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2 Your True Home
Your True Home
Your True Home
This episode explores what it means to be "at home in one's body" by practicing loving kindness toward the body in the present moment, which is the foundation for later extending that love to feelings and thoughts (Steps 5 and 6 of the Discourse on Breathing). The core practice involves mindfully breathing and using a smile—which Thay describes as a crucial practice and "mouth yoga"—to relax facial muscles, ease tension, and act as a source of joy, even when happiness isn't immediately present. By greeting the body with kindness and a smile ("Hello, my body - You can relax $\rightarrow$ smile"), one cultivates Wonderment and Gratitude for the life within, creating a confident, nurtured inner relationship that allows the practitioner to experience the current happy moment as their true home.
3rd Referenced Video
3rd Referenced Video
𑽇 Transcript 𑽇
What does it mean to be at home in one's body?
Objective: To experience my body while loving my body in the present moment.
How Do We Get There?
Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing
Steps 1. and 2. In - Out *1
Steps 3. and 4. Whole Body - Calm *1
Smiles
Be Kind, Be Gentle, Be Loving *
Sangha Sharing
What joy, insights, wonderment, questions and moments would you like to share?
Dharma Talk
Your Body is a Deep Meditation
Don't Dis Posture , an Instagram Reel with Sister True Dedication
There isn't ever a need to rush. Where you're at is being and the moment is there awaiting you. Take care and love your body. Loving the body will teach us how to nurture and love ourself. In steps 5 and 6, we will love and nurture our feelings and thoughts the same way. Be aware of how loving your body puts you at ease, how it soothes you and how you feel later in the day, after the meditation has concluded. Notice how it affects your countenance and your perspective on the world around you. This practice with your body will give you more confidence and encouragement to love your feelings and thoughts. The loving is the same and so is the outcome.
Wonderment
Siddhartha: “But suffering is only one face of life. Life has another face, the face of wonder. If we can see that face of life, we will have happiness, peace, and joy. When our hearts are unfettered, we can make direct contact with the wonders of life.” *4
Wonderment and Gratitude are two ways to see the happiness that is right here and in the now. We're very accustomed to waiting for our happiness in an event to come or remembering happiness from the past. But what about right now? We don't have to wait. We can just breathe in and be aware of ourselves and exhale with a smile.
a Thich Nhat Hanh talk
Thich Nhat Hanh What is Mindfulness, 4 mins
Smiling is an important part of one's practice. Like In-Out calms your breath, smiling relaxes your facial muscles and puts them to ease. Plan on many many smiles during your practices and your daily moments of mindfully breathing.
Thich Nhat Hahn quotes on smiling.
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” - Thich Nhat Hahn
"Why should I smile when there is no joy in me? The answer to that is: Smiling is a practice. There are over three hundred muscles in your face. When you are angry or fearful, these muscles tense up. The tension in these muscles creates a feeling of hardness. If you know how to breathe in and produce a smile, however, the tension will disappear. It is what I call 'mouth yoga'. Make smiling an exercise. Just breathe in and smile. The tension will disappear and you will feel much better." - Thich Nhat Hahn
“A smile is an ambassador of goodwill.” *3
a Thich Nhat Hanh talk
What does it mean to go home to yourself? | Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions, 6:36 mins
Collective observations and reflections
We all share and listen.
Let's Return to our True Home
This meditation is inspired by Thay as he began a 21 day retreat in Burlington Vermont on the full awareness of breathing.
"Please enjoy the sound of the bell and also your breathing.
Breathing in, I feel alive. Breathing out, I smile." *
In this meditation, know this is your relationship with yourself. Let it be conversational, relaxed and natural. We often smile when we greet someone. Smile here to your body as you recognize the body with kindness.
20 minute meditation with bells at 2 minutes
Beginning Bell
Breathing in - I follow my whole in-breathe Breathing out - I follow my whole out-breathe
Hello, my Breathe - I am alive --> smile
Smile kindly to my Legs - I am a wonder of life
Hello, my Torso - You can relax --> smile
Gently smile to my Organs - I am grateful to be alive
Hello, my Arms and Hands - I am alive --> smile
I calm my body - I smile to my body
Lovingly smile to the life within me- I gratefully smile to the life around me
Lovingly smile to life - Gratefully smile to life
I rest my body with my in breathe - I calm myself with my out breathe
Rest Body - Calm Myself
This happy moment - is my true home
My grateful happiness - Blooms
Be with your breathe, be with your body, be with the life within.
* Hạnh, N. (2000). Chapter 1: The Path of Emancipation (pp. 2). essay, Parallax Press.
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