Welcome to our kosha meditation practice.
This is a practice to deeply check in with ourselves,
To spend quality time with ourselves,
And to really gain a better understanding of how we're feeling on all of our different layers.
In the system of yoga,
We view the self as a multi-layered experience.
Each of these layers works together in a dynamic way to support our health and to help us to engage fully with all aspects of our life.
Let's begin by settling in,
Allowing your body to feel supported,
Watching a few rounds of breath to help your attention settle in right here.
Our breath is a constant reminder of presence.
As you begin to let yourself arrive where you are,
We'll start by bringing our attention to the physical body.
In the mind,
You can create an image,
This visual of yourself sitting here,
Doing your practice.
On this physical layer,
We create an experience of openness to notice what kind of sensations do I feel in my body right now.
Trying to let go of your past experience,
Letting go of things that you think might happen in the future,
And bring yourself to that point of only noticing the physical sensations that exist in this moment.
Scanning through the body,
Starting from the feet,
Moving your way up the legs,
Up into the hips,
Through the trunk,
Up through the center of the body,
From the heart out to the shoulders,
Down into the arms,
And all the way up through the neck and to the top of your head.
We notice the sensations that draw our attention first,
And very often those can be sensations of discomfort,
They tend to take priority,
But then we want to ask ourselves,
What else?
What else is there to notice in my physical layer right now?
Are there spaces that feel good?
Are there areas that just feel neutral?
They're there without asking for too much attention,
Without giving much feedback,
But we can notice them.
We start to zoom out and create an overall image of what it feels like to be in that physical body right at this moment.
Seeing if you can create a sense of openness to whatever your experience is,
Allowing yourself to settle and be with that experience without pushing anything away,
Without grasping or pulling anything toward you.
See if you can allow it to be exactly how it is right now.
We'll bring our attention down to the next layer,
The energetic layer.
Noticing the patterns of energy movement within your body,
These are the processes that are sustaining our life.
We can think of the flow of prana,
The flow of life force,
Moving through all of our organs,
Moving through every part of our physical body.
Noticing if you feel a central point where your energy is located,
Allowing your energy to expand out from that central point.
Watching that process as your energy nourishes every cell in your body,
Supporting every process that keeps us alive.
It is our connection to healing,
It is our connection to vitality.
You may start to notice that certain areas it feels like the energy can move very freely without effort,
And other areas might feel like there's more friction.
Some spaces the energy might feel more restricted.
Noticing where those places are without trying to force or push our energy.
See if you can step back and connect to a sense of softening.
Is there something that I can soften that would allow for ease of movement within my energetic system,
So that vital life force,
That prana,
Can reach every part of my being.
Feeling that process of the energetic system supporting the physical body,
Supporting all of our organ systems,
Creating the capacity to move and to interact with the outside world.
We start to step back,
Create an overall picture of what the energetic system is like right now.
We'll start to draw the attention up to the inner landscape of the mind and the emotions.
Noticing the quality of the mind if the thoughts are coming quickly,
Or if there's more space between them.
Noticing the topic of your thoughts,
If they are internally focused,
Or if they are externally focused.
And then seeing if there is an emotional tone to the thoughts that you can notice.
Is there an uplifted light feeling?
Is there more of a heaviness,
A downward experience?
Or perhaps it's somewhere in between,
In a zone of neutrality.
We take a step back,
Creating this overview of the mind and the experience of the emotions.
Noticing what this layer of our being is like right now.
Seeing if there is a tendency to want to steer or to grasp.
Noticing if there is a tendency to want to push away the more difficult emotions.
As you take note of whatever patterns you see unfolding,
See if you can guide yourself to step into that space of a neutral observer.
Noticing the things that are happening in your mind.
Noticing the experience of your emotions without feeling like you need to change any of them.
Drawing your awareness down to the layer of your internal wisdom,
Your connection to inner guidance,
The soft wise voice that guides you in the direction of growth and becoming the truest version of yourself.
We know that the wisdom layer is always there,
But the question we can ask ourselves is,
In this moment,
Am I able to connect and receive guidance from my wisdom layer?
Sometimes our connection to inner wisdom will feel very strong,
Other times it might feel like our connection to wisdom is clouded or obscured.
And just like all the other processes that we go through of noticing,
We notice what our connection to wisdom is like right now,
Without trying to force it.
If that connection feels challenging,
Remind yourself that the wisdom layer is always there,
Supporting us,
It is always there for us to connect to,
Especially as we create some stillness and clarity in the mind,
The settling of the emotions,
We are able to peer down and see that source of wisdom more clearly.
Knowing that wisdom layer to be there supporting the mind and supporting the emotions.
I'm going to draw your attention down to the next layer,
To the deepest layer of our joy.
This is a particularly special experience of joy.
It is the pure joy of being alive.
It is an experience of bliss that is untouched or unaffected by any external circumstances.
This experience of joy is always within us.
Sometimes it might feel easy to connect to this deep inner source of joy,
And other times it may feel more difficult to notice that connection.
Stepping back and seeing what your experience is like right now,
Without trying to force anything,
Without grasping at any particular experience,
Just noticing openly,
What is my connection to inner joy right now?
As we move the attention down to the very deepest layer,
The core of all of our layers is known to be the true self,
Who we are at the very center of our being.
Stepping to that deepest inner experience of being you,
And feeling that radiate out through all the other layers,
That center of your true self,
Wrapped in a layer of bliss,
Connection to the joy of life,
Wrapped in a layer of wisdom and deep guidance,
Surrounded by the mind and the emotions,
Working with our energetic system to support every process through each of the layers,
And animating the physical body with that vital life force,
Bringing your attention all the way out to the perimeters of the body,
To the very edges,
Feeling the experience of true self,
Radiating from the center,
Out through every layer of your being,
Letting that connection to true self be the guidance that you use within your life,
Always operating from a place of knowing exactly who you are at your core,
Taking a moment to express gratitude to all of the dynamic layers of our being,
That wrap around the true self,
Create this protective container,
This vessel that allows us to interact with the world,
To create positive change and connection,
Recognizing yourself as this dynamic,
Multi-layered being,
With all of these beautiful facets,
Working together to create the wholeness of who you are,
Using your next few breaths to soak in that feeling,
Connecting to yourself at your core,
Connecting to each of the layers of your being,
And allowing them to integrate into that whole experience.
This is who I am.
Take a moment to thank yourself for putting aside this time to get to know yourself better,
This time to take care of yourself,
And to strengthen the most important relationship that we have,
A relationship with ourselves,
Seeing if you can touch that deep experience of gratitude to yourself for setting this time aside to be with yourself.
Thank you so much for joining me in this practice,
Going through this exploration of the koshas,
Of the layers of our being.
I hope that it has created a greater connection within yourself.
