Precious Human Body.
The purpose of this practice is to cultivate a new relationship with your body and with life,
Experiencing your body as sacred and feeling that you are surrounded and embraced by a benevolent presence that cares for you deeply.
So we're going to feel into this sacred technology of your body,
This incredible vehicle for your life experiences,
And feel into the powerful loving presence of the one life we all share.
To begin,
If it's comfortable for you,
Find an upright seated position in a quiet private space.
A good seat height sets your hips level with or slightly above your knees.
Otherwise,
Feel free to be in any position that is comfortable and stable.
If you're sitting upright,
Rest your hands cupped in your lap with the tips of your thumbs touching lightly,
And lightly close your eyes.
As we enter this practice,
Adopt an attitude of mindfulness by paying attention in the present moment purposefully and non-judgmentally like a curious observer with deep awe and wonder at what you might discover.
Open to the possibility of sensing and feeling throughout your entire body and the space around you,
Recognizing that every cell is sentient and the space around you is alive with presence.
The cells of your body communicate through pressure waves of movement,
Pulse,
And respiration,
Chemical messages,
Nerve signals,
And subtle energy flows.
Paying attention to this profound matrix of communication,
See if it's possible to welcome whatever you experience or don't experience,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
With equanimity and self-compassion,
With gentle self-kindness and acceptance.
Know that this ability to sense and feel inside and all around you with mindfulness is an inner skill cultivated through consistent practice over time.
If your attention wanders during this practice,
That's okay.
In fact,
Noticing that is an essential part of the practice.
When you recognize that your attention has wandered,
Release whatever grabbed your attention and gently return attention to following the guided cues.
Do this as often as you notice your attention wandering.
Doing this again and again cultivates stable attention and awareness.
Now,
As you settle in your seat,
Be present with the feeling of being in this body,
This embodied awareness.
You may come to this meditation with something on your mind,
With a persistent feeling or a particular sensation in your body.
So just notice any thoughts,
Any feelings,
Any sensations.
Notice if there's any uncomfortable sensations,
Pains or tightness,
Or perhaps underlying fears of resting in the body,
Of allowing things to be as they are.
Perhaps ruminating thoughts.
See if you can recognize and accept whatever is present as it is and allow everything to be as it is.
You don't have to fix or change anything.
You don't need to push anything away or grasp onto anything.
You're simply opening to the full range of human experience as you sit here now and embrace whatever arises with compassionate,
Loving awareness.
Now,
Consider your intention for your practice.
Why is this important to you?
Consider that your practice is not just for you,
That the effect of your practice extends to all your loved ones,
To everyone you interact with,
To all beings and the whole planet,
And even more widely,
Throughout the collective consciousness and to all that is.
Your practice,
Your state of consciousness matters to all of us.
You are an important part of the whole,
Just as you are.
So consider dedicating your practice to the well-being of all beings.
Now,
To support attention and awareness,
Find a nice comfortable alignment.
Allow the vertebrae of your spine to stack naturally,
Like a string of pearls extending on a string from above.
At the same time,
Feel your pelvic bowl resting down on the seat beneath you.
Feel the weight of your pelvic bowl contacting your seat.
Feel the tactile sensation of your seat contacting your skin.
Now,
As you sit here,
Present in this environment,
Imagine and feel that you are sitting in a sacred space,
A benevolent space of loving presence.
See if it's possible to sense this.
Recognize the possibility that this is tangible.
Sense and feel this space contacting your skin all around your body.
Feel the entire surface of your skin gently held by this space all around you.
Feel the space around your head,
Your torso,
Arms,
Hands,
And fingers.
Feel the space around your hips,
Legs,
And feet.
Feel this holding you,
Embracing you,
Like you're resting in a womb-like space of loving presence,
Supporting your life in this precious human body.
Feel this loving space as the ground underneath you,
Supporting the soles of your feet.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your feet and toes.
Allow your feet and toes to soften and relax as if they're melting down into the grounding presence of the earth.
Focus into your palms and fingers resting cupped in your lap.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your hands.
Allow your hands to soften and relax as if they're melting down into your legs.
Feel the soft openness in your hands.
As your hands relax,
Allow your arms and shoulders to relax down,
Releasing any tension in your shoulders and your head.
Again,
Feel as if a string is attached to the top of your head,
Drawing your spine gently upright,
Like a string of pearls rising from your perineum and tailbone,
Up through your spine and through the top of your head.
Feel the tingling of liveness at the top of your head as you sit more upright.
Notice how you feel more awake,
More intentional,
More empowered as you sit more upright.
Tuck your chin just slightly,
Gently lengthening the back of your neck.
Lightly close your lips and breathe in and out through your nose.
Place your tongue up on the roof of your mouth,
With the tip of your tongue touching the gum line behind your upper front teeth.
Soften and relax your tongue here.
Softening your tongue sends a relaxation signal through the vagus nerve and connective tissue network,
Through your whole body.
As you feel this relaxation,
Smile,
A subtle smile of calm happiness,
Of appreciation and gratitude for this time to recognize this precious human body as a vehicle for this sacred life.
Allow this subtle feeling of smiling to relax your jaw,
Your face.
Smile through your eyes and release any tension in your eyebrows and your forehead.
Now let's take a tour of gratitude through this precious human body,
Beginning right here with your face and its ability to communicate emotions like this feeling of smiling.
Appreciate your mouth and jaw and the ability to smile,
Kiss,
Speak,
Take in food and drink and taste.
Be grateful for your nose,
For breathing and smelling.
Appreciate your eyes and the inner and outer seeing enabled by your eyes.
Be grateful for your ears,
For inner and outer hearing and the ability to listen.
Feel into your brain this incomprehensibly complex neural network that processes and interprets all your sensory experiences,
Emotions and thoughts.
Marvel at the wonder of your brain,
This filter of consciousness,
Attention and awareness.
Give thanks for your brain.
Be grateful for your skull,
Keeping your brain and sensing organs safe and protected.
Appreciate your neck.
Feel into the vertebrae of your neck,
Supporting this conduit of speech,
Breath and ingestion.
Guide your attention now to your shoulders,
Arms and hands.
Feel into the bones and muscles of your arms and hands.
Be grateful for the movements,
Dexterity,
Expressions and skills of your arms and hands and all they enable you to do including touching,
Hugging,
Creating,
Engaging and managing the details of life.
Be grateful for your arms and hands.
Guide attention into your chest.
Feel your ribcage and thoracic spine,
Surrounding and protecting the space around your heart and lungs.
Feel into this amazing organ of your heart,
Pumping blood,
Processing emotions,
Sending neurotransmitters to regulate your mood and well-being.
There's incredible wisdom in your heart,
Which signals your brain through the vagus nerve network,
Chemical messages and the waves of your pulse.
Say thank you to your heart.
Guide attention now to your lungs and diaphragm that bring your cells life-giving energy.
Feel into the gentle rhythm of your lungs and diaphragm,
Breathing for you 24-7.
Thank you,
Lungs.
Move attention now to the base of your ribs.
On the right side is your liver.
At the base of your ribs in the back on both sides of your spine are your kidneys and adrenals.
And on the left side in front,
Your spleen and pancreas.
These organs facilitate digestion,
Absorption of nutrients,
Filtering of toxins and regulation of countless physiological processes.
Feel into and be grateful for the work of all these internal organs.
Now feel into your abdominal space and your lower spine supporting this space.
Feel into your stomach and your intestines,
Which house your microbiome.
This amazing digestive system,
A community of trillions of cells that absorb nutrients and fluid and support your body's immune response.
At least 70% of your immune response happens right here in your gut.
Like your heart,
Your gut also sends information through the vagus nerve and connective tissue network to your brain and also creates neurotransmitters that support your feeling of well-being.
Say thank you to this vital network of communication that is your enteric nervous system.
Thank you.
Move down now and tune into your bladder,
Urinary tract and sexual organs.
Be grateful for the amazing creative power and life force here.
Feel into the bones of your pelvic bowl resting down in your seat.
Feel into the muscles and bones of your hips and thighs,
Your calves and feet that enable you to stand and move.
Thank you,
Legs and feet.
Feel into the muscles and bones of your whole body at once and the connective tissue network that knits together your muscles,
Skin,
Bones,
Internal organs and all of your senses into one complex,
Interactive,
Interdependent,
Intelligent,
Self-regulating communication system.
Feel into your entire skin and say thank you for this amazing sensory and protective layer of your skin.
Be grateful for the synergistic wholeness of your body,
Which continuously reads the internal and external environment and responds with incomprehensible precision to everything that happens inside and all around you.
Feel the presence and aliveness of your whole body at once.
Feel the entire space inside your skin alive with life energy.
Feel consciousness,
Awareness,
And presence infusing your whole body.
Say thank you to this precious human body that provides an astounding vehicle for consciousness to explore experiences of all kinds.
Thank you.
Rest in gratitude.
Smile and allow this feeling of gratitude to permeate your whole body.
Now,
Again,
Feel the space of loving presence all around you.
Feel this space holding you,
Embracing you,
Supporting your life in this precious human body.
Feel this loving awareness permeating your body.
And the space all around you as one space of loving presence,
One precious space of aliveness and presence.
Record this feeling of loving presence and aliveness in every cell of your body so you remember it,
Bring it with you,
Live from it,
Live as it,
And can return to it anytime.
Give thanks for the wonderful diversity of human forms,
For all forms of life,
And appreciate how all these diverse beings fit together each serving vital purposes in the beautiful tapestry of life,
The one life we all share.
Slowly,
Very slowly,
Open your eyes and take in the feeling of the space all around you,
Together with the space inside as one alive,
Fresh,
Present space of loving awareness.
Feel grateful for this life in this body and bring this feeling with you wherever you go,
Bringing care and compassion to every form of life you meet.
Thank you for your practice.
Well done.
