Strong Back, Soft Front, and Open Hands
by Eric Massanari
Introduction
I’m indebted to Zen Buddhist teacher, author, activist, and founder of Upaya Zen Center, Roshi Joan Halifax, for some of the imagery in this guided meditation. Roshi Joan wrote:
All too often, our so-called strength comes from fear, not love; instead of having a strong back, many of us have a defended front shielding a weak spine. In other words, we walk around brittle and defensive, trying to conceal our lack of confidence. If we strengthen our backs, metaphorically speaking, and develop a spine that’s flexible, but sturdy, then we can risk having a front that’s soft and open, representing choiceless compassion. The place in your body where these two meet—strong back and soft front—is the brave, tender ground in which to root our caring deeply.
To her imagery of “strong back and soft front” I will add the image of “open hands”—hands open before us in such a way that we are ready to generously give, graciously receive, courageously release and compassionately serve.
This meditation will be in three parts. With each part, I will offer a question that you can take into a few minutes of silent contemplation. The three silent periods will each begin and end with a chime.
Guided Meditation
To begin, find a seated position that is both comfortable and wakeful. You may close your eyes, or you can simply allow your gaze to gently rest on the floor in front of you.
Take some deep breaths, allowing your belly to expand as you breathe in, and then softening as you breathe out…
Part 1: Strong Back
Bring your attention to your spine, the miraculous chain of bones, nerves, and connective tissue that begins at the base of your skull and descends to the tip of your tailbone…
Imagine your spine extending even further: down like a taproot, deep into the earth… and reaching upward, up into open sky like the branches of a tree…
Your spine is a conduit of immense energy and intricate communication… It is a fundamental part of the structure of your body, allowing you to sit here in this moment, or to recline, stand, walk, run, reach, bend and bow… In your back is great strength. We use the image of the human spine to speak of courage and conviction…
What in your life at this moment is inviting your strength, your courage, your conviction?
Part 2: Soft Front
When you are ready, bring your awareness to the front of your body. It is with this vulnerable part of your body that your turn towards the world.
Consider the protective latticework of your ribs, sheltering the house of your breath, your lungs… We use the breath to speak of the Spirit that sustains all life…
Consider your beating heart, nested there at your center. Its chambered mysteries move in a rhythm of tension, relaxation, and pause . . . We use the image of the heart when we speak of our human capacity for loving-kindness and compassion…
Consider your soft belly as it rises and falls with your breathing… consider all of the miracles that happen here in your abdomen… we use the image of the belly to speak of intuition, dreaming, and all that longs to be born in us. . .
What in your life right now is inviting your vulnerability, your kindness and compassion?
Part 3: Open Hands
When you’re ready, allow your awareness to shift to your hands. You might begin by closing and opening your hands in rhythm with the breath: closing them as you breathe in… opening them as you breathe out…
Allow them now to rest, open on your lap, consider the intricate miracles that are your hands… these hands are like no others, and they tell your story in a special way… consider what they’ve enabled you to do this very day. . .
Your hands are one of the primary ways through which you communicate… with these hands you give and receive… they enable you to reach into the world to serve and give aid to others… they allow you to receive help when you’re in need…
What in your life right now is inviting your generous giving? What is inviting your gracious receiving?
Take a moment to offer a silent word of gratitude for what has arisen for you in this meditation… when you are ready, take some deep breaths as you open your gaze and take in what is around you.
As you live into this day
know that you are given the strong back you need;
know that you are gifted with a soft front of vulnerability and compassion;
know that you are blessed with a love that you can receive graciously
and offer generously into this wondrous and wounded world.
Know that this love has no end.
Eric Massanari (he/him) is an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA, and currently serves as the Executive Conference Minister of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference of MCUSA. Eric also serves as a spiritual director and recently concluded seven years of service on the Spiritual Directors International (SDI) Board of Directors. An avid poet and essayist, he lives with his family in Bellingham, WA, on the unceded lands and waterways of the Coast Salish Peoples.
