.

This 10-minute guided relaxation is, in fact, a savasana from one of the yoga classes I offer each week. (It even includes a little birdsong and a gentle rain shower.) I hope it gives you a taste of contentment, even if you haven’t enjoyed a session of mindful movement beforehand. Or, better yet, stand up and move gently for a few moments, and then settle onto the ground for what I hope will be a tasty dessert.

A few quiet moments feel like a balm and a gift, especially amid the din of our busy world. Just a few moments of rest nestled into the folds of our lives can reset our bodies and our minds, helping us cultivate steadiness and light even amid the challenges of life.

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There is a common misconception in the world of yoga and other somatic disciplines that if we want to harness the true power of the breath we need to huff and puff in huge and aggressive ways. We are taught to sound like Darth Vader as we vault from one yoga pose to the next. We are taught to hold our bodies taut and then gulp big breaths of air… as if bigger is always better and more is always best.

Beautifully, there’s another way to breathe that can be even more potent and restorative. Ancient adepts suggested that we relax deeply into a state where the breath can be slow, steady, quiet and nearly imperceptible to the outer eye and ear. Sometimes called the subtle breath or the embryonic breath, this tender-hearted approach can leave us feeling relaxed and also quietly revitalized. It feels like a gentle breeze on a lazy afternoon.

This 14-minute practice offers an introduction to this subtle way of breathing and being in the world. What a relief to remember that less is often more. What a relief to shed our need for speed and over-caffeination. What a gift to explore the possibility of letting the body, breath and mind grow deeply calm… simple light, spacious and free.

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Even the Dalai Lama agrees that the purpose of life is to be happy. But what exactly does that mean? What constitutes happiness and how do we find our way there?

Does happiness come from savoring a fresh raspberry as it bursts on the tongue? Does it come from a sense of mission in one’s broader life? Or does it come from sensing a deep and radiant connection between our small self and the vast Self of the world? Yes, yes and yes!

In this 19-minute practice, we’ll explore three important pillars of happiness: pleasure, purpose and peace. This is a restful and meditative practice that could be explored sitting upright or perhaps tucked in a cozy chair with a cup of tea.

Spending time contemplating the experiences and relationships that bring us alive can incline our minds toward a deeply embodied sense of happiness and wellbeing. This sort of contemplation can also cultivate clarity about aspects of our lives that might need a little tending and care. My hope is that returning to this practice from time to time might shine new light on the pillars of happiness in your own life.

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The modern world loves extremes, but age-old wisdom points us toward the middle way. The excitement of heading to the far edge of the world can wake us up, for sure. But, oh, what a relief it is to let go of the need to be on fire in order to feel alive. There is nothing quite like the sweet relief of coming home to ease and balance, to the discovery that not much needs to happen in order for us to feel happy, right here and right now.

In between too tight and too loose we warm to the possibility that we already have everything we need. We notice that we don’t have to travel far from home in order to feel content. We consider the possibility that less is sometimes more. And blessedly, our expectations of ourselves and the world begin to soften just a bit. Sometimes we even embrace the possibility that good enough might just be enough.

This 35-minute movement sequence embodies the possibility that we don’t have to travel to extremes in order to cultivate balance and wellbeing. Lying on our backs, close to the ground, we commit to soft, easy, pain-free movement. We relinquish some long-held beliefs and welcome some new ones. We let go of the “no pain, no gain” mentality. We cultivate flexibility of mind and heart. And when this happens, we settle toward a state of of profound peace and ease, at home in the very middle of our lives.

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Every spiritual practice, one way or another, brings us back to our own good hearts and the love the shines forth from within. We may not join a yoga class because we want to soften our hearts. We may not begin meditating because we want to cultivate goodwill. But in some mysterious bit of spiritual magic, these practices transform us into kinder and more compassionate human beings.

The Buddhist practice of lovingkindness, or metta meditation, offers an explicit pathway to cultivating good heart. In lovingkindness meditation, we call up images of people in our lives and we send wishes for happiness and wellbeing in their direction. We may not know for sure whether these wishes change others, but we very quickly learn that they can change us in profound ways.

In this 19-minute guided practice, we’ll explore a variation of the traditional Buddhist practice of lovingkindness meditation. This contemplation is a little more free-form than is often taught, but I hope it brings a smile to your face nonetheless. We settle into a restful position and reclaim our own good hearts. We rest and breathe and be. And we befriend the world, moment after moment, one heart to another.

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The promise of spiritual practice is that it will help us find our way toward a deep and lasting sense of peace in ourselves and the world. Call it enlightenment or nirvana or wholeness or wellbeing. The hopeful proposition is that there is a way of being that embodies profound wakefulness and also deep equanimity, even in the very same breath.

Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh called this inner wellbeing the “island of self,” and he urged his students to return to this quiet refuge every day. “If you don’t go home to yourself, you continue to lose yourself,” he wrote. “You destroy yourself and you destroy people around you, even if you have goodwill and want to do something to help. That is why the practice of going home to the island of self is so important. No one can take your true home away.”

This 22-minute reclined practice - with gentle movement, easy breathing, and a return the here-and-now - explores the possibility of reconnecting with our own inner refuge. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to nudge us out of confusion and in the direction of clarity and calm.

The ultimate teaching, of course, is that peace is already here, that we don’t need to go searching for it. Making sense of this koan is advanced practice, for sure. How is it possible that the very thing we are seeking is already nestled deep within us, just waiting to be found? With devoted practice, day-by-day we move ever closer to the answer.

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Here’s a news flash: You already know how to breathe! Your body is exquisitely tuned to know just when and how to inhale and exhale. Even though we are primed in our culture to look for answers outside of ourselves, here’s an opportunity to try something different.

Put aside the breathing books and instructions (for a little while, at least, in the name of curiosity and investigation). Stop counting breaths. Stop holding breaths. Stop manipulating or micromanaging. (No worry, you can return to these techniques - which do have their place - later.)

Instead, in this restful 21-minute session, settle into the beautiful rhythms and melodies of your own body, as you inhale and exhale without a drill sergeant watching over you. Let the breath go and let it be. Take a lighter approach. Learn about your own signature “breath print.” Trust. Be curious and be amazed.

And, of course, relax. The more we allow the body to settle into a restful and easy space, the freer the breath becomes. With each muscle that unclenches, with each ounce of tension that melts away, we move closer to that organic and whole-bodied breath we were born with. As we unravel holding patterns and long-held armoring, we make room for the return of our natural, responsive, full-bodied way of breathing. And when that happens, our whole being smiles and sighs in relief.

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