Awakening Intention

This guided practice is an excerpt from a live session on Insight Timer. When rooted in a clear intention, the mind and body work together, creating an easeful flow through our experiences. Our intention channels our energy into action out in the world and gives us clarity and direction. In this practice, you will center on the bodymind and awaken the intention that lives in the heart.

Transcript

All right,

So let's go ahead and go into practice,

Shall we?

So I'll invite you to go ahead and just get comfortable for a moment.

And you can do this practice today seated or lying down.

So if you're lying down,

I'll invite you to place something beneath the knees to take pressure off the low back or behind the head to support the neck.

If you're seated,

Go ahead and find something that will support your back so that you don't have to work really hard.

Let your shoulders just roll back.

Going ahead and getting cozy.

If you have a blanket or a shawl,

Please wrap that around you or lay that over you to soothe the nervous system and also to invite that little layer of warmth because as we practice,

Our body temperature drops.

So the blanket or the shawl invites our nervous system to feel protected,

To feel steady and to feel soothed with just that little layer of warmth and that tiny bit of weight.

And once you feel settled in,

Go ahead and taking a nice full breath in as you gently close your eyes.

And open the mouth,

Exhale and sigh,

Gently letting go.

And taking a nice full breath in through the nose,

Feeling the heart expand with that inhale,

Pause at the top and gently open the mouth,

Exhale with a nice audible sigh,

Softening through the muscles in the face,

Neck and the shoulders drop.

Taking a nice full breath in again like this in through the nose,

Hold at the top,

Open the mouth,

Exhale release,

Allowing the body to sink into the support beneath you.

Feeling fully supported as you allow the breath to find a natural rhythm,

Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other.

Gently becoming aware of the sounds farthest away,

Just the sounds around you and just noticing.

And without labeling them,

Just becoming aware of the sounds farthest away,

Letting the ears travel from sound to sound to sound.

Telling yourself to notice the sounds that are closer and closer to you.

Perhaps even noticing the sound of the movement of your breath,

Going in and out through the nose.

See them sensing into the sound of your own heartbeat.

Becoming aware of the inner sounds,

The inner space and simply noticing what's here with you.

So you scan the body from head to toe and toe to head.

Inviting the breath to land and rest in any area that feels tense or uncomfortable,

Anywhere that is calling your attention.

Gently becoming aware of the right hand,

Right forearm,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder.

Becoming aware of the whole right arm softening,

Becoming heavy,

Whole right arm softening at ease.

Seeing the right side of the body,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right buttocks,

Right upper leg,

Lower knee,

Lower leg,

Whole right foot,

Becoming aware of the whole right side of the body softening and sinking into the support beneath and around you,

Whole right side of the body fully supported.

Moving over to the left,

Being aware of the left hand,

Left lower arm,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

The whole left arm soft,

Restful,

Supported.

Becoming aware of the left side body,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left buttocks,

Left upper leg,

Left knee,

Lower leg,

Left foot,

The whole left leg,

The whole left side of the body,

Whole left side of the body supported,

Soft,

Sinking into the support beneath and around you.

Now the whole body,

The whole body supported to become aware of the base of the spine.

And then each vertebra traveling all the way up the spine to the top of the head to become aware of the top of the head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

Becoming aware of the eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Both eyes together,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Both nostrils together,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Chin,

Right ear,

Left ear,

The whole head,

The whole head,

The neck,

Both shoulders,

Both arms,

Both legs,

And the whole body.

Being aware of the whole body together,

The whole body fully supported,

Soft,

Useful.

As you notice the flow of the breath flowing up through the base of the spine up to the nose and gently exhaling traveling down the spine,

Finding the soft fluid flow of the breath up and down the spine.

Breathing like this for a few moments.

And gently becoming aware of the heart center.

Holding your awareness at the heart center,

You might feel and sense the breath radiating in and out from this space within the heart.

As you breathe in the heart and the light expands and as you exhale,

It's a softening that occurs.

Exhaling and sensing into this light in the heart.

You might notice here within the heart a silhouette,

A silhouette of a person.

And as you focus in and hone your awareness here on the silhouette within the heart,

You begin to notice that the silhouette is your future self.

This is the future self of your true aligned self.

Your true self expressed easefully in the world,

Rooted in your heart and your truth.

As you gaze upon this future self,

You notice the qualities,

Noticing the posture,

The facial expression.

Notice an assurance,

Clarity.

Gently become aware of the words that describe this version of you.

Your true aligned self expressed in the world rooted in the heart.

As you continue to observe this aligned self in front of you,

You notice you begin to merge,

You become that you are this aligned true self.

And within this embodied experience of your future aligned self,

You become aware of the quality of hearing,

The sounds you're attuned to,

The language that you're using as this aligned self.

You look around your environment through these aligned eyes,

You notice what you see,

The quality,

The colors,

Images.

Notice the taste on the tip of your tongue,

The sweetness of life.

Become aware of the scent of your environment,

That which nourishes and inspires.

You become aware of the sensations,

The sensation of the air on the skin,

The body in space.

You experience this quality of being aligned with your highest self.

Simply notice which feeling tones and words land in your awareness,

Words that capture the quality and essence of this expression of you.

And now holding this word or short phrase,

These qualities and descriptive words that capture the essence of your experience and add the sentence stem,

I am.

Breathing in,

I am this quality.

I am.

I am.

Feeling these words,

This intention,

This intention of awakening this which is within you,

This I am quality pulsing with each inhale and each exhale inhaling I am exhale releasing this essence into the world.

Feeling these qualities pulse and radiate through the body with each breath 37 trillion cells radiating and pulsing with this quality,

This intention I am.

Your qualities.

Gently calling your name to yourself and stating I hear you.

I see you.

I am you.

I am.

And then your intention.

Calling your name to yourself.

I hear you.

I see you.

I am you.

I am.

State your qualities.

Calling your name to yourself.

I hear you.

I see you.

I am you.

I am.

Inviting a nice full inhale feeling the heart expand echoing with this intention.

Exhaling sensing the body sinking further into the support beneath you as you gently become aware of the body fully supported.

Nice scanning the body head to toe and toe to head.

Awareness at the heart.

Gently becoming aware of the points of contact between the body and the surface beneath you.

Back to the shoulders.

The hips.

The feet.

Back to the hands.

Sensing into the whole body,

The whole body filled with this light of this intention still pulsing through you and noticing how you feel.

How the body feels.

How the breath moves.

The next inhale if it feels welcome in the body raising the arms up overhead into a nice big stretch.

On the exhale releasing the arms and gently to the sides.

If you're lying down,

I invite you to bring the knees into the chest and just rock side to side massaging the low back.

If you're seated,

You could gently rock slightly side to side as well,

Inviting subtle movement into the spine.

And if you're lying down,

Bringing the hand rolling over to the side and bringing the hand closest to the ceiling down on the ground in front of the heart and using that to support you as you return to a seated position.

We all meet together seated,

Eyes closed.

Sensing the vibration of this intention moving through the body with the breath to place one hand on the heart and the other on top of it.

As though to seal this intention here.

Just feeling the warmth of your own hands.

Taking a nice full breath in through the nose,

Open the mouth,

Exhale with a nice big sigh.

Letting go of everything that is ready to be released that is outside this intention.

Taking one more full breath in,

Open the mouth,

Exhale,

Sigh it out,

Gently touch into chest.

Invite a soft grin to form on the lips as you draw the corners of the mouth back towards the ears welcoming yourself back home.

Keeping yourself here and gently opening the eyes,

Pause,

Bring the gaze back to center.

Just noticing how you're feeling.

Looking back.

Reviews

Patty, I just finished your meditation.. instead of eating lunch I took my time to listen.. thank you.. you always bring me 🙏back.