The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

Please visit our website at audiodarma.org.

Or for those of you on the live stream, whatever time it is for you. I'll start with a little

stream, whatever time it is for you.

I'll start with a little bit of a guided meditation this morning and I'm going to

offer perhaps a style that may be a little less familiar to some of you. It's an open

awareness style of meditation.

And so we won't be, at least for the first few minutes in my guiding of it,

I won't be inclining you towards stabilizing with the breath.

It'll be more of a stabilization of awareness

with whatever is arising.

And then after some time, I'll suggest if you feel more comfortable you can shift back.

But you might just go along for the ride for the first few minutes at least, see how it lands

for you. In any form of meditation.

Relaxation of body and mind are a very supportive condition for the connection of mindfulness with experience.

And so I often find it. experience.

And so I often find it helpful at the beginning of a sitting

to take a few moments to consciously relax.

This can be done in a kind of a systematic way. Starting perhaps at the top of the head,

relaxing. head, relaxing the head and face, neck and shoulders.

arms and upper back. relaxing the chest and upper back.

All those muscles around the ribcage. page.

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