Maintaining Your Peace
A ~10-Minute Meditation
[OPENING — ~1 min]
Before we begin, a few words from Rumi:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.”
That field Rumi speaks of — that’s not some far-off place. It’s not something you earn or achieve after a hard week. It’s here. It’s always here. Peace isn’t the absence of difficulty. It’s a ground beneath the difficulty. And today, we’re going to practice finding our way back to that ground — not escaping what’s hard, but settling underneath it.
[SETTLING IN — ~1.5 min]
Find a comfortable position. You can be seated, feet flat on the floor, or cross-legged if that’s natural for you. Let your hands rest somewhere easy — on your thighs, in your lap.
And just… let yourself arrive. You don’t have to do anything special just yet. Just be here.
Gently close your eyes. Or if you prefer, soften your gaze downward toward the floor.
Take one easy breath in through the nose… and let it go through the mouth with a quiet sigh. Good.
And again — in through the nose… and out, releasing whatever you carried here today.
One more — breathe in… and let it go.
Now let your breath return to its natural rhythm. You don’t need to control it from here. Just let it breathe you.
[BODY SCAN & GROUNDING — ~2 min]
Bring your attention down into your body. Not to fix anything — just to notice.
Start at the top of your head. Is there tension there? Tightness in the forehead, the jaw? You don’t have to change it. Just notice it’s there, like you’d notice a cloud passing through a sky.
Let that awareness travel down through your neck and shoulders. This is often where the day lives, isn’t it? That subtle holding. See if you can invite just a small release there — not forcing anything, just a gentle letting go.
Down into the chest. Notice the rise and fall. The quiet work of the breath happening all on its own.
Through the belly. The lower back. The hips, the seat — wherever you’re making contact with the chair or floor. Feel that contact. That support beneath you. You don’t have to hold yourself up right now. Let yourself be held.
Legs. Knees. Feet on the ground.
You are here. You are stable. This body is your anchor.
[THE BREATH AS HOME BASE — ~2 min]
Now, let your attention settle in on the breath — not controlling it, just watching it.
Pick one place where you feel it most clearly. Maybe it’s the sensation of air at the nostrils — that slight coolness on the way in, a little warmth on the way out. Maybe it’s the gentle rise and fall of the chest. Or the belly expanding and softening like a slow tide.
Wherever you feel it most — that’s your home base for today.
Just rest your attention there. Breathing in… breathing out.
When a thought comes — and they will come, that’s what minds do — you don’t have to fight it or follow it. Just notice: thinking. And gently return. Back to the breath. Back home.
There’s no failure in wandering. The practice is in the returning. Every time you come back, you’re actually strengthening something. You’re practicing exactly what we’re here to practice today — the quiet act of coming back to peace.
[WORKING WITH THE MIND — ~1.5 min]
Now let’s open up the awareness just slightly.
Instead of focusing tightly on the breath, let the breath be more like background music — still there, still steady — while you take in the wider landscape of the mind.
What’s present right now? Maybe there’s a worry orbiting around in there. A responsibility. A conversation you’re still carrying. Maybe there’s a feeling — some low hum of stress or busyness that followed you in.
Here’s the practice: don’t push it away. Don’t invite it to stay either. Just let it be there, the way you’d let traffic pass outside a window.
You are not the worry. You are the one noticing the worry.
You are not the noise. You are the awareness that holds the noise.
That distinction — right there — that’s the field Rumi was pointing to. You can be in the middle of a full, demanding life, and still have access to this place. This quiet spaciousness beneath it all.
[DEEPENING — ~1.5 min]
Let’s rest here together for a few moments.
No agenda. Nowhere to get to. Just this breath. This moment. This quiet.
(Allow 30–40 seconds of silence here)
If the mind wanders, that’s fine. Just come back. Breath in… breath out.
(Another 20–30 seconds of quiet)
You are allowed to feel at peace. Not because everything is resolved. Not because the day ahead is easy. But because peace is not something that happens to you — it’s something you return to. And you can return to it anytime. Even in the middle of a hard moment. Even in a meeting. Even when the world is full.
[CLOSING — ~1 min]
Begin to gently deepen the breath. A slow inhale… and a long, easy exhale.
Start to notice the sounds around you. The room you’re in. The feel of your hands, your feet.
Wiggle your fingers. Let a small movement come back into the body.
When you’re ready, slowly open your eyes.
Carry this with you today — not as a forced calm, but as a quiet knowing. That beneath whatever comes, there is a field. It’s always there. And you know how to find it.
Go well.
The Mindful Leader and Coach 