Open Focus Meditation
This practice encourages us to move away from a rigid narrow focus to a wide open focus (which we tend to have when our nervous system is in threat mode) by practicing awareness of “space” both outside and inside our bodies. Some people find this relaxing and others even experience an altered state of consciousness with a profound change in relationship to difficult experiences. It is best to sit relaxed but alert for this practice. Let go of striving and just gently follow the words. Like anything this a skill that improves with practice. Enjoy inclusive attention, practicing bringing space and objects equal attention. Allow your feelings as best you can. Acknowledgement to Les Fehmi.
Transcript
This practice called Open Focus Meditation.
Maybe just taking two or three breaths,
A real kind of letting go.
Can you imagine that no effort is required to listen?
To more imagine what follows?
Can you imagine what it would be like not to concentrate on either focusing upon nor focusing away from listening to the following questions?
Can you imagine that your imagination is very subtle and effortless-less and includes all your senses,
Not just visualization?
Can you imagine letting your multi-imagination respond however it may as you engage the following questions?
Can you imagine feeling the space that the room that you're in occupies?
Can you imagine letting your awareness center itself on body feeling while letting other senses and space be present also?
Is it possible for you to imagine what it would feel like to sense the three-dimensional presence of your thumbs?
If that's difficult,
You might like to move your thumbs a little or you might like to imagine that the space in your thumbs is filled up with little balloons.
Is it possible for you now to imagine what it would feel like to experience the presence of your thumbs and the space around them and the space they occupy?
Is it possible for you now to imagine what it would feel like if you were already experiencing your index fingers as subtly as you're now experiencing your thumbs?
Can you imagine experiencing the three-dimensional space your thumbs and index fingers occupy?
Is it possible for you to imagine what it would feel like if you were already experiencing the space your thumb and index finger occupies on both hands?
Can you imagine also feeling the space between your thumb and index finger on each hand simultaneously?
Can you imagine that the space between your thumb and index finger can be experienced as subtly as you now experience the sense of presence of your thumbs and index fingers?
Can you imagine the fact that your fingers are made up of atoms of matter and an atom of matter is composed of a nucleus with electrons revolving around it?
Can you imagine that the nucleus of the atom is 200,
000 times smaller than the diameter of the atom?
Can you imagine that the electrons are many times smaller than the nucleus?
In other words,
Can you imagine the reality that matter consists of millions of times more space than solid matter?
Can you imagine that your fingers are made up of atoms,
Clouds of tiny particles revolving around one another floating in a vast space?
A vast space that is continuous from outside your fingers through the spaces between the particles that make up your fingers.
Can you imagine that your thumb and index fingers are clouds of particles floating in space right where they actually are,
Surrounded by space and permeated by space?
Can you imagine letting yourself feel space even more subtly?
Can you imagine feeling your middle fingers as intimately as your thumbs and index fingers?
Filled with space,
Surrounded by space,
Permeated by space.
Can you imagine experiencing your ring fingers filled with space,
Clouds of particles permeated by space?
Can you imagine experiencing your little fingers as clouds of feeling,
Permeated by space?
Can you imagine feeling the space surrounding and permeating the clouds of feeling of all your fingers simultaneously?
Can you imagine letting these finger sensations of absence and presence serve as a model for experiencing other portions of your body?
For example,
Is it possible for you to imagine that your hands are filled with space,
Surrounded by space,
Permeated by space,
Just like your fingers?
Can you imagine feeling the space your toes occupy as subtly as the space your fingers occupy?
Can you imagine what it would feel like to experience your feet and toes as clouds of particles floating in space,
As subtly as you experience the space permeating your fingers?
Can you imagine experiencing your wrists and forearms,
Your elbows and upper arms,
Filled with space,
Surrounded by space,
Feeling this just as sensitively as you experience the space of your fingers?
Can you imagine feeling your arms,
Hands,
And fingers,
And your feet and toes,
And now your ankles,
Lower legs,
Knees,
And upper legs as clouds of feeling permeated by space,
Feeling this as subtly and sensitively as you feel the space of your hands and fingers and feet and toes?
Can you imagine feeling the three-dimensional presence of your shoulders and the region between your shoulders,
Filled by space,
Surrounded by space,
Permeated by space?
Can you imagine feeling this space as intimately and as subtly as you feel the space your hands,
Fingers,
Feet,
And toes,
Arms,
And legs occupy?
Can you imagine experiencing your hips,
The region between your hips and your buttocks,
As feelings of presence permeated by space?
Can you imagine experiencing your abdomen and navel,
And the region between these,
And your back,
And between your internal organs,
Including reproducting,
Eliminative,
And digestive organs,
As clouds of feeling permeated by space?
Can you imagine what it would feel like to sense your chest and back,
The region between your ribs,
And all the organs inside your ribcage,
Including your lungs,
Heart,
Bronchial tubes,
And esophagus,
Permeated by space,
Clouds of particles floating in space?
Is it possible for you to imagine what it would feel like to experience your neck and your throat,
Filled with space,
Surrounded by space,
Permeated by space?
Is it possible for you to imagine experiencing your whole body from the neck down,
As cloud particles surrounded by space,
Permeated by space,
Just as sensitively as you feel the space occupied by your hands and fingers,
Feet and toes?
Can you imagine as you inhale and exhale naturally,
You can feel the space inside your entire respiratory system?
Is it possible for you to imagine that your lips and tongue are clouds of feeling,
Filled with space,
Permeated by space,
Touching space?
Is it possible for you to imagine what it would feel like to experience the teeth and gums,
Jaw and chin,
Cheeks and cheekbones,
And the regions between them,
Filled with space,
Permeated by space,
Just as sensitively as you experience the space of your hands and fingers?
Can you imagine the space inside your ears and the space between your ears,
Just as sensitively as you experience the space inside and between your hands and fingers,
Feet and toes?
Can you imagine the space between your eyes and the space between each eye and the nearest temple?
Can you imagine what it would feel like to sense the space touching and permeating your eyes and in front,
Behind,
On the sides,
And the space above and below your eyes,
As sensitively as you experience the space touching and permeating your lips,
Tongue and fingers?
Can you imagine feeling that your eyebrows,
Forehead,
Temples,
The sides of your head,
The back of your head and the top of your head,
Are floating in and permeated by space?
Can you imagine feeling the space between your eyelids and the back of your head?
Can you imagine now sensing your whole body simultaneously as clouds and particles,
Floating in space,
Permeated by space,
Just as sensitively as you experience the space of your hands and fingers,
Feet and toes?
Can you imagine feeling also the space in the whole room that you're in,
In addition to the space permeating your body and other objects or people in the room?
In addition to feeling the space in this room,
Can you imagine visualizing the space of the whole room?
Can you imagine hearing the three-dimensional silence in the space of the room,
The silence in which sounds arise,
That silence in which sounds exist and into which they fade?
Can you imagine feeling the space surrounding and permeating thoughts,
Visual images and internal dialogue of your mind,
Just as space pervades your entire body,
Feelings and emotions?
Can you imagine seeing space,
Feeling space,
Hearing silence and experiencing the space in your mind all simultaneously?
Can you imagine experiencing also the sensory space in which taste and smells occur?
Is it possible for you now to experience the space of these six senses simultaneously and equally?
Can you imagine now including within your awareness a seventh sense,
The timeless eternity in which you simultaneously experience past,
Present and future time,
A continuum which is timeless?
Can you imagine that the awareness of all the seven senses is an all-encompassing spatial experience?
Can you imagine dispersing awareness throughout your experience of these seven spaces?
Is it possible for you to imagine participating in your daily activities with the awareness space you're experiencing now that is an open focus?
Perhaps now you'd like to start slowly moving the body,
Perhaps coming into a standing position or if you're lying down into a seated position,
Can you imagine keeping this sense of space,
Imagining that space continues to permeate your body as you slowly move it?
Just experimenting with moving the body however feels right for you at the moment,
No autopilot going into familiar stretches but just experimenting with moving the body,
Perhaps the shoulders,
The elbows,
The wrists,
The fingers,
The waist,
The ankles,
The feet,
Moving the neck,
Perhaps it might feel good to almost dance within this space that you are experiencing.
What would it be like to imagine that your body is part of this space,
Is moving through this space,
Connected to this space,
Continuing to move the body however feels right or for some it might feel nice to to have the the qigong ball,
Having the hands around the ball in front of the lower abdomen,
This ball that is probably as real as we are,
It's all of space,
Allowing the ball to move wherever it likes and when your body feels ready,
Might like to come to a standstill,
You might like to enter the rest of your day can you imagine bringing in this awareness of space both within and out with you as you go through the day?
