Embodiment As Meditation

Hi there,

I'm Abby Keene.

And today I want to explain the connection,

The link between embodiment and meditation.

Or maybe I should actually say embodiment as meditation.

And how coming into the body and becoming aware of the body can actually bring us to the present moment and help us be present.

Which to some extent,

I feel like that's what meditation tries to help us with.

The body is an amazing tool,

And the body is always here now.

It's alive now.

The sensation is now.

The heart beats now and the breath happens now.

As opposed to that,

Our minds are kind of everywhere but now.

Our thoughts float all over the place.

Yesterday and what was to things that we want to do and what will be.

And as we do that,

We're actually disembodied.

We are floating in our thoughts all over the place.

But we're not actually in the body.

Wherever the thoughts take us.

And we're definitely not present.

We're somewhere else.

Our attention is very much taken by our thoughts going outside ourselves.

But if we can turn that attention and deliberately and intentionally bring it back into the body.

We can open the doorway to being present.

Here and now together with our body and anything else that is now.

How do we do that?

Well,

We can start to sense the body.

We can start to make contact with the sensation of the body.

Now.

What can you notice about your body right now?

What sensation can you come in contact with?

Maybe it's your feet on the floor.

Maybe it's your back against the chair.

Maybe it's.

.

.

Tensions in your jaw,

Your frown.

But the moment you put your attention on parts of your body,

Notice you're already not so disembodied.

You're already not so floating elsewhere.

You're already not so disassociated.

And a part of you is becoming more present and more here.

For a lot of us,

It feels like nothing is happening and it's not enough.

But I want to reassure you.

Every little effort counts.

Every time you choose intentionally to call your awareness back in.

And anchor it.

In your physical form.

It has value.

You start to put little coins in your piggy bank.

And slowly,

Slowly,

You find that you can stay with the sensation more.

And the sensation grows.

And expand.

And the moment grows and expands.

And slowly you become more and more present to your life.

Through coming back home to your body.