Hello and Namaskar.
Welcome to Guided Meditation at Aware Zen.
Today we will be exploring a practice that I call Embodied Mindfulness.
Essentially it is a simple but powerful practice of being aware of our experience of the body.
Our modern lifestyles are very stressful,
Very fast and very often centered on the head.
We get trapped in thinking,
In imagining,
In problem-solving,
Trapped in memories of the past,
Trapped in fantasies of the future,
Worrying about the present.
And so being so caught up in our heads,
We lose touch with our direct experience of the body.
We can become alienated from our own bodies,
From the experience of this present moment reality of the body.
So this meditation helps us to reclaim our experience of the body in a way that is bright,
Luminous,
Aware,
So that we can be grounded in what is happening now,
Rather than being lost in the past or the future.
And that's because the body essentially happens right now.
All the processes of the body,
For example our breathing,
Is happening right now.
So by being mindful of the body and its sensations,
We can be brought back to this moment.
So I'd like to invite you to sit comfortably by keeping your back straight,
Free of tension,
Shoulders relaxed,
Hands on your lap.
It's good to sit on a stable chair that is straight and that allows you to put both your feet flat on the floor about shoulder width apart.
And as you gently close your eyes,
Let your attention be brought to this moment,
This present moment experience of the body,
Being aware of this whole body sitting down wherever you are.
Get a sense of the body in that sitting posture that is upright yet relaxed,
And being aware of the sensations of the body wherever it's in contact with the chair or with the floor.
There are two parts to this embodied mindfulness practice.
The first is a simple scanning of the body,
So that you become increasingly aware of the different sensations and different parts of this body.
And the second is to simply rest in the space of the body,
The space within which your experience of the body occurs,
The space within which sensations of the body rise and fall,
Come and go.
So let's begin with the first part,
Scanning the body.
Bring your awareness,
Your attention to the crown of your head,
Sensing whatever is there,
And allow your attention to sweep downwards from the crown of your head,
Down through the front of the head and the back of the head,
As well as the sides.
So you're aware of your forehead,
The back of the head,
Around your eyes,
Your cheeks,
Your jaws,
And let the awareness continue to flow downwards through your neck,
Front and back,
Your shoulders,
Down through your arms,
Upper arms,
Your elbows,
Forearms,
Your wrists,
Down into your hands,
Becoming aware of your fingers and the fingertips,
The sensations on your palm,
And continue to scan your awareness down through the chest,
Your upper back,
Your shoulder blades,
Between your shoulder blades,
Scanning downwards to the middle back and the lower back,
Scanning down the sides of your trunk,
Scanning down in front,
Your upper and lower abdomen.
Now bring your awareness to your hips,
Your buttocks,
Upper thighs,
The front and back,
And then slowly scanning down to your knees,
Front and back of the knees,
Calf muscles,
The front of your lower legs,
The shin,
And becoming aware of your ankles,
Top of your feet,
Toes,
And then the soles of your feet,
And with every breath,
Simply allow all the tensed sensations of the body to dissolve as if the tension flows out of the body through your feet,
Breathing in and out slowly,
Naturally.
Now bring your awareness from your feet upwards,
Scanning your lower legs,
Your calves,
And bringing up to your knees,
The front and back,
And your thighs,
Becoming aware of your hips,
Your buttocks,
Your groin,
Your lower back,
And your lower abdomen.
Continue scanning upwards to your upper abdomen,
Your middle back,
Chest,
Your upper back,
And your shoulder blades,
Between your shoulder blades,
Becoming aware of your shoulders,
Your neck,
Becoming aware of your fingertips,
Scanning upwards from your fingertips to your hands,
Your lower arms,
Elbows,
Upper arms,
Joining at your neck and your shoulders,
Release any tension you might feel there,
And then scan your awareness of your jaw,
Around your lips,
Your cheeks,
Your nostrils,
The bridge of the nose,
Around your eyes,
Up into your forehead,
Bring your awareness to the lower back of your head,
Up to the back of the head,
Both your ears,
And then finally ending up at the crown of your head,
Noticing the sensations there.
Continue breathing naturally,
As you breathe out,
Allow any tension of the body to float up through the crown,
Float further up through the crown,
Into the space above,
So your body is now clear,
Relaxed,
Aware,
And bright.
Now let your awareness rest on your whole body once again,
From the crown of your head,
To the soles of your feet,
And from the soles of your feet,
To the crown of your head.
Feel the entire body as a whole,
Feel the entire range of sensations within that body,
And let your awareness simply rest in what we call the space of the body,
Space within which all sensations of the body occur,
Space within which all the sensations of the body come,
Stay for a while,
And go.
It is like an empty screen,
And the sensations are like the different images on that screen.
So the space of the body is a wide open space,
And upon this wide open space,
All the feelings and sensations of the body rise and fall,
Come and go.
Be rested,
Be still in that space,
And simply allow the sensations to be as they are,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
Or neutral,
Without reacting,
Without getting caught up in those sensations.
Just being that space,
The open space,
That is knowing,
That is clear,
That is bright,
Spacious,
Completely in touch,
The rising and falling waves of sensations that we call the body,
As if the sensations themselves are lighting up,
Coming away.
It is the innate awareness that is illuminating the entire field of sensations,
The entire space of the body,
Wherein sensations occur.
Abide in that space of knowing,
Not resisting,
Not rejecting,
Not getting lost.
Open,
Bright,
Aware and knowing in each present moment,
Not grabbing after pleasant sensations,
Not resisting unpleasant sensations,
And not being indifferent to neutral sensations.
Just being equally aware and equanimous,
Balanced,
Peaceful,
Whatever the sensations may be.
If you find thoughts coming and pulling you away from this awareness of the body,
Simply notice the thoughts.
No need to resist them,
Just notice and let the thoughts be,
And then return to rest in the space of the body,
And the sensations arising and falling.
Now gradually,
As you prepare to conclude your meditation,
Affirm in your heart,
May I and all beings be able to enjoy this embodied mindfulness,
To be in touch with our bodies,
And to be stable in present moment reality,
Rather than being lost in our thoughts and our reactions.
And in this way,
May we all experience greater peace and joy in life.
You may slowly open your eyes and wrap up the meditation.
So thank you dear friends for joining me in this guided meditation on embodied mindfulness.
I hope you have enjoyed and benefited from a greater sense of awareness and mindfulness of the body,
And may this become a regular practice in your life,
And may it help you taste a deeper sense of ease and comfort and peace.
Thank you.
Namaskar.
See you again.
