Hi everyone.
Today we're going to do an awareness meditation practice where we'll be guided into becoming aware to our different senses,
Sounds,
Sensations in your body,
And the sensation of breath.
So let's begin the practice by taking a deep inhale and a deep exhale,
Letting it all go,
Letting the day just melt away.
And again,
Deep inhale and a deep exhale,
Letting it out with a hum.
One last time,
Deep inhale,
Holding it at the top and letting it out with an HM,
Feeling the vibration in your body.
And we'll continue this vibration by chanting OM three times together.
And think of this OM as a tool,
As a psychological tool to calm the mind,
To bring more concentration,
And to even lower blood pressure to help depress depression,
Anxiety,
This primordial sound of OM.
So everyone take a deep breath in.
Feeling the vibration in your body,
Hearing the singing bowl,
Becoming aware of any sounds that you hear.
It could be the sound of my voice.
It could be the sound of your breath,
The inhale and the exhale.
It could be the sound of the waves that you can hear from my audio.
It could be the sound in your room or in the space that you're in.
Just listening to sounds.
That's all.
Just listening to whatever sound arises.
Activating that ear consciousness.
Again and again,
Bringing your mind back to the sounds.
If you begin to wander,
Just come back to listening.
That's all you have to do right now.
Just listen.
Becoming aware of the sounds.
Just listening.
Trying to listen to a particular sound.
Try and see how many sounds you can hear.
You may notice that there is a sound that you weren't fully aware of.
It's as if it was in the background,
And a part of you knew it was there.
But this aware,
Conscious perspective wasn't until that moment of recognition occurs.
Just listening to sounds for a few more moments.
Now gently shift your attention to the sensations of the contact points of your body and the floor or the ground or whatever surface you're on.
If you're lying down,
Feel the head against the mat or the floor.
What does that sensation feel like?
Zoom in and feel.
Going down to the shoulders.
Feeling the contact points of the shoulders and the earth.
Moving down to the back and the butt.
Feelings the sensation,
Whatever it is.
Maybe it's pressure,
Maybe it's pleasure,
Maybe it's tingling.
Whatever the sensation is,
Just become aware.
Feel it without judging.
Just noticing the sensations.
Moving down to the backs of the legs,
To the backs of the feet,
The heels.
Feeling the heels on the earth.
And now feeling the entire backside of the body.
And relaxing the entire backside of the body.
Now bring your attention to the top of your head.
Become aware of whatever sensation is here.
Bring all of your attention and focus to these sensations as I name the area on your body.
Moving down to the forehead.
Feeling the forehead.
Letting go of the forehead and the muscles of the forehead.
Going down to the eyebrows.
Letting go of the eyebrows.
Going down to the jaw.
Letting it loose.
Relaxing down to the neck and shoulders.
Feeling the sensations and just letting go,
Just a little bit more.
Melting down,
Relaxing the shoulders.
And down to the arms.
Feel both arms sinking and relaxing down into the earth.
Feeling the fingers and the hands just melting and relaxing.
Down to the chest and to the belly.
Feeling and relaxing the belly.
Going down to the hips.
Feeling the hips and relaxing both of the hips.
Down to the thighs and the hamstrings.
Relaxing both thighs and hamstrings.
Down to the knees.
Sending loving awareness and relaxation to both of the knees.
Going down the legs to the ankles and to the heels and to the feet,
Into the toes.
Relaxing both feet.
Now sweeping up and down the entire body.
Feeling the sensations throughout the entire body and just relaxing.
The entire body is relaxed.
Now gently bringing your focus to the sensation of breath,
At your nostril area.
Begin to become aware of the inhale and the exhale at the nostril area.
It can be inside of the nose,
Inside of the nostrils,
Or at the upper lip,
Wherever you feel the touch of breath.
Zoom into this sensation and feel.
Without judgment,
Without creating a story,
Just feeling the inhale and the exhale at the nostrils.
Paying attention to this natural rhythm,
Your natural breathing.
Try not to change the breath.
Just let the breath and the body do the breathing and bring the mind into attention,
Into this attentional balance of watching the in and out of this natural process.
Zoom into wherever you feel the touch of breath.
Maybe you feel it inside of your nostril as the hair tickles a hair within your nostril.
Notice how the air tickles a hair and creates a sensation.
Maybe you can feel it at the back of the nostrils as it's going down into your lungs.
Notice wherever you feel the sensation and sharpen your focus here.
Sharpen your focus while simultaneously relaxing.
Calmly vigilant,
Calmly,
Vigilantly watching this breath.
Be like an ever-alert guard at the entrance of your nostril.
Becoming so aware that you do not let one inhale or exhale go unwatched.
And again if you see that your mind has wandered,
Rejoice because you just noticed that you are aware.
You are aware that your mind has wandered.
So gently redirect that attention,
Redirect that energy back to the breath.
The only job right now is being that ever-alert guard of the breath,
Of this awareness of breath,
This attuned attention and single-pointed focus on the breath.
Continue to pay attention to this breathing for just a few more moments.
Now very gently,
If you're lying down,
Begin to wiggle your fingers,
Wiggle your toes,
And we'll slowly be coming out through this awareness practice.
Feeling the sensation of the wiggling of your fingers and your toes.
See if you can feel any sensations going up the legs or going up the arms.
Notice if there's any other sensation in the body that you can feel.
And with an objective observance,
With this recognition and this allowance and this kind gesture,
Just be aware.
Any sensation without labeling,
Without creating a story,
Just noticing.
Sometimes this noticing of the sensation with this neutral mindset,
This objective,
This truly objective awareness,
Can let things go and pass.
Sometimes our body just needs that gentle loving awareness,
This kind presence.
Feeling the entire body and now zooming out outside of the body to again listening to sounds.
The sound of my voice,
The sound of your breathing,
Or the sounds of the waves in my audio,
Or the sounds of birds,
Maybe the sounds of people in your space that you're in,
Whatever sounds you hear.
Again,
Just noticing,
Just noticing the sounds.
And when you're ready,
Begin to roll onto either your left side or your right side into fetal position if you're lying down.
And then coming up to a seated position with your eyes still closed,
We'll end the session like we began,
Chanting Om three times followed by Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti,
Or peace,
Peace,
Peace in Sanskrit.
Taking a deep breath in.
Om.
Om.
Aum Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti,
Hari Om,
Hari Om Tat Sat,
Everyone.
Namaste.
Namaste.
