Awareness of the subtle body can be such an enriching resource for you in your life.
And having a good relationship with your subtle body really empowers you to be able to deal with any of life's challenges with a sense of groundedness and calm.
Some find it easier than others to open out into this dimension of our reality.
But the most important thing is relaxation,
Relaxing and opening.
After a while you may get a sense of the aliveness within your body,
The vitality within.
And you may get a sense that this vitality has different tones and nuances to it.
In this meditation I will try and guide you gently into the experience of it,
Step by step.
Let's see how it feels for you.
So let's begin firstly by finding yourself a position where your body can feel awake but really relaxed.
You can sit with your back straight with fresh air coming in your lungs.
But don't be too rigid,
Allow a sense of movement and softness in your body.
And once you're comfortable bring your awareness to the breath.
Resting with your awareness on the breath within your body.
The awareness of your lungs,
Ribs and abdomen expanding and contracting with each in-breath and each out-breath.
If you get distracted that's fine,
Just gently bring your awareness back to the breath within the body.
Feel your body let go and melt down as you do that.
And keep doing that now,
Continuously noticing when you've drifted and gently bring your awareness back to the breath within the body.
And note how this feels for you as you relax.
Now make a subtle shift by putting your awareness on your out-breath as a resting and settling breath.
And allow yourself to follow the out-breath down into relaxation within the body.
If you notice any holding or contraction anywhere in the body,
Gently soften around it and allow it to relax.
And then gently come back to the out-breath and relax into feelings and sensations within the body.
Now take your awareness to the ground of your being.
Notice the feelings and sensations of the weight of your legs or your body.
Notice the feelings and sensations of the ground or the chair pushing up from below you.
The feeling of it really supporting you as you relax.
And really allow your whole body to deeply relax into that supportive sense of ground.
At any time,
If you feel distracted,
Don't judge yourself or don't push the thoughts away.
Just allow them to go where they need to go.
And gently come back to the breath within your body and relax deeply down into the ground again.
Move your awareness slowly up into the feelings and sensations within the trunk of your body and notice anything that is there.
Give it space to be as it is.
Let go and relax.
Remember to hold a sense of compassion for yourself.
And really let go of any judgments or pushing away or holding.
Just give everything space to be as it is and relax down into the ground.
Allowing everything to move as it needs to move.
Allow your awareness now to expand to the rest of your body.
Opening out into your arms,
Your neck,
Your head,
Until you become aware of feelings and sensations within your whole body as you relax and breathe.
And as you rest there,
You could have a sense that your whole body is breathing,
Like your skin is permeable.
And let that breathing process soften the holding that you have to your sense of form.
So as you breathe,
Let your whole body breathe.
And gradually let yourself become more spacious and open.
Continuously relaxing and letting go.
But instead of visualizing this,
See if you can feel it in your body.
And as you relax,
You may get a sense of the aliveness within your body.
Like a life vitality or vibrancy within.
And you may get a sense that this vibrancy has different tones,
Feelings and nuances to it.
Just notice what you feel,
Give everything space and allow it to be as it is.
Until now,
We've had an awareness of something,
An awareness of the breath,
An awareness of the body.
And now we're beginning to open to a sense of really being spacious awareness itself.
Quiet,
Present,
Open awareness.
If you notice yourself trying too hard or you're distracted,
You will probably notice some sort of holding or contraction within your body.
So again,
Gently let go.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
Allow yourself to relax into the body.
And allow yourself to open to spacious awareness again.
To the vitality and vibrancy within.
Coming back into our bodies is not necessarily easy for us.
We're disembodied for a reason,
Spending most of our time distracted in our heads,
Busy with thought.
So sometimes getting in touch with our body isn't necessarily comfortable either.
At the same time,
Our bodies can give us a real sense of groundedness,
Of safety,
Of joy.
The key is to continuously relax into feelings and sensations.
The vitality of the body.
And really allow the movements of thoughts,
Emotions,
Pain,
Etc.
To just arise and move through as they need to.
Giving everything space.
As you rest here,
You might also feel a subtle sense of joy.
Joy is an innate part of your true nature.
But it gets held down by all the contraction that we have over our lifetime.
It's only when you begin to allow spaciousness in,
Does it feel like it can start to shine through.
So just rest with that for a little while.
As we bring this meditation to a close,
I want to remind you to hold yourself with love and compassion.
To allow yourself to be just where you are.
Move at your own pace,
Trust your own intuition and trust the process.
If you struggle to connect to your subtle body,
That's fine.
Just keep coming back to your body and back to what nourishes you.
And then keep allowing yourself to relax and open.
You will get there,
As it's something you're never without.
It's part of your true nature.
So keep practicing,
Keep relaxing,
Keep enjoying.
And I'll see you soon.
Thank you.
