At Home in the World Claudia Cummins

Even the Dalai Lama agrees that the purpose of life is to be happy. But what exactly does that mean? What constitutes happiness and how do we find our way there?
Does happiness come from savoring a fresh raspberry as it bursts on the tongue? Does it come from a sense of mission in one’s broader life? Or does it come from sensing a deep and radiant connection between our small self and the vast Self of the world? Yes, yes and yes!
In this 19-minute practice, we’ll explore three important pillars of happiness: pleasure, purpose and peace. This is a restful and meditative practice that could be explored sitting upright or perhaps tucked in a cozy chair with a cup of tea.
Spending time contemplating the experiences and relationships that bring us alive can incline our minds toward a deeply embodied sense of happiness and wellbeing. This sort of contemplation can also cultivate clarity about aspects of our lives that might need a little tending and care. My hope is that returning to this practice from time to time might shine new light on the pillars of happiness in your own life.


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The modern world loves extremes, but age-old wisdom points us toward the middle way. The excitement of heading to the far edge of the world can wake us up, for sure. But, oh, what a relief it is to let go of the need to be on fire in order to feel alive. There is nothing quite like the sweet relief of coming home to ease and balance, to the discovery that not much needs to happen in order for us to feel happy, right here and right now.
In between too tight and too loose we warm to the possibility that we already have everything we need. We notice that we don’t have to travel far from home in order to feel content. We consider the possibility that less is sometimes more. And blessedly, our expectations of ourselves and the world begin to soften just a bit. Sometimes we even embrace the possibility that good enough might just be enough.
This 35-minute movement sequence embodies the possibility that we don’t have to travel to extremes in order to cultivate balance and wellbeing. Lying on our backs, close to the ground, we commit to soft, easy, pain-free movement. We relinquish some long-held beliefs and welcome some new ones. We let go of the “no pain, no gain” mentality. We cultivate flexibility of mind and heart. And when this happens, we settle toward a state of of profound peace and ease, at home in the very middle of our lives.


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Every spiritual practice, one way or another, brings us back to our own good hearts and the love the shines forth from within. We may not join a yoga class because we want to soften our hearts. We may not begin meditating because we want to cultivate goodwill. But in some mysterious bit of spiritual magic, these practices transform us into kinder and more compassionate human beings.
The Buddhist practice of lovingkindness, or metta meditation, offers an explicit pathway to cultivating good heart. In lovingkindness meditation, we call up images of people in our lives and we send wishes for happiness and wellbeing in their direction. We may not know for sure whether these wishes change others, but we very quickly learn that they can change us in profound ways.
In this 19-minute guided practice, we’ll explore a variation of the traditional Buddhist practice of lovingkindness meditation. This contemplation is a little more free-form than is often taught, but I hope it brings a smile to your face nonetheless. We settle into a restful position and reclaim our own good hearts. We rest and breathe and be. And we befriend the world, moment after moment, one heart to another.


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The promise of spiritual practice is that it will help us find our way toward a deep and lasting sense of peace in ourselves and the world. Call it enlightenment or nirvana or wholeness or wellbeing. The hopeful proposition is that there is a way of being that embodies profound wakefulness and also deep equanimity, even in the very same breath.
Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh called this inner wellbeing the “island of self,” and he urged his students to return to this quiet refuge every day. “If you don’t go home to yourself, you continue to lose yourself,” he wrote. “You destroy yourself and you destroy people around you, even if you have goodwill and want to do something to help. That is why the practice of going home to the island of self is so important. No one can take your true home away.”
This 22-minute reclined practice - with gentle movement, easy breathing, and a return the here-and-now - explores the possibility of reconnecting with our own inner refuge. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to nudge us out of confusion and in the direction of clarity and calm.
The ultimate teaching, of course, is that peace is already here, that we don’t need to go searching for it. Making sense of this koan is advanced practice, for sure. How is it possible that the very thing we are seeking is already nestled deep within us, just waiting to be found? With devoted practice, day-by-day we move ever closer to the answer.


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Here’s a news flash: You already know how to breathe! Your body is exquisitely tuned to know just when and how to inhale and exhale. Even though we are primed in our culture to look for answers outside of ourselves, here’s an opportunity to try something different.
Put aside the breathing books and instructions (for a little while, at least, in the name of curiosity and investigation). Stop counting breaths. Stop holding breaths. Stop manipulating or micromanaging. (No worry, you can return to these techniques - which do have their place - later.)
Instead, in this restful 21-minute session, settle into the beautiful rhythms and melodies of your own body, as you inhale and exhale without a drill sergeant watching over you. Let the breath go and let it be. Take a lighter approach. Learn about your own signature “breath print.” Trust. Be curious and be amazed.
And, of course, relax. The more we allow the body to settle into a restful and easy space, the freer the breath becomes. With each muscle that unclenches, with each ounce of tension that melts away, we move closer to that organic and whole-bodied breath we were born with. As we unravel holding patterns and long-held armoring, we make room for the return of our natural, responsive, full-bodied way of breathing. And when that happens, our whole being smiles and sighs in relief.


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Look outside your window. What’s the weather like right now? Now, look inside yourself. What’s the weather within? Are you running hot or cold? Is the sun shining or is this a rainy day? Are your thoughts stormy or serene? And is your vitality shining brightly or hiding behind a few clouds?
In this 14-minute guided meditation, we’ll consider our inner weather patterns. We’ll watch the energetic weather pass across the landscape of our bodies. We’ll sharpen our powers of perception to sense more clearly the sensations, feelings, thoughts and energies moving through our inner worlds.
Seeing clearly helps us tend to the world with wisdom and compassion. Holding close to the truth of what is - whether we like what we find or not - allows us to make clear-eyed decisions about how to respond with ease to the ever-changing weather of our lives. Through this process, we begin to understand that happiness depends not on living in a world of perfect weather, but rather in knowing how to gracefully accommodate - and maybe even enjoy - whatever weather comes our way.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacummins.substack.com/subscribe