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

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Hello Friends, Hello friends. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are, whatever time zone you're on, it's lovely to be with you and feel your

presence on the channel in

let's turn this down here we go okay to see your presence on on

on YouTube there you are, nice lovely to see your, yeah, feel your presence. Very sweet.

So, I'm Nicki Mergafuri and have been away for a while traveling in Asia,

delighted to be back and supporting the Sanga and offering teachings this morning.

So for the theme of this week, I'd like to, she let's just sit together. I'll introduce the theme afterwards,

how's that? I think that's better. Let's just sit and I'll introduce it through this draw our sit together so let us

land let us land in our bodies in this moment in time wherever we are. are arriving and settling here.

and settling here. Feeling the connection of our feet with the earth, I am here.

Lending ourselves feel the connection of our sit bones.

With the cushion, the chair.

just as the Buddha touched the earth and the night of his Enlightenment.

We're touching the earth. We're touching the earth with our bodies, this earth that we're on.

Allowing to feel how our body is on the earth, supported by gravity, allowing our body to relax, the muscles to relax.

Feeling supported by gravity. There is a sense of trust, but here we can let go of the muscles and

soften, relax into our chair and through our cushion, our seat and

gravity is here. We're not going to go flying to the space, like on a spaceship traveling, even though we are traveling through the universe and at astounding speeds, yet gravity, there's a sense of trust, but yes, Ah, the heart can relax. And connect with the breath to this breath here. Letting the in breath and the out breath. Flow through the body. You're not going to see. It's not so much that we are consciously breathing or controlling the breath.

And if there is this subtle control of the breath, no need, let that go. And really let the breath be free.

Calming, soothing, settling the mind and heart. You're not going to see. We show up, up again and again to our practice, our meditation practice to this moment, to this moment,

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