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The Paradox of Invincibility

Cory Muscara

00:00

00:00

Meditation

4.4

Duration

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The Paradox of Invincibility

In this meditation, we practice being with the totality of our experience, relaxing into discomfort, helping us develop a deep sense of confidence and inner strength.

Let's begin by finding

a comfortable posture.

This could be sitting down,

lying down or standing.

If it feels okay to do so today,

you can invite your eyes to close.

And we'll start by taking

a deep breath together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

Inviting the jaw to relax.

Letting the shoulders be at ease.

As well as the hands and the belly.

As you start to settle in, your breath can

also settle back into its natural rhythm.

The theme of today's meditation

is the paradox of invincibility.

And this idea that in order to develop

real invincibility, we need to let

down our guard enough to experience

the full range of being human to

then see how we can be with this too.

So we'll do a choiceless awareness

meditation, which involves opening

our awareness to whatever might arise.

So instead of focusing on the breath

or any one point in particular, see

if you can settle back into yourself.

Almost as if you were settling behind

your awareness and just observing

what is coming up for you right now.

Perhaps as an emotion, a sensation, a

thought, or some sensory experience.

And can you create a space for yourself

to be present to whatever might be there?

You never need to push it.

So if something is too

uncomfortable, it's okay to allow

it to linger in the background.

But as much as you feel able

to, allowing your experience to

emerge in your awareness fully.

And you might think of

this as watching a movie.

And you sitting in the theater is

you resting in awareness and the

screen includes anything that arises.

Sometimes it's pleasurable movie.

Sometimes it can be unpleasant.

And for a moment, see if you can

touch into the sense of empowerment

that you may feel staying open to

more aspects of your experience

rather than using the meditation

to turn away or distract yourself.

This is a vulnerable and courageous act.

So as we come to a close, let's

take one last deep breath together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

And when you're ready, you

can let your eyes open again.

Great job.

So this meditation is designed to

really help develop capacity to

stay open to more moments of your

life, including the difficult ones.

So as you go about your day today,

notice if there is a tendency to turn

away from the uncomfortable experiences

and see if you can reframe it with the

acknowledgement that being able to stay

present to these experiences and seeing

that you can make it through them is the

thing that develops resilience, and yes,

that sense of invincibility that you can

get through and be with whatever arises.

Thank you for your practice.

I'll talk to you soon and

until next time, take care.

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