Every morning at Plum Village, a monastic rings the big bell and chants to wake up the sangha and greet the morning. To support this effort, I like to accompany them and do Qigong, primarily a standing meditation.

Meditating in horse stance like this is for developing Qi in the lower Dantien, and It feels really good in my body to stand like this and feel the sound of the bell resonating in my lower belly, following my breathing and adding some presence to the power of this moment. At some point, it feels like the sounds of the environment, the birds, the trees, the rain, the bell, are all a chorus waking up the sun, which by the end has begun to share its light.

Although showing up and doing my standing meditation was something I did for me, it did in part feel like an act of service, a way of adding to the collective energy of this moment. Toward the end of the retreat, a member said to me that one of the highlights of his retreat was getting up in the morning to watch me “do my thing” while the monks played the bell, and that it brought him great peace and joy. That was a truly precious moment, and confirmed for me the importance of being ourselves, and being present to ourselves and the world around us.

This recording is the first five minutes of what is actually a thirty minute video. I leave the final 30 seconds of the video in here for the cute bow between me and fellow Irish man and monastic Br Niem Hua, as well as to show the change in light. At this point, James, a good friend of mine and a fantastic Yoga teacher from London, had also joined us with some sitting meditation.

Lastly, a little shout out to Br Niem Hua’s beautiful and sincere chanting. I love this chant, and you can hear that lovely Irish accent come through throughout. One of my favourite videos from my time at Plum Village.

I invite you to get a pair of earphones, and to sit, listen, and follow your breathing to this recording. It’s just 5 minutes, and you might find it bringing you peace and joy.