I’m Present Now 4/10: Feel Your Body

This is the fourth of a series of 10 guided meditations to train oneself in the art of being present. The series moves progressively from 15 to 30 minutes. Each meditation in the series will be about 1 minute longer than the previous one. In this practice, you will gently focus your attention on the sensations in your body. This is a necessary step to start acknowledging the essence of what it is to be human. Albina will guide you, as well as leaving some silent space for reflection.

Transcript

Welcome!

This is the fourth of a series of meditations on being present now.

I'm Italian and I speak English as a second language,

So if my accent and grammatical errors do not interfere too much with your mindfulness practice,

I do really hope that you can find here some hints or insights on the art of being present.

These sessions are progressively going from about the 15 minutes of the first meditation to the 30 minutes of the 10th.

This is going to be around 19 minutes.

Let's start!

Gently and slowly close your eyes.

Let's sink in into the body.

Find the feeling of the movement of the breath in the body.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

I am simply aware of the breathing in and the breathing out.

I am following my breathing just the way it is right now.

The rising and falling of the abdomen.

The chest expanding and contracting.

The air going in through the nose and going out.

I feel the air at the nostrils.

Cold or warm feeling at the nostrils.

And if I am a bit agitated or anxious,

Then I cannot really follow my breath right now,

I can feel the body,

The hands maybe touching the legs or touching each other.

I can feel the buttocks pressing against the cushion or the chair where I am sitting.

Let's feel what is here right now in the body right now.

Maybe there is a vibration or maybe somewhere there is a niching or a tension or a pressure.

I just try to keep my mind here in the present and what is happening right now by feeling my breathing if I can,

If I am able to keep the mind on the breathing or in the body,

Mind the feelings,

The sensations that are present right now in my body.

There might be pleasant sensations,

Maybe a softer vibration like a tickling,

A warmth.

Or there might be unpleasant sensations like a tension,

A pressure or like a burning maybe at the back,

Maybe in the upper part of the back where tensions usually are or maybe in the legs.

Whatever is present right now I just go there with my attention which is a wise attention,

Non-judgmental,

There is no judgment,

No judging.

I am just feeling what is present,

Watching with the internal eye,

The eye of awareness.

Inhaling and exhaling.

I let go of all the ideas,

All the concepts that I have about me,

The situation or whatever is passing into my mind right now.

I just let all the thinking,

All the emotions,

All the sensations to be,

I see them rising and then passing away.

If I don't get attached to my ideas,

If I don't grasp my thoughts,

They simply disappear.

So I see them,

I see emotions,

Sensations,

Thoughts rising,

Developing themselves and then I see them passing away.

If I don't grasp them,

If I don't get attached to,

If I don't get lost into thinking so that they don't become solid,

They are always moving.

And if I can I go back to the rising and falling of my abdomen,

To the in-breath and to the out-breath,

Following my breathing,

Following the process of breathing while all the thoughts,

All the sensations,

All the emotions are like in the background.

They are like moving in the back.

And since all the emotions happen in the body,

I can get in touch with my body at a deeper level,

By feeling my body so that I can learn to recognize emotions when they happen in the body,

Not by naming them or by thinking about them but by feeling them,

Feeling the warmth,

The hot,

The cold,

The pressure,

The vibration,

The burning,

The itching,

The pulsating by learning to feel them.

Let's bring attention to our head right now.

Let's feel what's there right now in the head,

On the skin,

On the scalp or inside our head.

Sensations that are there.

Maybe a vibration moving.

Let's feel the face,

The eyes.

The nose,

The mouth,

The inside,

The tongue,

The jaw,

The cheeks.

Now let's feel the neck,

The throat,

And now the shoulders.

Maybe we can feel our clothes touching the skin on the shoulders or maybe deeper feelings in the shoulders,

In the bones,

The muscles.

Let's feel the arms,

Both arms,

And then maybe one arm,

And then the other arm,

And both arms together.

The hands,

Maybe they're sweating or they're cold.

Maybe the fingers are touching each other or they're touching the legs or the chair.

Let's feel what's there in the hands right now,

In the fingers,

In the palms,

And at the back of the hands.

Now let's feel the chest expanding and contracting with the breath and the upper part of the back.

Let's feel if it's moving back there with the breath,

The upper part of the back,

And then the middle part of the back,

And the stomach in the front,

And then the lower part of the back and the abdomen in the front.

Let's feel,

Is it soft?

Is it relaxed?

Or there is tension?

Is it hard?

Now let's feel the genitals,

The buttocks,

The hips,

And then the legs,

Both legs,

And then one leg,

And the other leg,

And both legs together,

And then the feet.

What's there in the feet right now,

A vibration?

They are touching each other or they are touching the floor or the cushion.

Let's feel what's there,

What kind of sensations are there in the feet right now?

Let's feel the legs again,

And then going back up through the back and the front part of the body,

And the arms,

The hands,

Till the upper part of the head.

It is very important to feel the sensations that are present right now in my body.

They may be pleasant sensations,

Or there may be unpleasant sensations,

Or neutral sensations.

We have to be patient and be able to stay with whatever is there right now in my body.

To be able to stay still with whatever is happening inside my body,

I need to train my mind to be present to whatever sensation is happening right now.

It might be a burning in the shoulder,

In the back,

Or in the legs,

Or it might be an itching or warmth.

By breathing in and breathing out mindfully,

I am training my awareness so that I will be less and less reactive to sensations that are the response of my body to stimulus coming from outside and from inside.

So we have to be patient and always go back to our breathing,

To the in-breath,

And to the conscious,

Aware out-breath,

And to the sensations of our body.

Step by step,

There is no rush,

We are not going anywhere,

We are just training to be present.

If I am restless right now or irritated,

Then I am present to whatever is here.

If I am quiet,

Calm,

Then I become aware of this calmness,

Of this tranquility,

Without getting attached to it.

We are not aiming at tranquility,

We are just trying to be present.

Reviews

Wonderful! I love the simplicity of the approach to being present: the breath and the body. The instructor has lovely Italian lilt to her English. As a language teacher I appreciate the nuances of the accent. Listening is being transported to a another place I associate with sunshine and warmth of the people. I think the instructor creates a place of calm with her voice and gentle prompts. What a find! Thank you.

Simple and nice guided meditation 🧘‍♂️ 🙏

I really felt at peace & in the moment while observing my body. Thank you for your in-depth guidance.🙏

Very nice thank you 🙏

Very nice and relaxing! Thank you!

Very good meditation. Namaste ❤️❤️❤️

I enjoyed this meditation focused on the breath and body. I appreciated your clear voice, gentle guidance and the pauses for silence. Thank you!

“We are not aiming at tranquility, we are just trying to be present.” Beautifully said. I am grateful for your heart and for your meditation, both of which are helping me become more present. Thank you. May you know that you are a blessing. I am grateful.

I listened to this beginning with lots of anxiety in my solar plexus and chest because of a big presentation I am speaking at this morning. I was able to sit with it all and feel it which made it disappear almost to nothing. I just feel a bit excited now. Thank you! 🙏

Very nice thank you and Namaste

Thank you Albina 💟

This was a really helpful practice for facilitating my presence. The voice was calm but not soporific, which helped me to not drift. Thank you.

I loved the calmness of this meditation and acceptance of whatever is happening in the body.