Hello friends.
Today we're going to do a meditation that's going to be pretty loose and relaxed.
It's going to have a lot of open time space just to allow you to take it in the direction that you want to,
But it's also going to provide a little bit of guidance and direction towards just becoming aware of the seeking in particular.
So as always,
Lay flat or sit with a nice straight back in a chair or on a cushion and we're going to start off with three deep breaths and let's get started with those three deep breaths.
So with each breath we're going to experience,
We're going to clench our fists and experience all of the knots and tension in our energetic body,
In our physical body,
In our emotional body,
And in our sort of mind.
Whatever unresolved problems we might have,
That's a kind of a knot in the mind which often comes up in the emotional,
Energetic,
And physical body as well or arises there later.
But we're just going to experience those knots.
We're going to tighten our fists as we breathe in deeply,
Experience those knots,
And as we breathe out we're going to release them all.
Okay and we're going to do that three times and on the third time I'm just going to allow a few minutes of space just to rest into that openness.
And when we rest into that openness,
I hope that we can retain a certain vividness of presence without falling too deeply into spaced outness and yet with a very wide view of phenomena.
In other words,
We're not blocking anything out.
We're just going to let everything come and yet try not to grasp it and try not to get spaced out where you're almost not aware of what's happening.
So that's where we'll end after the last breath.
So let's begin.
We're going to breathe deeply into our bellies and on the count of three we breathe in.
One,
Two,
Three,
Breathing in.
And clenching fists,
Feeling those knots and tightnesses and breathing out,
Release.
Release all those knots,
All those little places of tension.
And again,
One,
Two,
Three,
Breathing in.
Feeling the tension,
Release.
And everything is relaxed and open.
And on this last one again,
Afterwards,
I'm going to leave some open space to experience just the freshness of presence.
And I think this is a great beginning to that.
So let's very briefly before we do our last breath,
Let's scan over our body.
Look at the little knots we might still have.
Let's scan over our emotional body,
Which often we experience in the torso,
And the sort of the chakras,
Blockages.
And let's experience our energetic body,
Which is very much in the chakras and channels,
As it's often conceptualized.
So to feel those knots,
To experience them.
And as we're breathing out,
We're going to release them all and they're going to just break open,
And everything's going to be allowed to flow.
We're going to rest and relax into a state of openness without grasping,
Without spacing out,
Just being present with what's happening,
Just exactly what's happening as it is right here,
Right now.
And that's it.
And then I'll begin to help guide a little bit within that.
But first,
We'll just sit and experience that for a few minutes.
Okay,
So the last breath,
1,
2,
3,
Breathing in.
Experiencing those knots,
And now they're all going to be released.
Relax and rest into presence.
Everything open.
Everything moving freely.
No resistance,
No impediments.
Pull out all the stops.
Like a bundle of straw,
Or a bundle of sticks with the rope cut.
You just allow the energies to fall loosely whichever way they will,
Without interference.
And now we may be experiencing distractions.
But there really are no distractions in this meditation.
Everything is open.
So every distraction is just another opportunity to be aware.
And that's just fine.
In fact,
The practice is to learn to recognize that distractions are the very source of our joy,
In the sense that distractions are interpreted as distractions because we believe we have something else that we're seeking to do.
But the distractions are just something which are present here with us now.
And so whatever is present with us here now,
That's what's real.
That's what's here.
And there's no sense in denying it.
We can just work with what we have,
But there's no need to push it away,
At least not at this moment,
Because it's present with us.
So if we're having thoughts arising,
Or if we're distracted by a sensation in our legs,
Or by an emotional feeling,
Any of those are fine.
And we can allow the distraction or the phenomena that's arising.
We just give it awareness and relax back into openness again.
When the thoughts arise,
We try to remain aware of the thoughts arising while remaining aware of the whole field of experience.
And we allow them to arise and to do their thinking thing,
And then to go wherever it is that they go,
When they're finished,
Without needing to hold on to them or push them away.
So again,
We'll return to very open presence.
Distractions arise,
And they're just fine.
We just bring awareness to the distractions.
And we keep relaxing our body,
Keep relaxing our mind,
Keep relaxing our energies.
When we experience a tightness,
A knot,
We just give awareness to it and release.
And then just return to the whole wide spectrum of the experience that's happening right now.
Just being loosely present with it,
Just as it is.
And we may be experiencing different bodily sensations that go along with deepening concentration or deepening stability.
And those are wonderful.
For instance,
There's a feeling of bliss that often arises.
And to get a little bit of a taste of that feeling of bliss,
I want to direct your attention down to your hands.
So retain the open awareness you've been sitting with for the duration of this meditation.
But draw maybe 20 or 30% of your attention,
Just a fraction,
Down to your hands.
So you're remaining wide open,
Everything present,
What's happening is happening.
And that's fine.
But you're giving a little bit more emphasis to the sensation of your hands.
Let's sit with that for a moment.
Now you may be experiencing,
When you feel your hands,
A little bit of buzz.
Can you experience a sort of a buzzy,
Fuzzy,
Warm kind of a sensation in the hands?
A sensation,
If you pay attention,
You'll feel it almost like your hands are getting a little bit bigger,
Like they're swelling up a bit.
Just rest in that sensation,
Just a fraction,
While largely we rest loose and uncontrived.
And that warmth,
You can feel it beginning to spread up your arms.
You can begin to feel it in your heart,
Spreading out through your torso,
Down through your solar plexus,
To your belly,
Down to your bottom,
Up into your neck,
Up through your head,
Through the third eye,
Up through the top of the head and crown chakra,
Down through the legs,
To the feet,
So that gradually you're experiencing a warm,
Sort of buzzing,
Fuzzy,
Gently happy sort of sensation.
And it's pervading your entire body.
Let's rest now that it's filled our body,
Let's rest in open awareness,
With that 30% of focus is on the body and the posture,
And the rest is remaining open to whatever's arising,
Not grasping onto anything in particular,
Just allowing everything to happen as it is,
Undisturbed.
And we'll close out the meditation,
Resting in that warmth,
In open awareness.
Thank you,
Friends.
And I request,
As always,
That you dedicate this meditation to your highest aspiration,
Your highest sense of meaning,
And may it be accomplished.
Thank you.
