Someday Farm

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perhaps you can follow along?

(And be in the dark as much as my students)

:)

I recorded this by chance and by mistake. Then figured, perhaps its fun to share.

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a Guided Meditation: a Posture's Order and Entropy

Introduction

Take a moment to find a comfortable seat, whether on a cushion, a chair, or the floor. Or a comfortable place to stand. A comfortable position. Allow yourself to arrive fully in this space, setting aside any distractions or judgments. This is a great time to turn off any devices. Turn your gaze inward. This is your time to be present, to observe the natural ebb and flow of life through the lens of your posture.

Let us enter this practice with a sense of ease and gentleness, cultivating awareness and appreciation for every sensation. Together, we will embrace a cycle of mindful improvement and natural surrender, finding beauty in both states.

Welcome, dear meditator...

Remember, if at any point it feels wise to suspend this Practice - allow yourself the grace to slip back into ordinarinesss.

During this meditation our posture will be tended to and it will wilt. Let's not stay so focused on the intent that we experience or endure any discomfort. Feel free at any point to slip away.

Let us begin.

First Phase: Attending to and Improving Posture (1 Minute)

Bring your attention to your breath, letting its gentle rhythm guide you. As you inhale, invite length and lightness into your spine. Picture your vertebrae stacking one atop another, like pearls on a string, each aligning in harmony. Soothed and soothing.

Roll your shoulders back softly, opening the chest and creating space for your breath. Imagine your head as a buoy, lightly floating atop your neck, its weight evenly balanced.

With each exhale, release tension - softening the jaw, the hands, the belly. Feel your posture refine itself, not through force, but through care.

Notice the subtle shifts as your body adjusts, each micro-movement deliberate yet effortless. In this minute, savor the act of improving your posture, not as a task, but as an expression of love.

Second Phase: Observing Posture's Entropy (1 Minute)

In this phase, we let go of the effort to maintain perfection. Without judgment, allow your posture to soften and curve. Feel the pull of gravity as your body gently yields. Slightly. Perhaps your shoulders relax forward, or your spine rounds slightly. These shifts are natural, a reminder of the impermanence in all things.

As you observe these changes, continue to breathe with ease. Watch your body's surrender as if witnessing the setting of the sun - beautiful, inevitable, and peaceful. There is no need to intervene, only to notice. Relish the freedom in letting go, just as you embraced the joy of improvement.

Repeating the Cycle (5 More Minutes)

Now let’s flow between these two phases - attending to your posture with loving care for one minute, then releasing into its natural entropy for the next. With each cycle, stay at ease, observing without attachment. Enjoy the dance of effort and surrender, growth and decline, negentropy and entropy.

Feel the breath guiding you, steady and calm. Let each phase be a mirror of life's rhythms, teaching you to cherish both creation and dissolution as equal parts of the whole.

Let's start with the Order and follow with the Entropy. So, the first minute we will continually and only slightly improve our posture. In the second minute we will observe the continual and slight dissolution of posture. So minute one we act, minute two we watch the action. In minute three, and at the start of each minute and to signify the changing of our role, I will ring the chimes so you know, so in minute three we will rebuild. Minute four, we return to overseeing the dissolving posture. The final and fifth minute we will return to rebuilding. Odd minutes we improve, even minutes we oversee entropy. Got it?

Our 1st minute begins now:

Improve posture.

In this minute savor the sense of alignment.

2nd

Observing dissolving posture.

In this minute, savor surrender.

3

Improve posture.

In this minute, savor the growing space afforded by improved posture.

4

Observe dissolving posture.

In this minute, savor the return to Earth that is promised each of us.

5

Improve posture.

In this last minute, savor the cycle of growth and wilting. Savor the blessing to observe without anxiety both growth and death.

Goodbye Section

As our practice comes to a close, allow your posture to settle into its natural state, whatever that may be. No judgment, only all-over comfort. Complete comfort, within the being as well as without. Take a deep inhalation, filling yourself with ease.

This has been a wonderful time of self-awareness and gentle exploration. Exhale softly, letting go of any lingering tension.

Carry the lessons of this meditation with you - an understanding that life is a balance of shaping and yielding, effort and rest, growth and decay. These rhythms, when embraced, bring us closer to harmony.

When you're ready, open your eyes and return to the world. The peace of this moment will always be as close as a considered return to posture - or a keen awareness of surrender to a slouch.

Thank you for sharing this Practice. May you go forth with ease and joy.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shhdragon.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shhdragon.substack.com/subscribe

a Guided Meditation: Bodhi, Slowly

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Remember, you have the strength within you to overcome stage fright.

Embrace these moments as opportunities for growth and connection.

I hope this guided meditation helps you or anyone else facing stage fright.

Find a comfortable position, either sitting or standing, where you can feel grounded and at ease. Close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so, or gently lower your gaze. Let's begin by centering ourselves with a few deep breaths.

* Mindful Breathing:

Take a deep breath in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand. Hold it comfortably full for a moment. Exhale slowly through your mouth, releasing any tension in your body. Repeat this deep breathing for a few cycles, focusing on the sensation of the breath entering and leaving your body.

* Bodily Awareness:

Bring your attention to your feet. Feel the connection between your feet and the ground, as if roots are growing from your soles, anchoring you firmly to the Earth. Slowly move your awareness up through your legs, noticing any areas of tension or discomfort. Allow these areas to soften and relax with each breath. You can massage or pat or slap or hold them. You can shake these areas. Dance if you like! Continue this bodily scan, moving up through your torso, shoulders, arms, and neck, until you reach the top of your head.

* Continue breathing in through the nose and deep into the belly, feeling full for a moment, and then releasing tension or anxiety with each outgoing breath.

* Mudrā Practice:

Place your hands in the Añjali mudrā at your heart center, with palms touching and fingers pointing upward. This mudrā symbolizes respect and balance. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, gently press your palms together, feeling the warmth and connection between them. Now, move your hands into the Abhaya mudrā. Raise your right hand to shoulder height with the palm facing outward, a gesture of fearlessness. Keep your left hand low and down at your side, palm facing forward. Hold this mudrā for a few breaths, focusing on the strength and confidence it embodies.

* Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta):

Continue breathing in through the nose and deep into the belly, feeling full for a moment, and then releasing tension or anxiety with each outgoing breath. Silently repeat the following phrases, directing them towards yourself: "May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease."With each repetition, imagine a warm, glowing light surrounding you, filling you with a sense of peace and compassion. Now, offer these same intentional words to any others who may be present or who you will be performing for: "May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease." Feel the connection and warmth between you and your audience, recognizing our shared humanity.

* Movement and Release:

Gently roll your shoulders forward and backward, releasing any lingering tension. Stretch your arms upward, as if reaching for the sky, and then slowly bring them down, imagining any remaining anxiety melting away. Continue breathing in through the nose and deep into the belly, feeling full for a moment, and then releasing tension or anxiety with each outgoing breath. Finally, shake out your hands and arms, letting go of any remaining nervous energy. Jump a bit and stomp...feel anything shake loose and fall away that is ready to come free. Feel freer.

* Closing:

Bring your hands back to the Añjali mudrā at your heart center. Take a final deep breath in, and as you exhale, gently bow your head in gratitude. For this reflective, supportive, & nurturing moment of mindfulness and loving-kindness. When you're ready, slowly open your eyes and return to the present moment, feeling calm, confident, & ready to perform. Go on out there! Have a blast and show your spirit!

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This guided meditation is meant to involve your senses while integrating breathing practices and TCM insights.

This meditation is not meant to replace medical advice but to complement your healing journey. Feel free to adjust it to suit your preferences - after all, in Dàoism, the way is always flexible. Please do not construe this guided meditation as medical advice or treatment. Instead, allow it to be a holistic adjunct for a wise health plan.

In the Dàoist tradition, healing often involves harmonizing with natural energies, emphasizing balance, & cultivating a deep sense of flow within the body.

This is a guided meditation that aligns with these Principles. It is designed to support the body's natural ability to address the imbalance of a persistent fever.

Guided Meditation: Flowing with the Inner River

Begin by finding a quiet, comfortable space where you can sit or lie down. Sit comfortably, spine aligned like a mountain rising into the heavens. If you need to be laying on your back, you can instead simply imagine yourself sitting upright - a mountain rises even in repose!

Close your eyes and begin with three deep breaths. Each breath will fill the lower portion of the belly. As you inhale, imagine drawing fresh energy from the vastness of the cosmos into your lungs. As you exhale, allow your body to soften, your weight sinking into the Earth, grounding you.

OK, now:

Let's draw in limitless and flowing cosmic energy with this inbreath.

Let's soften and sink with this outbreath.

Three breath cycles, three times...

Allow yourself to settle into stillness.

The Scene Unfolds

Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a calm, flowing River. You've enjoyed a brief and pleasing stroll through a most beautiful countryside. Beyond a clearing, with birdsong as accompaniment, you've happened upon a slow-flowing, wide, and inviting River. The stones resting within are polished and smooth, the glisten where sunlight finds where water'd been. This River is not separate from you - it is your Dào, the natural flow of life within you. Notice how the River meanders gently, its currents cool and soothing. This River, all Rivers, you... are each forever curling toward a vast and receptive ocean.

Envision yourself stepping barefoot onto smooth, sun-warmed stones at the River’s edge. The sunlight is dappled through the leaves of a few overhanging witnesses to the River's ancient journey - beech trees, perhaps. And willows, too. The sun is reflecting back to you in gold where it's found some sandy-bottomed corners of the River. The air is fresh, infused with the green, lively aroma of moss and wet earth. Unseen birds insist on never being un-heard. Perhaps you've even wet your feet a bit, now.

A light breeze brushes your skin, cool yet gentle, carrying whispers of distant forests. Bend to touch the water - it feels silken, cool enough to invigorate yet soft enough to soothe. Bring a palm of water to your lips, smell it as it comes closer to you. Sunlight plays, shimmeringly on the underside of a leaning tree trunk. A creature scampers there. The River tastes faintly mineral-rich, like a liquid's secret echo of ancient stones. The rippling melody of flowing water fills the air, overlaid with occasional birdsong and the faint rustle of reeds.

Now, bring your attention to the warmth within your body. See this heat, wherever it happens to be localized, as a patch of sunlight on the River’s surface. Beneath the sunny surface, water flows. Far above, the sun falls and clouds pass. The patch of warmth will pass. All things flow, all things transform. The patch of warm water is not a villain; it is simply energy that has gathered and in time will move. Welcome the warmth with compassion, as though greeting an old friend.

OK, now:

Let's draw in the breath from the cosmos - fresh and vital.

Let's exhale, softening and sinking into Earth.

Three breath cycles, three times...

Allow yourself to settle into stillness.

Breathing with the Flow of the River

This River is your lifeforce, your Qì, flowing ceaselessly through the channels of your body.

Consider matching your breath to its rhythm:

* Inhale slowly through the nose. Feel the cool River breeze entering your nostrils, traveling down to your lungs, and expanding your lower Dāntián. Let your belly rise fully. This is nurturing Qì,the motherly energy that nourishes your inner balance.

* Hold for a moment. Visualize the breath pooling in your lower Dāntián like still water, gathering its strength.

* Exhale softly through slightly parted lips. Imagine the warmer energy of the fever dissolving into the River’s current. A current devoted to carrying away all that it might carry. The longer your exhale, the calmer the waters within.

Let's repeat this breathing pattern, slow and deliberate, for several cycles.

With each exhale, feel the fever’s excess energy dispersing, its heat soothed by the River’s eternal coolness.

Remember:

Slowly, breath in through the nose, cool - arriving in lower belly.

Briefly held, pooling in lower belly.

Exhaling, through slightly parted lips, the heat is drawn away.

OK, now:

Let's draw in slowly and thoughtfully.

Inhaling, we receive from the Cosmos.

Exhaling, we sink into Earth.

Heat receding as we exhale.

Three breath cycles, three times...

Settling into stillness.

Settled in regard to flow.

Let's stay with this a bit...

I'm feeling it.

With your next inhale, draw cool, refreshing energy from the River into your body. Imagine it entering through the soles of your feet, flowing upward like a gentle stream. Bubbling, burbling, babbling. With your exhale, let the warm energy inside you dissolve into the River’s current, carried away with ease.

Take your time here. With each cycle of breath, feel the balance returning, the warmth and coolness meeting and harmonizing. Each arriving at the meeting with a gift for the other. The Fever a gift for the River, the River a gift for the Fever.

With inhalations, cosmic and cool energy flows into your lungs, into your being.

With exhalations, the Earth receives your softening, the River receives your warmth.

If your mind begins to wander, focus on the sound of the water. Imagine its gentle murmuring, the way it rolls around river stones without resistance, flowing ever onward...toward a great ocean.

The fever, like the River, is part of a natural rhythm. It will pass when its purpose is fulfilled.

Bring your awareness to your lower Dāntián. Visualize it as a calm, deep pool at the River’s center. Let this pool collect and balance the cool and warm currents within you, becoming a reservoir of harmony.

With inhalations, cosmic and cool energy flows into your being.

With exhalations, the Earth receives you, the River receives your warmth.

Remain here, breathing deeply, until you feel a sense of equilibrium returning to your body and mind.

Wisdom from TCM

With the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we see a fever may arise from internal heat, often linked to an imbalance of Yīn and Yáng or stagnation within the body. Imagine this River as your internal network of meridians, flowing freely when the body is in harmony. As you breathe and visualize, invite the cool, Yīn-like qualities of the water to temper the overactive Yáng within you.

生氣, Shēng Qì, the vital energy of the landscape itself, Is flowing through this wondrous River's landscape and now with you, through you!

Let your mind drift deeper into the sensory richness of the scene. The coolness of the River now spreads through your entire body, soothing inflamed pathways. Imagine this cooling effect reaching your Liver and Heart, organs often associated with heat conditions in TCM. The River washes over these centers, harmonizing them with the rest of your being.

OK, now:

Let's draw in and soften and sink as we exhale. Three breath cycles, three times...

Softening, and slowing...

Heat receding...

Harmonizing Through Poetic Reflection

“The River knows no struggle; it bends around stones with grace. Its touc…

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Meditation on the Dào and the Mountain

a Dàoist Guided Meditation for addressing Political Anxiety

Settling Into Presence Begin by sitting comfortably.  Let your spine naturally align, neither rigid nor slouched - a balanced pillar between the Heavens and Earth.  Feel your body settle into its natural posture.  Water always finds its level, your body can find its natural place in this Here and Now.  Take your time.  Allow your attention now to slowly collect itself, to coalesce around the breath.  The breath is already there.  If not with this breath, see your attention come to the breath in some future breath.  Maybe this next one?  Maybe another after that.  Remain settled, aligned, and breathe.  There is plenty of time and absolutely no hurry.  The awareness will arrive if for no other reason than curiosity.  It'll want to know what the rest of you is doing.  When it arrives, welcome it.  Your attention, breath, and posture - together in this Here and Now.  Now, take a deep breath in through your nose, and release it - slowly - through your mouth.  This breath is like the gentle flow of the Dào itself, nourishing and constant.  Imagine your breath as a river, flowing smoothly, flowing effortlessly.  Bringing Life.  With each exhalation, release any tension downstream, letting all stress dissolve like morning mist over a gentle bend in this river.

Let’s try it again:  inhale gently, in through the nose, and exhale, out slowly through the mouth.  Yes.  With each breath, connect to the rhythm of life, the unseen current guiding all things. 

Acknowledging What Is Notice the burdens you've carried - the headlines, the worries of tomorrow, the what-ifs.  Allow them to surface, in the mind, without resistance.  Allow them to surface, in the heart, without resistance.  As is the Dàoist way, we do not force change; we harmonize with what arises.  Embrace these thoughts, these feeling like the mountain welcomes the storms - they come, there may be fury, they pass. The mountain remains.  The life-giving river is recharged.

Visualizing the Dào Picture yourself as part of the vast, interconnected tapestry of the Dào.  It is not a place or a thing but a boundless flow.  Vast.  Boundless.  Timeless.  See yourself as a dust mote afloat in the Cosmos.  In a realm without friction, without contention this dust mote shows no resistance to anything at all.  It seems to trust in the current.  Gravity.  Light.  Galaxies.  Endless night.  Resistanceless.  Resistancelessly, rest in this effortless movement.  In time, this speck of stardust will happen upon Earth.  Joining this Here and Now.

Becoming the Mountain Now, visualize yourself as a mountain - vast, enduring, part of the Earth and yet touching the heavens.  Perhaps that cosmic dust mote was the final addition to your growth as a mountain.  A life-giving river runs down your side.  A Dàoist teaching reminds us:  "Stand firm like a mountain, move like flowing water."  The mountain does not argue with the clouds nor the winds.  It simply exists within the natural cycles of change.

Feel this stillness.  Know that your inner nature, like the mountain, is unshaken by life’s passing phenomena.  As we breathe, we sense movement within ourselves.  The breath enters slowly, the body expands.  Looking deeper still, we sense stillness beneath this movement.  The breath exits easily and even more slowly, the body shifts shape again - deflating some.  Looking deeper still, we sense stillness beneath this movement as well.  Breathing in this Here and Now.  Breathing in this Here and Now.

Connecting to Wújí and Tàijí Bring your attention to the subtle sensations within and around you - the gentle pulse of your heartbeat, the rise and fall of your breath, the temperature or movement of the air.  Now, reflect on the interplay of apparent opposites - the Dàoist concepts of Wújí (the formless potential) and Tàijí (the dynamic balance of Yīn and Yáng).  Consider how the mountain endures sunlight and shadow, warmth and cold, growth and decay.  Consider our inner stillpoint, enduring each thought, each breath, each rise and fall of the chest...with each breath.  Enduring.  Stillness beneath.  With each inhale, draw in energy from this cosmic balance.  With each exhale, release resistance.  Breathing in this Here and Now.

Repeat silently:  "I am both stillness and flow.  I embody balance in all things."  Continue this breathing.  Breathing in this Here and Now.  Slower as we go.  Deeper as we go.  With each inhale, draw in energy from this cosmic balance.  With each exhale, releasing resistance.  Breathing in this Here and Now.  Repeating:  "I am both stillness and flow.  I embody balance in all things."

Hosting Without Attachment Thoughts and emotions may appear, like travelers passing over the mountain.  In Dàoism, we say:  "Be a host, not a master, to your emotions."  See these thoughts as fleeting guests - welcome them, but let them depart as they please.  The Dào flows unimpeded, and so can your mind.  Storms, seasons, travelers, rivers, animals - all flow unimpeded and unceasingly over the quiet, still mountain.  With each breath comes the fuel for another visitor - each greeted, each welcome, and each departing.  We breathe...Breathing in this Here and Now.  "Be a host, not a master, to your emotions.  I am both stillness and flow.  I embody balance in all things."

Returning to the Breath Gradually bring your awareness back to your breath, the constant companion of this moment.  It is the Dào made tangible, connecting all things.  This breath is your anchor to the present, your reminder of simplicity and ease.  Breathing in this Here and Now.  Breathing in this Here and Now.

Closing with Gratitude Breathing in this Here and Now.  "Stand firm like a mountain, move like flowing water.  Be a host, not a master, to your emotions. I am both stillness and flow.  I embody balance in all things."  Breathing in this Here and Now.  As your meditation concludes, place your hands over your lower Dāntián, just below the navel.  Feel the support given by the breath, the support offered by your hands.  Perhaps an offer of a gentle bow?  A gesture of reverence - to the Sky, to the Mountain, to the Dào, to dust mote, to the river, to all beings who have walked before you, and to the presence of Now.  Perhaps this bow symbolizes your harmony with the Way, your place within the natural order.

Breathe deeply, bow, and commit to embodying the Dào’s balance - a balancing spirit that flows through you and out into the world.  Breathing in this Here and Now.  With a last deep breath, thank the Dào for its wisdom and the way it carries all life in its embrace.  Gently open your eyes and return to your surroundings.

Conclusion

May your practice be as effortless as water flowing around rocks.  May you find harmony in all things, and may the Dào guide you to stillness and clarity.  Thank you for allowing me to walk this path of exploration with you.

Conclusion:

Thank you.

May all beings be at ease.

May all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be safe, be happy, have good health, and enough to eat.  And may we all live at ease of heart with whatever comes to us in life.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shhdragon.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shhdragon.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shhdragon.substack.com/subscribe