The Daily Meditation with Brother Richard

In this meditation, we take a deeper look at the patterns of thought that can become so familiar and automatic that we barely notice them.Rather than trying to stop or change our thoughts, we practise observing them: noticing what arises as we prepare to meditate, settle the body and become aware of the breath.By stepping into the role of observer, we can begin to recognise where thoughts, feelings and sensations originate and discover the wisdom contained in our recurring inner patterns.Chapters: 00:00 – Introducing our patterns of thought 00:40 – How do you feel about coming to meditation? 01:40 – Thoughts surrounding the practice 02:35 – What is your practice around the practice? 03:20 – Settling into formal meditation 04:05 – What happens to our thoughts as we sit? 05:00 – Tracing thoughts to their origin 05:50 – Bringing awareness to the breath 06:45 – What do you think about your breathing? 08:00 – Breath and patterns of thought 09:20 – Going deeper into the practice 10:20 – Noticing distraction and frustration 11:30 – Getting to know your meditating self 12:20 – Following thoughts back to their beginning 13:05 – Meditating with the whole being 14:20 – Thoughts, sensations and emotions 15:10 – What is it like to be you here now? 16:00 – Returning from the observer self 16:55 – Resting for three cycles of breath 17:45 – Bringing peace into the day 18:10 – Closing bell

We continue our series of meditating with Mary, looking to her as a great teacher of contemplative and meditative prayer.Mary’s response to divine grace offers a simple but profound practice: “Behold, here I am.” In meditation, these words become an invitation to stop resisting the present moment and to say yes to reality as it is, to divine grace and to the love from which each moment arises.Chapters: 00:00 – Mary as a teacher of meditation 00:55 – Entering the meditation 02:00 – Relaxing into the breath 03:20 – Opening to the present moment 04:00 – Mary’s path of saying yes 05:10 – Our resistance to reality 06:00 – Behold, here I am 07:05 – Saying yes to divine grace 08:15 – Opening to divine love and will 09:15 – Let it be done 10:20 – Breathing in peace and grace 11:20 – Behold, here I am 12:25 – Living the teaching of Mary 13:15 – Receiving each moment 14:05 – Bringing openness into daily life 15:10 – Closing bell

In this meditation, we return to the basic relaxation form that helps us enter stillness and establish a stable meditation practice.Beginning with a simple ritual gesture, we check in with the body, feelings and thoughts without judgement. Through the breath, we gradually move beyond each of these changing experiences towards the still centre of awareness within.Whether you are beginning meditation for the first time or returning to an established practice, this is an opportunity to recover the foundations.Chapters: 00:00 – Returning to the relaxation form 00:40 – Beginning with a ritual gesture 01:20 – Settling into the body 02:00 – How am I in this moment? 02:35 – Checking in with the body 03:45 – Breathing through tension 04:55 – I have a body, but I am more than my body 05:35 – Checking in with feelings 06:30 – I am more than my feelings 07:00 – Checking in with thoughts 07:50 – I am more than my thoughts 08:35 – Following the breath to the centre 09:20 – I am I 10:05 – Choosing to meditate 11:35 – Returning to the body 12:15 – Bringing peace into the day 12:40 – Closing bell

In this meditation, we continue our exploration of gratitude by turning our attention towards the teachers we have encountered throughout our lives.Some are formal teachers, while others may be friends, family members, writers, spiritual guides or people whose example has shown us how to live. Even difficult encounters can contain teaching, showing us how we do not wish to be.We give thanks for the wisdom we have received, hold our positive teachers close, and gently let go of those whose lessons came through difficulty.Chapters: 00:00 – Gratitude and the Franciscan tradition 01:40 – Entering the meditation with thanks 03:05 – Breathing out tension 04:20 – Resting in gratitude 05:05 – Remembering our good teachers 06:30 – Who has taught you how to be? 07:55 – Giving thanks for our teachers 09:00 – Those who taught us how not to be 10:45 – Letting go of difficult teachers 11:40 – Receiving wisdom from both 12:45 – Breathing in the wisdom of how to be 13:40 – Returning to the breath 14:30 – Closing the meditation

Meditation is often associated with stillness, seriousness and calm, but another fruit of practice is our capacity for delight.In this meditation, we explore what it means to experience the joy of the moment as it is. We remember the people, places and experiences that awaken delight within us and practise becoming more open to the possibility of joy in each breath, each encounter and each ordinary moment.Chapters: 00:00 – Introducing delight 01:05 – Choosing this time deliberately 02:15 – Settling the body 03:00 – Can we delight in the practice itself? 03:55 – Remembering an experience of delight 05:05 – Opening ourselves to joy 06:10 – What allows delight to emerge? 07:30 – Savouring the present moment 08:55 – Divine delight 10:20 – Creating space for delight 11:50 – Delight in our relationships 13:05 – Joy as a fruit of meditation 14:05 – Breathing in joy 14:50 – Closing the meditation

In this meditation, we begin a new series exploring the famous Peace Prayer of St. Francis as a path towards deeper inner peace.Beginning with the words “Make me a channel of your peace,” we reflect on what it means to become an instrument of peace in the world. Through the breath and the stillness of the present moment, we gently consider what may need to be released within us so that peace can flow more freely into our lives, our relationships and the wider world.Chapters: 00:00 – Introducing the Peace Prayer of St. Francis 00:40 – Entering the present moment 01:55 – What does it mean to seek peace? 03:05 – Awareness of the breath 04:25 – Becoming an instrument of peace 05:35 – Choosing to be a channel of peace 06:35 – Breathing in peace 07:10 – Make me a channel of your peace 08:00 – What needs to be cleared away? 09:20 – Releasing what blocks peace 10:10 – Bringing peace into the day 10:45 – Closing bell

In this meditation, I bring our journey with the prophet Elijah to a close, completing the contemplative map offered by his encounter at the cave.Across this series, we have explored the storm as an image of distracting thoughts, the fire as the desires that pull us away from the reality of the present moment, and the earthquake as the false identities and personas we accumulate through life.Now we move beyond each of these and towards the destination of Elijah’s journey: the still small voice that reveals the presence of the divine.Entering the cave of the heart through awareness of the breath, we practise allowing thoughts to pass without feeding them with our attention. We release false identities and rest instead in the truth of our own being. We notice desire without judgement or attachment and allow it too to fade.Beyond the storm, earthquake and fire, we discover stillness — and within that stillness, what I describe as the breath behind the breath: the divine yes of love and presence at the centre of our being.This meditation completes our Elijah series with a practice of deep stillness, surrender and contemplative awareness, inviting us to live more consciously from the cave of the heart.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction: Completing Elijah’s journey 01:42 – Entering the cave of the heart 02:28 – The breath as our path inward 02:57 – The storm of distracting thoughts 03:25 – Becoming the eye of the storm 04:09 – Letting thoughts pass without attachment 04:34 – Moving deeper into stillness 04:58 – The earthquake of false identity 05:37 – Resting in the truth of our being 06:13 – Grounded in divine love 06:56 – The fire of desire 07:45 – Allowing desire to fade 08:05 – Passing the three gates 08:14 – Entering complete stillness 08:29 – The breath behind the breath 08:49 – The still small voice 09:24 – Living attuned to divine presence 10:09 – The divine breath within all things 10:47 – Living from the cave of the heart 11:26 – The threefold lesson 12:10 – Returning to the body 12:35 – Closing bell

In this meditation, I use the image of falling autumn leaves to reflect on change, release and the beauty that can be found in letting go.We begin by settling into the body and breath before visualising a tree as autumn arrives. Its green leaves gradually turn to gold, red and bronze before the tree naturally releases them to the wind.Following the journey of a single leaf from branch to forest floor, we reflect on one of autumn’s great lessons: there is a time to hold on and a time to let go. In nature, letting go is not simply an ending. The fallen leaf becomes part of the nourishment and protection that makes new life possible.From this place of stillness, we gently ask whether there is anything in our own lives that we are clinging to and may now need to release. We do not force an answer, but allow the question to rest within the stability of meditation and the certainty of divine love.This autumn meditation offers a gentle practice for accepting change, releasing what no longer serves us and recognising the possibility of new beginnings within our endings.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction: The autumn leaf 00:49 – Entering sacred stillness 01:33 – Being supported by the earth 02:01 – The rhythm of the breath 02:38 – Visualising the autumn tree 03:29 – Gold, red and bronze leaves 04:09 – Watching the leaves begin to fall 04:55 – Following a single autumn leaf 05:16 – The beauty of letting go 06:09 – Every ending contains a beginning 06:26 – Releasing what no longer serves us 06:53 – What am I clinging to? 07:44 – Letting go within divine love 07:56 – The seed of a new beginning 08:06 – Holding the autumn leaf 08:29 – Returning the leaf to the earth 08:41 – Returning to the breath 09:04 – Learning from the trees 09:29 – Closing bell