Imagine,
If you will,
That the energy that you burn all day long is not just physical energy,
Such as calories,
It's mental and emotional energy as well.
Imagine that this source of energy,
Which invigorates every cell,
Resides in the center of your body.
The Japanese call this reservoir of energy the Hara,
The Chinese refer to it as the Dantian.
Although it cannot be measured by western science at this time,
This energy is essential to your well-being.
Take a moment now to locate the center of your body and feel where this is,
Your center of gravity.
The center of your entire body.
As you begin to focus on this area,
Realize that this is about an inch or two below your belly button.
It is believed that when this energy is too excessive,
Perhaps from a flurry of thoughts or unresolved emotions,
You begin to feel frantic and overwhelmed,
Sometimes just plain exhausted.
The body flame meditation,
Like the breathing cloud exercise,
Is a way to help clear your mind of excess thoughts and excess energy,
And return your mind-body to a profound sense of inner peace.
As you do this meditation,
And as with all meditations,
Call to mind the power of your five senses,
And call to mind the power of your imagination and memory to draw forth the power of this visualization.
To begin this meditation,
The best position is to lay comfortably flat on your back,
Keeping your spine aligned from your head straight down to your hips.
If you choose to sit,
However,
This will work as well.
Next,
Concentrate on your breathing by making each breath comfortably slow and comfortably deep.
If your mind should happen to wander,
Gently guide it back to the focus of your breathing.
If your eyes are not already closed,
Go ahead and close your eyes and once again locate the center of your body.
Then,
Using your mind's eye,
Call to mind an image of a flame hovering over this part of your body.
Metaphorically speaking,
This flame is a symbol of your state of relaxation.
It feeds off your body's energy.
When your body has an abundance of energy,
Perhaps nervous thoughts or negative feelings,
This flame will be quite tall,
Perhaps even like a blowtorch.
When you are completely relaxed,
Your flame will be quite small.
This small flame is called the maintenance flame.
It's like that which you would see as a pilot light in a gas stove.
This is the desired size for complete relaxation.
So now,
Focus with your mind's eye and take a look at the size of your body's flame.
See its size relative to your body's level of energy.
So what does your flame look like?
How big or small does it seem to you right now?
As you place all of your attention on the flame of your body,
Look at its color.
Your body flame may be an intense brilliant yellow or white color.
As you look at this image,
What color does your flame hold?
Once again,
With your mind's eye,
Take a look at the shape of your body's flame.
Direct your attention to the base of the flame and notice.
Is the bottom round or oval?
How does it appear to you?
Then,
As you focus your eyes toward the tip of the flame,
Notice that it comes to a jagged point.
You may even notice that your flame dances around a bit or perhaps it remains still.
As you look at this flame,
Feel it feed off the excess energy in your body and let it burn off any excess energy that you wish to release to return to a complete sense of relaxation.
Take a deep breath and let your flame release any excess energy that you feel detracts from your ability to relax.
Once again,
If you find your mind is distracted by the wandering thoughts that pull your attention away,
Gently redirect your attention back to the image of this flame and then allow your mind to send these thoughts and feelings from your head down to your body's center and up through the flame.
As you continue to watch this image of the flame,
Feel your body slowly become more calm and more relaxed.
And to help this out,
Take a nice,
Slow,
Comfortable deep breath.
As you exhale,
Feel a greater sense of calm throughout your body.
And now look once more at the image of your flame.
As your body becomes more tranquil,
Notice the flame decrease in height.
Soon you will notice that your flame decreases in size to about a quarter to one half inch tall.
As you focus on the image of your body flame,
Once again,
Notice the color,
Shape,
And size.
And as you see the flame decrease in size,
Feel your body relax as you draw your attention to the relaxation effect of the maintenance flame.
Now,
There are times when this flame can be used to aid in the healing process of your physical body.
Placing the flame over a specific part of your body,
An area that is sore or perhaps experiencing pain,
By doing so,
You allow the flame to feed off the excess energy of this area and restore a sense of peace to the organ or physiological system that is yearning for wholeness.
Please take several slow,
Deep breaths.
And as you exhale,
Allow your body flame to return to a sense of peace in this area.
And as you do this,
Feel peace reside here.
When you feel ready,
Slowly allow this image of the flame to return back to the center of your body.
Now,
Continue to focus your mind's eye on your body's flame.
When you feel completely relaxed with your flame very small,
Notice how still it is.
Then,
When you feel you are at a point of complete relaxation,
Slowly allow this image to fade from your mind,
But retain this feeling of relaxation,
Knowing that your mind is now clear with fewer and fewer distractions.
To augment this relaxation process,
Please take one more slow,
Deep breath,
And then slowly bring yourself back to the awareness of the room that you're in.
Become aware of the time of day,
The day of the week,
And what you have planned after you have completed this relaxation session.
When you feel ready,
Very slowly open your eyes to a soft gaze in front of you.
If you'd like,
Go ahead and stretch your arms and shoulders.
Notice that although you feel relaxed,
You don't feel tired or sleepy.
You feel fully energized and revitalized,
Ready to do whatever you have planned for the rest of the day.
