So welcome everyone and thank you.
Thank you for listening.
So for today let's focus on something simple.
Just coming home.
Coming home to your body.
Not healing it.
Not fixing it.
Not even understanding it.
Just coming home to it.
Now most of us don't actually live in our bodies.
We either live slightly above them or beside them.
We are aware of our bodies at times.
We know our body exists.
We think about our body quite a lot actually.
But are you in it?
Are you home?
Let's explore that in this practice today.
So before we begin,
Just get comfortable.
Just find a position that lets your body rest.
Sitting,
Lying down or however you need to be.
And already I want you to notice.
Are you thinking about what position is the best?
Or are you feeling what your body actually wants?
And there is a difference.
One is mental and one is embodied.
You can soften your gaze.
Or close your eyes.
Or keep them open.
Whatever feels right for you.
And just take a moment now.
You don't have to do anything.
Just arrive here.
Wherever you've been.
Mentally,
Emotionally,
Energetically.
You can arrive here now.
Let's take three slow breaths together now.
So let's breathe in.
And slowly breathing out.
And again,
Breathe in.
And out.
And one more time.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
So good.
You're here now.
Let's begin.
I want to start with a question.
And I want you to actually feel into this and not just think about it.
Where are you right now?
Where are you right now?
Now your mind will say,
I'm here,
I'm in this room,
I'm doing this meditation.
And that's okay.
But where are you?
And where is your awareness?
Where is your consciousness actually located right now?
For most people,
Most of the time,
Awareness lives in the head.
You're in your thoughts,
In your mind,
Behind your eyes.
Maybe looking out at the world like you're driving a vehicle and your body is the car.
See if that's true for you right now.
Is your awareness concentrated in your head?
In your thinking mind?
Just notice.
There's no judgment.
Now this is how most of us live.
We were taught to be in our heads.
School rewarded our thinking.
Work rewards our thinking.
And we spend most of our lives up here.
In the control tower trying to figure everything out.
And your body?
Your body is somewhere below.
Maybe you're vaguely even aware that it exists.
But you do notice it when it hurts.
When it's hungry.
Or when it won't do what you want it to do.
But are you really in it?
Or are you managing it from a distance?
Now this is what I mean when I talk about embodiment in my work.
Embodiment isn't a concept.
It's not a spiritual achievement.
It's literally the difference between living in your body versus living in your head and occasionally checking in with your body.
And here's what's interesting.
This partial dissociation from your body is so normal that most people don't even realize that they're doing it.
You've been floating slightly above yourself for so long that you think this is being in your body.
But it's not.
There's a difference.
And you're about to feel it.
So just for now.
Just for right now.
I want you to notice where you are.
Are you in your head?
Are you floating somewhere above or behind your body?
Are you analyzing this meditation right now instead of experiencing it?
Just notice.
That's all.
Just notice where you actually are.
So now that you've noticed where you are probably in your head and that's normal.
That's where most of us live.
But now I want to invite you somewhere else.
I want to invite you down.
Down out of your head and down into your body.
Not to think about your body but to be in your body and to come home.
And I'm going to be honest with you.
For some of you this might feel strange.
If you've been living in your head for years,
Decades coming into your body might feel unfamiliar.
Maybe vulnerable also.
And maybe a bit scary.
And that's okay.
So we're going to go slowly.
We're going to go gently.
Your body has been waiting for you.
It's not going anywhere.
And it can wait a little longer while you find your way home.
So let's start very simply.
Let's start with your breath.
Bring your attention to your breathing now.
Not controlling it.
Not changing it.
Just noticing it.
And here's the key.
Don't think about your breath.
Feel it.
Where do you actually feel breath moving in your body?
Maybe it's your chest.
Maybe it's your belly.
Or maybe it's your ribs expanding.
Maybe it's the coolness of the air in your nostrils.
Find one place for me where you can actually feel breath and put all your attention there.
Not your mental attention.
Your felt attention.
Like you're placing your awareness right there.
Right in that spot where the breath is moving.
Now you're starting to come down.
You're starting to come home.
Now let's spread that awareness a little bit.
From that one spot where you feel your breath,
Let your awareness now spread into your chest.
Into your whole chest.
What does your chest feel like from inside?
Not what it looks like.
Not what you think about it.
What does it feel like to be in your chest?
There's no judgment on what the body is showing us.
Maybe there is warmth.
Maybe there is coolness.
Maybe there is tightness.
Whatever there is,
Just feel it.
This is you coming home.
You're dropping from thinking into feeling.
And this is as close you can get to embodiment.
And now a little bit further down.
At this stage I may be aware of some sensation in my chest.
So I'm going to take my awareness down into my belly.
My abdomen.
That whole space below your ribs.
What is it like in there for you?
What does your belly feel like from the inside?
Maybe it's soft.
Maybe it's tense.
Maybe it's neutral.
Whatever it is,
You're not judging it.
You're not trying to change it.
You're just here.
You're just home.
Now this is what I mean by embodiment.
You're not thinking about your body anymore.
You're in it.
You're experiencing it from the inside.
You're inhabiting it.
Notice how does this feel.
To be here in your body.
And instead of floating above it in your thoughts.
You're just there.
For some of you it may feel grounding.
It may feel safe.
Maybe it feels real in a way that thinking never quite does.
You're coming home.
And your body recognizes you.
Your body may have been waiting for this.
You're not in your head anymore.
You're in your chest.
You're in your belly.
You're starting to feel what it's like to actually be in your body.
Let's go deeper now.
And let's bring you all the way home.
Bring your awareness now to your shoulders.
Both your shoulders.
And not just noticing them from the outside.
But feeling them from the inside.
What are your shoulders holding?
And what do they feel like?
Maybe they're tight.
Maybe they're heavy.
Or maybe they're carrying a weight they've been carrying for a long time.
Watch.
Observe.
Listen.
Can I soften my shoulders just a little?
Can I let them drop just slightly?
And let your body decide what it needs to do with this invitation.
And as they soften now,
Feel what it's like to be your shoulders.
To inhabit this part of your body that works so hard and that holds so much.
Your hair.
And your whole body.
Let's go home.
Now bring your awareness down to your arms.
All the way down from your shoulders.
Through your upper arms,
Your elbows,
Your forearms.
And then to your hands.
Feel your arms from the inside now.
What's it like to be your arms?
And your hands.
Your hands may be resting somewhere right now.
Can you feel them?
Not think about them.
Can you feel them?
Maybe there is tingling.
Maybe there is warmth.
Maybe the sensation of whatever they are touching.
Just be your hands for a moment.
Inhabit them.
These hands that touch the world.
These hands that hold things.
And these hands that are a part of you.
You are home.
Now bring your awareness to your lower body.
To your hips.
To your pelvis.
That whole area that we often disconnect from because it feels vulnerable.
Or because we were taught to.
But this is a part of you.
And this is a part of home.
Can you bring your awareness there?
Gently.
Without judgement.
Just feeling what it's like to inhabit your hips and your pelvis.
Maybe there is a tension there.
Maybe there is a holding there.
Maybe there is a numbness there.
Whatever is there.
You are not trying to change it.
You are just here.
Down your legs.
Your thighs.
Your knees.
Your cuffs.
Your shins.
Feel your legs from the inside.
These legs that carry you.
These legs that hold you up.
And these legs that move you through the world.
Now let's go all the way down to your feet.
Your feet that touch the ground.
Your feet that literally connect to the earth.
Can you feel your feet?
Can you really feel them?
Maybe just wiggle your toes.
Not to do anything.
Just to feel them.
To remember that your feet exist.
That you are all the way down here.
Not just floating up in your head.
You are home now.
You are all the way home.
I want you to see now if you can feel your whole body at once.
Not piece by piece but all of it.
Your head.
Your chest.
Your belly.
Your arms.
Your legs.
And your feet.
All of it at once.
This heaviness,
This feeling,
This awareness that you have.
This is full embodiment.
It may or may not be pleasant.
But this is what it means to be completely here.
To be completely home.
And notice.
When you are fully in your body like this,
What happens to your thoughts?
Maybe they are quieter.
When you are embodied you think less and you feel more.
You are just here.
And this is what your body has been waiting for.
Not to be fixed.
Not to be healed.
Not to be changed.
Just to be inhabited by you.
Just for you to come home.
So now that you are here.
Now that you are fully in your body.
Maybe for the first time in a while.
I want you to just notice what does this feel like.
For a lot of people,
Embodiment feels like landing.
Like you have been floating and you just touched down.
And there is a groundedness.
Is that true for you?
And for some people they just feel safer.
Everything outside is exactly the same.
But I just feel safer.
When you are in your head you are vulnerable.
Scattered.
Ungrounded.
And when you are in your body there is a sense of protection.
Like you have home in a fortress that's yours.
Some people describe embodiment as a feeling of being more real.
Like the world now comes into focus.
Colors are brighter.
Sounds are clearer.
My thoughts are clearer.
And you are not watching your life through a foggy window anymore.
You are in your life now.
Notice if that's true for you.
And for many people embodiment may also be pleasurable.
There is just a simple pleasure in being in your body.
In this feeling,
Sensation,
In this breathing and in this existing,
There is a pleasure.
Can you feel any of that today?
This feeling of being home in your body is your natural state.
This is how you were born.
Babies are fully embodied.
They say.
They don't live in their heads till they are conditioned.
They live in sensation and feeling in their bodies.
Somewhere along the way,
All of us learned to leave.
Maybe it was safer to be in your head.
Maybe you were taught that thinking is more important than feeling.
Maybe something happened that made your body not feel like a safe space to be.
But this experience you are having right now,
This is what's natural,
This is what's true.
And the good news is we can come back here anytime we want.
This is not a special state you can only access through meditation.
This is always available to you.
You just have to drop out of your head and into your body and unconditionally,
Without any judgment,
Just be with it.
You just have to come home.
Feel this right now.
Really feel what it's like to be home.
Because this is what we are practicing and this is what embodiment is.
It's not a concept,
It's not a goal.
It's just the feeling of being here.
And sometimes,
If my body is holding on to something,
If my body is processing something,
If my body has been hurt in the past and it has imprints,
I may be met with those first as I drop in.
And that's okay too.
It's just my body giving me information.
I can see it,
Hold it and welcome it with grace.
There's nothing that I need to fight,
There's nothing that I need to change.
And if your mind starts pulling you back up,
And it will,
You can always come back down with a breath,
Back to a sensation,
Back to a feeling in your body,
And you can slowly learn to come home,
To be in this state longer.
So now that you know what embodiment feels like,
You've experienced it,
How do you live from here now?
Because I'll be honest with you,
You're going to leave,
So will I.
And as soon as this meditation,
This exploration ends,
We'll all get pulled back into our heads.
Something or the other will demand our attention,
And you'll start thinking,
You'll start planning,
You'll start worrying.
And we'll all float back up,
Out of our bodies,
Back into our thoughts.
And that's perfectly normal,
And human also.
But now that you know the way home,
Now that you know what embodiment feels like,
And you can come back anytime,
When you're washing dishes,
You can come home.
Drop into your hands feeling warm water,
Or cold water,
Whatever you use.
When you're walking,
You can come home.
You can feel your feet touching the ground with each step.
When you're sitting at your desk,
You can come home.
Feel your breath moving in your chest.
When you're talking to someone,
You can come home.
Feel yourself here in your body,
Present in the conversation,
Instead of floating in your thoughts about what to say next.
Embodiment is not something you achieve once and keep it forever.
It's a practice.
It's a choice you make again and again and again throughout your day.
Coming home,
Coming home,
And coming home.
Embodiment.
When you learn to be more embodied,
You may make different decisions,
You may have different relationships,
And you may start to experience life differently.
You're not watching your life happen,
Waiting for the next thing to go wrong.
You're actually in your life and living it.
So I want you to make this commitment right now while you're still home in your body.
What's one moment where you'll remember to drop out of your head and into your body?
Just let that come to you now.
What's that one moment where I'll remember to drop out of my head and come home into my body?
Maybe it's when I drink my morning coffee,
Maybe it's when I'm in the shower,
Or maybe it's just before I'm getting to bed or after.
Just one moment and one reminder to come home.
And you will notice,
You may notice,
When you do this,
When you drop from thinking into feeling,
From your head into your body,
You will remember this feeling again.
Your body is always here,
Waiting for you.
You just have to learn to return.
So as we now come to the end of our time together,
You're not leaving your body,
You're staying home.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Feel your whole body now one more time.
All of you.
All the way from your head to your toes.
Completely here and completely home.
Start to bring now one small movement back.
Maybe you'll wiggle your fingers,
Maybe you'll wiggle your toes,
Maybe you'll gently move your head side to side.
You're not leaving embodiment,
You're bringing embodiment with you as you move back into your day.
When you're ready now,
If your eyes were closed,
You can open them and see now if you can stay in your body.
Don't float back up into your head just yet.
Look around the room or wherever you are.
So thank you for practicing with me.
Thank you for coming home.
Take care of yourself and remember you can always come home.
Namaste.
