So stabilizing our focus inside of a body sensation.
Roaming around in your body,
Let it be drawn.
What stands out for you?
Find a sensation and stabilize your attention there.
Now it's a new moment.
What feels alive to you?
Label the name.
And then fully,
Deeply,
Richly,
Vividly experience.
And now,
Following attention wherever in the body it naturally wants to go.
Same spot,
Somewhere different.
Label.
Get to know that body sensation.
Allowing your focus to roam and float freely.
Wherever it wants.
Whatever sensations pull at it,
Wherever it's drawn.
Keeping a steady cadence.
Labeling every few seconds.
We're being aware of whatever sensations manifest themselves in our bodies.
Allowing our attention to deeply know each body sensation.
Becoming aware of the reality of each body sensation as we feel it.
We're doing our best to pay attention to one thing at once.
Just one body sensation.
Just this one right here.
We're simplifying everything.
Quieting the mind by just experiencing one feeling at a time.
Having our mind and body in the same place at the same time.
Just this.
Just now.
We are participating in a unification process.
A gathering together process.
Our attention more and more centered on just this body sensation.
You may want to take the attitude that our meditative awakening requires being actually awake.
So if you find yourself falling asleep,
Being sleepy,
You may want to energize your meditation by standing up.
Perfectly legitimate meditation posture.
You might also want to open your eyes.
If you're sleepy,
You may want to make sure that you're using labels.
Possibly speed up the cadence of your labels.
Put more force into your labels as you say them silently inside your mind.
Or say them out loud.
If you're sleepy,
Making sure your spine is extended.
That you're sitting up straight and not slouching.
Making sure that your chin is not dipping.
That it's parallel to the ground.
When doing this technique and you feel sleepy,
Deeply explore where in your body you feel the sleepiness.
Welcome those sensations.
You get to be part of the meditation today.
Sleepiness can actually be enjoyable.
It's relaxing.
It's doing our best not to go over the waterfall and actually fall asleep.
Our goal is continuity of contact with how the body feels.
Stringing together one moment after another of connection with the body.
This being here in the exact present moment with just this next body sensation.
Simplifying it down to just the right now.
And eventually we find ourselves immersed in a fluid unbroken awareness over time.
Continuity of contact.
If you notice yourself bored with the meditation,
Hit some strata of your consciousness where the meditation is unpleasant.
Maybe it's painful in the body.
Whatever reason it's hard to tolerate the feeling of connecting with your body.
You could bounce away from that strata up into thoughts.
Or maybe stopping the meditation altogether.
You could also drill through by getting up closer with how your body feels.
Connecting more deeply.
Noticing more details.
When you drill through that unpleasant experience,
You have a richer connection with the meditation.
More spaciousness in being yourself.
You might feel frustrated if you keep noticing thoughts and other distractions.
But each distraction you notice is a victory.
Shows that you're meditating perfectly well.
Doing the meditation right.
Every time you say,
Oh,
Got distracted into thoughts,
I'm doing a body meditation.
Where in my body do I feel that thought?
That's a moment to celebrate.
Enjoy it.
Happy.
Distractions are just about inevitable.
A question of what we do with them.
Be patient with yourself.
Going easy on yourself.
Sometimes it takes a while to get the hang of.
There's never any reason to criticize yourself or get down on yourself.
Just celebrating we're taking the time for self-development and self-care.
You're doing great.
Friendly,
Spacious,
Accepting mind will help your meditation more than a critical,
Grinding mind.
Where in your body feels alive right now?
Familiarizing yourself more deeply with the specifics of that sensation.
Placing your full attention there.
And being in the experience of how that feels.
We're relaxing and just riding on waves of energy.
Letting the waves roll by.
Yielding to and relaxing into the flow.
Natural waves of coming and going.
The ebb and flow of bodily experience.
Something we often find is when we bring some friendly acceptance to a difficult body sensation,
When we just listen deeply and receive,
When we deeply feel a blockage without trying to change it,
It often blooms into something pleasant,
Open,
Peaceful.
The body knows how to deeply relax when we provide the right space and conditions.
We don't need to force anything.
Try to make a change.
This happens automatically.
Sometimes it takes a few seconds,
Sometimes it takes decades.
But when we bring mindfulness to something,
It self-liberates.
We're landing more fully in our bodies.
Learning more about how our bodies experience themselves.
Learning to live our lives more fully embodied.
We're manifesting a physical sense of here I am.
In this moment and at this time.
Creating deep physical presence.
We're not trying to change anything.
Anything bigger or smaller.
Manipulate,
Regulate,
Interfere.
We're just allowing the entire variety of body sensations that are coming and going to be as they are.
Meeting each sensation with openness and allowing.
We're not grabbing onto sensations,
Especially the pleasant ones.
We're not pushing away sensations,
Especially the unpleasant ones.
Just letting the flow happen.
With each body sensation,
Exploring its size.
How big is it?
What shape is it?
Does it have crisp boundaries or kind of fuzzy ones?
Is it vibrating or more static and stable?
Does it feel the same through and through or is there variation within the sensation?
Getting in there.
Noticing the details.
Being willing to be surprised by how your body feels.
Taking the attitude you've never felt this body sensation before.
Because that's actually true.
Being willing to have it not be what you expected.
Coming to the experience fresh.
And slowly bring your awareness back.
The chair you're in,
The room you're in.
Maybe blinking your eyes a little.
Some light movements to your fingers,
Your toes,
Your wrists.
Maybe rocking the head from side to side.
And great job,
Everyone.
You may know that a traditional Buddhist way to end a meditation,
More Southeast Asian,
I would say,
But East Asian also,
Is to put your hands together in prayer,
Called Anjali in India.
In front of your chest,
Do a slight bow from the waist.
And say,
May all beings be happy.
And send a wish out from your heart,
A warm-hearted emanation,
To all people,
To all beings,
Animals and plants,
Wishing happiness.
