Welcome to the Swan Seat Meditation practice.
I've named this meditation a path of still presence.
Take one seat,
Sit fully,
Let the world find its rest in you.
The essence of the One Seat Meditation is a vow to dwell completely in this moment,
Unmoving,
Unresisting and unafraid.
It is not about achieving a particular state but about realizing the seat that is never disturbed even as everything moves through it.
As you're settling in in a comfortable position,
Allow yourself to fully arrive in this moment.
If you're sitting cross-legged on the surface,
You can keep your spine raised like a tree,
Rooted and effortless.
Shoulders soften,
Hands rest easily in your lap,
The chin slightly tucked,
Crown gently lifted.
If you like you can close your eyes or keep them half open with a soft gaze.
If you like you can set the intention for the meditation practice and silently affirm in your mind three times.
It could be a take my one seat or I am in this moment.
This intention will anchor you and becomes the compass of practice.
If your mind wanders,
Focus on the natural rhythm of your breath without changing it.
Simply notice the gentle rhythm of life itself.
Breath is the living thread that ties awareness to embodiment.
As you're arriving to take your one seat in stillness,
Come home through the senses.
Let the body remember it belongs to the earth.
Let the weight of your being settle into the earth.
Sensing the quiet support beneath you.
Feel the temperature of the air on your skin.
Notice any movement,
The rise and fall of the breath.
The pulse in your hands.
Sensing the body,
Your gateway to presence.
Bringing your attention to your ears.
To all sounds near or far without chasing any sound,
Just listening.
Sound is the breath of the world.
Let it move through you.
If your eyes are closed,
Notice the inner light behind the lids.
Shifting patterns,
Darkness and subtle glow.
Let seeing be effortless.
Vision without grasping is light meeting light.
Or bringing your attention to the air moving through the nose.
Sensing any fragrance,
Faint or familiar or just nothing.
Maybe just the neutral fragrance of the air.
Let this neutrality be a fragrance of peace.
Breathing gently,
Letting go the urge to control and to receive.
With each inhalation,
Allow the fold,
Enter.
And with each exhalation,
Let yourself return it.
Letting go.
Bringing awareness to your mouth.
The moist jaw.
The subtle taste lingering there.
Perhaps traces of breath,
Air or nothing at all.
Every silence has a taste.
Allow yourself to release.
Focus on any single sense.
Allowing them all to open together.
A symphony of awareness.
Touch,
Sound,
Sight,
Scent and taste merge into one seamless presence.
When lost in thought or story,
Do not judge.
The moment you notice,
You're already back.
The turning to the seat.
The breath.
The body.
The simple now.
Each return is an act of grace.
Awakening is not elsewhere.
It happens in the returning.
Beginning the inward journey through the body with patience and curiosity.
You may linger longer on areas that need your attention.
Bringing awareness to the top of your head.
The crown.
Sensing any subtle tingling,
Warmth or openness there.
Moving to your scalp.
Forehead.
Temples.
Sense the space above your head.
Vast and open.
Moving to your eyes.
Unclench the jaw.
Let the tongue rest gently on the floor of the mouth.
Noticing how the whole face breathes.
Shifting your attention to your shoulders.
Flowing down to your arms.
Elbows.
Wrists.
Hands.
Fingers.
Sensing any tingling within the palms.
Feeling the breath moving through your chest.
The rise and fall.
The rhythm of life.
Moving to your belly.
Sensing the breath moving like a wave meeting the shore.
Allow yourself to let go of any unconscious holding.
Shifting your attention to the lower back and hips.
Notice any sensations.
Tension.
Warmth.
Steadiness.
Allow the hips to root into the seat beneath you.
Let attention flow downward through the thighs.
Noticing the strength,
Weight and support of the legs.
Finally bringing awareness to the soles of your feet and toes.
Sensing the subtle hum of life energy in the feet.
Allow every cell be included in awareness.
Sensing the whole body advance.
A feel of awareness.
Breathing and alive.
Sensing.
There is no inside or outside.
No separation between body and seat.
Feeling the rhythm of breath moving through the entire form.
Awareness sitting inside awareness.
Allow all striving fall away.
Rest in simple awareness.
Open.
Vast.
Ungrasping.
If the mind wanders,
Sensations arise.
Let them.
Awareness is in harmony with movement.
Visualize yourself as the sky.
Thoughts and emotions are passing clouds.
Let everything be seen.
Letting go.
The urge to control or interpret any of it.
Simply witness.
Allow everything its place within the seat.
Every time you stay,
The seat deepens.
Becoming vast,
Luminous,
Infinite and also nothing.
Surrender in this silence for the next 3-4 minutes.
Notice.
Your awareness in your body.
Noticing any sound.
Fragrance.
Taste in your mouth.
The support surface beneath you is providing.
You are not rising from the seat.
The seat rises with you.
When the sitting feels complete,
Take a slow conscious breath.
Gently open your eyes.
Offering a simple bow.
To the seat.
To life.
To the awareness that never leaves.
Say in words.
In this seat.
Serve the awakening of all beings.
Thanks for coming along.
I would like to conclude with a Vedic Mantra.
I nourish the universe and the universe nourishes me.
May the divine grace bestow us on us all.
