This is a meditation on the Anandamaya kosha.
The kosha means sheaths or layers.
According to yogic teachings,
There are five layers to our being.
The physical body,
The energy body,
The mental emotional body,
The higher wisdom body,
And finally the bliss body or soul,
The Anandamaya kosha,
The innermost part of ourselves.
So finding a comfortable seat where perhaps you're lying on the floor or the bed or your couch.
Allow the spine to be tall but not stiff.
Let the chest be lifted as if there is invisible thread pulling your sternum upward towards the sky.
Allow the shoulders to roll up,
Back,
And down.
Let them find space down and away from the ears.
Tuck the chin slightly and allow the back of the neck to lengthen.
Close your eyes.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Let the breath be easy and natural.
When you're ready,
Join the tips of the index fingers and thumbs on each hand to form jayana mudra.
Let the hands rest,
Palms facing up on the knees,
The thighs,
Or in the lap.
Let the extended fingers and arms be relaxed,
But ensure that the tips of the index fingers and thumb remain comfortably joined.
Bring your awareness to the place where the fingertips join the thumbs in jayana mudra.
As you continue to hold this awareness,
Begin to notice that the longer you hold your awareness in this one pointed space,
The tips of the fingers begin to feel less and less like the tips of your fingers.
Allow the sensation to move from one pressure to another.
Begin moving from pressure to that of expansion,
Melting,
Or tingling.
Allow your experience of the sensation to expand,
To become larger,
As if from that point of joining,
All particles of your being become rarefied,
Less dense,
Expanding into the space around you.
Allow this sense of expansion to move into one of dissolving.
Allow the dissolution of the tips of the fingers and thumbs.
Allow the dissolution of the hands and their entirety.
Dissolve the wrists,
The arms,
And the shoulders.
Dissolve the space where the hands were touching the legs,
Then the legs themselves,
Thighs,
Calves,
Ankles,
Feet and toes,
Expanding,
Dissolving.
Dissolve the chest,
Back,
Neck,
Head,
And face.
Allow the heaviness and solidity of your entire being to dissipate,
All molecules floating,
Expanding and dissolving,
As if into a vast sea of tranquility.
When your entire being is dissolved,
Allow yourself to rest in this state.
Feel no separation from the space surrounding you.
Know that you are completely free in this limitless space of openness.
Know that all stress,
Tension,
Anxiety,
Pain,
Fear,
And exhaustion have also dissolved into this vastness.
As you rest here,
Gently and without judgment,
Observe any thoughts,
Ideas,
Notions,
Insights,
Or feelings that may arise.
Allow those to be seen and then also dissolved into the same space that is you.
Know that any and every bit of consciousness can arise and be dissolved and accepted fully into this oneness of which you are part of and which is part of you and which is you.
Nothing is too heavy,
Too much,
Or too big to be embraced and accommodated.
There is no judgment,
No separation.
All is one,
Resting,
Floating,
Merging,
Opening,
Expanding,
Being.
Here is the blissful,
All-encompassing state of Ananda Mayakosha in which you can rest freely and fully and which is always here for you,
In you,
And of you.
Send your consciousness outward and begin to gather together your molecules.
Bring each molecule,
Each particle,
Each cell back together.
Allow them to reform.
Taking the shape of you once more.
Bring your awareness to the space where your index fingers and thumbs are joined in jnana mudra.
Press the fingers together,
Noticing the change in the pressure.
Bring your awareness to the sensation of pressure and the tactile sensation against the backs of your hands as they rest on your legs or in your lap.
Bring your awareness to the pressure as you sit or lay where your thighs,
Feet,
And legs are touching the chair,
The floor,
The cushion.
Bring your awareness to the space in which your body is now resting.
Note the temperature of the room and any sounds you can detect,
The feel of your clothing against your skin.
Come into this present moment here and now as you fully inhabit your physical body once more.
Bring awareness to your breath and allow it to deepen.
Let the breath out with a deep sigh if you wish.
When you are ready,
Gently open the eyes.
