Raft is a series of literary reflections accompanied by guided meditations for relationship laws.
The following meditation is inspired by the poem Miracle Fair by Vyslava Zimborska.
You can find a corresponding reflection on this poem here on Insight Timer.
This unconventional body scan meditation is inspired not just by Zimborska's poem,
But also this vivid little excerpt from Karl Uwe Knossgaard's book Autumn,
In which he allows his imagination to take over.
When I look at my fingers,
There is no way I can connect them with who I am.
When I crook them towards my palms and turn them face up,
I see four brothers who resemble each other and who stick together against their father,
Who is always at a certain distance from them,
Thicker,
Stronger.
Can we allow our imaginations to guide us,
Just as we guide our minds,
Taking turns leading?
We're going to begin this meditation with our eyes open.
As you take a few deep breaths,
Give yourself over to this time.
Settle into it.
Allow your breathing to return to normal,
Easy breaths.
And now,
As you allow your breathing to return to normal,
Easy breaths,
Look at one of your fingers.
It doesn't matter which one.
They're all miraculous.
Just look at it.
And now bend it.
Turn your wrist so you can see all the way around it.
Notice the joints,
The way they bend easily,
The color.
Feel your finger.
Notice the texture.
Notice the temperature.
Now touch something with that finger,
Either something on your desk or another part of your body.
And now imagine all the things that that finger,
That all of your fingers have touched,
How much information they have gathered for you throughout your life.
Think of how many tasks you've depended on your fingers to accomplish.
Your fingers are perhaps the most profound and efficient and dependable tools you have ever used.
And the fact that you possess them,
That they are a part of your body,
That you can use them anytime you'd like to,
Is a kind of miracle.
But as Zemborska points out,
This is a miracle that's easily lost on us.
Now gently close your eyes and try to feel what it is to inhabit a breathing body.
How incredible it is that everything in our body is working together interdependently so that we can continue to breathe and that we can continue to do so without giving it much thought.
We are giving it thought now.
Notice any sensations that appear,
A tingling or an ache,
Heat or coolness or a neutral temperature.
Notice if any of these sensations are pleasant or unpleasant and then move on to the next sensation in your body.
Take the next two minutes to keep going until you've given your body all the attentiveness that it needs right now.
Continue to take deep breaths as you continue to scan your body.
As you breathe deeply,
Give your body gratitude and your self-gratitude for noticing.
As we end this meditation,
See if you can continue this practice of gratitude for your body throughout your day or even just once more.
