Tibetan Buddhism offers powerful tools for cleansing our minds and bodies of stress and anxiety -- or anything else that's obscuring our luminous buddha nature.  In this short teaching and 15-ish minute guided cleansing meditation, we imagine a figure who represents groundedness and peace to us, then imagine them blessing us to release our mental detritus.  

This episode is the audio from a video you can find in this playlist on YouTube, with other videos on what the Tibetan teachings offer us in 2020: http://bit.ly/TibBuddh.

Meditation music is by Music of Wisdom; check out their work here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNIOO-STue044Dc7RM7OXSA

Tong-len (meditation on taking and giving) has deep roots in Tibetan Buddhism.  For this practice, we imagine a version of ourselves -- or you could imagine someone else who's difficult to deal with -- and imagine relieving their suffering and offering them happiness instead.  For a deeper dive on this type of meditation and its capacity to help us cultivate compassion, see Pema Chodron's wonderful book The Places That Scare You.

In these stressful times, it's tempting to "seek refuge" in quick fixes that distract us from uncomfortable feelings of deficiency and vulnerability (like binging social media, losing ourselves reading or watching TV, doomscrolling, etc.).  But if we can remember that we contain a sacred, luminous core, that's our true refuge from life's uncertainties.

This audio comes from a video you can find here: https://youtu.be/Enh8pWuBvds.

Want to move your body and meditate at the same time?  This short, guided walking meditation track takes you through a timeless practice -- that makes a great break if you typically sit at a desk all day!

This short practice is intended to help turn down your amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for the fear and stress response), helping you find a calm center in the middle of life's storms.  It's guided, with the sounds of rain on the roof of a cabin and a cozy fire inside to help turn our attention from the stresses of the world -- the rain -- to our internal resources -- the fire.

f you practice the Buddhist path (Buddhadharma), it can be easy to fall into a rut and forget the real reasons we practice: to see into the nature of reality, to benefit all living beings, to throw the weight of our being against the systems that perpetuate suffering.  But times like we're living through now (Oct. 2020) remind us that spiritual practice isn't a hobby but a mission.  

If you've been meditating for years but find yourself sometimes overwhelmed by what we're all living through, I'm with you!  I made this video to remind myself (and invite other folks like me) that while I sometimes need to hide and practice self-care, my practice provides tools for coping with the kinds of crazy times we're experiencing now.  For guided meditations, to join my newsletter list, read my blog, and more, please visit clairevillarreal.com.  

🙏 Be well and stay safe out there, y'all.

This meditation helps you unplug from thoughts with a simple set of labels.  This one is great for a time when you're having trouble settling into meditation.

For a free meditation mini-course, see: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/essential-tools-for-meditation

Or visit my website: clairevillarreal.com