Whole Body Meditation

The breath is used to enliven and awaken the whole body, beginning with grounding in the feet then traveling up the body, ultimately to the transpersonal realm above the head where we are connected to All.

Transcript

So let's begin our meditation today by finding a comfortable position.

Whether we're going to sit in a chair,

Lie on the ground,

Let it be comfortable enough that you can be here comfortably for 10 or 20,

30 minutes.

And give yourself just a moment to settle into the position,

To really relax into it,

To notice all the points of contact between your body and the chair,

The ground underneath you,

All the points of contact.

And now we'll take a moment and relax and arrive,

Taking a deep inhalation and allowing yourself to really arrive here where we are.

Taking a second inhalation,

Allowing ourselves to really arrive here now where we are in this moment.

Taking a third inhalation,

Allowing our minds to rest,

To settle,

Bracketing future thoughts and conversations for time after we're done.

So that we're here,

Now,

Ready,

Receptive.

Take a moment to just become acquainted with your body and its position and the natural rise and fall of your breath.

I'll lead you through a series of stages of breathing into the body.

If your body-mind suggests another route,

An alternative,

By all means,

Follow your own intuition,

Your own guidance.

The goal of listening to this process is for you to learn it for yourself so that you can apply it in your own unique way,

Making your own changes or custom deviations to fit your own personal needs at this time.

So just begin by breathing in to the feet,

Breathing in the life breath into the soles of the feet,

Feeling the arches,

The toes,

The bones at the center of the foot,

Feeling into the sensations in the heel of the foot,

The outside and the top of the foot.

Feeling whatever sensations there may be in our feet,

Whether tingling,

Heaviness,

Lightness,

Numbness,

Just noticing everything that's there in our foot,

In our toes,

In the bones inside the toes and feet,

In the sinews and tendons that hold our foot together.

And now breathing in through the sole of the feet up into the ankles,

This vital joint that controls so much of our movement and forms so much of our experience here on earth.

Just focusing on this area,

On this act,

On this breath,

Breathing into the feet and ankles.

And now breathing that life breath up through the feet all the way up into our knees.

Visualizing if you like the healing breath coursing over the bones and tendons,

The muscles of the feet,

Ankle,

Calf,

Shin and knee.

Bringing healing,

Bringing vitality,

Bringing awakening energy to the lower leg and feet.

And now extending the inhale,

Breathing in,

Breathing energy up through the knees into the upper leg.

On the inhalation,

Breathing the breath energy in through the feet like you're drawing it up through a straw on the inhale.

Bringing it up now into the hip area.

On the exhale,

Simply releasing your focus,

Letting the energy flow wherever it wishes,

Releasing your focus and relaxing into the present moment.

So again,

Breathing in through the soles of the feet,

Up the legs into the hips,

Into the groin,

Into the genitals,

Letting the energy fill and touch and flow over all these areas of the lower body.

Being aware of any sensations,

Thoughts,

Anything arising in your awareness at this moment.

Just letting it be,

It's great.

All these things,

Things arise because we're alive.

And since we're all alive,

Let them continue to arise.

Now bringing the breath,

The inhalation up into the low belly,

The lower abdomen,

Letting the breath energy wash over the lower spine,

The hips,

The leg joints,

The knees,

The lower legs,

Feet and ankles.

Letting the breath energy wash over the lower spine and all the organs of the low belly.

Letting it bring a livening,

Awakeness,

Relaxation,

Clarity to your lower body.

And now bringing the breath on up into the upper chest,

Inhaling the awakening,

Enlivening breath up into the upper chest,

The rib cage,

The upper spine,

Bringing a livening awakening to all the internal organs,

Liver,

Heart,

Lungs,

Spleen,

Intestines,

Stomach.

Bringing your enlivening breath up your spine from the low spine to the upper spine,

Right opposite the rib cage.

Bringing your awareness to the interior of your body,

The interior of the belly,

The interior of the upper abdomen,

Of the upper torso.

Being present to this experience,

This unique experience of breathing into your body,

Not like last time,

Not like next time,

Just exactly like this time.

And now extending our breath up into the collarbone,

Breathing into the collarbone,

Breathing into the shoulders,

Breathing into the shoulder blades,

The back of the shoulder blades,

The top of the collarbone.

Again,

All places where so much tightness and holding can take place,

We bring our livening,

Relaxing breath up into these areas,

Exhaling,

Letting go,

Releasing into the moment with the exhale.

And now extending our meditation,

Extending our breath down into the arms,

Through the shoulder,

Down into the upper arms,

Elbows,

Down into the forearm,

The wrist,

Down into the hands,

The root of the hands,

The palm,

The root of the fingers,

The base where each finger differentiates from the hand,

To the very tips of the fingers,

To the finger bones,

The interior of each finger,

The interior of each hand,

The interior of each wrist.

The place where we reach out and touch the world,

The place where we reach out and grab hold of tools for making a difference in the world.

We bring our enlivening,

Awakening breath into our arms and hands,

Enlivening,

Awakening them to their highest purpose,

Bringing healing,

Rest and relaxation to them.

And we breathe in and we exhale,

Releasing,

Relaxing into the present moment.

And now we continue beginning to breathe our enlivening,

Awakening breath into our head,

Into the low jaw,

The jaw,

The mouth,

The teeth,

The back of the jaw,

The back of the head.

Continuing up breathing now into the space,

Into the eye sockets,

Into the very middle of our head,

Into the back of the head,

Opposite the eye sockets,

Into the face,

Nose,

Ears,

Into the jaw.

And now extending our breath up to fill the brain,

To fill the skull,

To fill all the spaces of the head,

Bringing awakening,

Enlivening energy to the entire head space,

To the entire cranium,

To all the bones and muscles of the head.

You may need to deepen your breath and really bring the energy all the way up from the toes and base of the feet.

Into the skull,

Into the head,

Into the very top of the head.

And on the exhale again,

Just relaxing,

Releasing,

Releasing any tension,

Any holding,

Any tightness,

And simply taking a moment to be here now,

To be exactly where we are in our process,

In our body,

In our life.

Exactly here,

Exactly now.

Not like last time,

Not like next time,

Just exactly as you're showing up today here now.

Perfect,

Complete,

Radiant,

At home,

Here,

Now.

Just taking a moment and scanning the body,

Scanning the body,

The surface of the body,

From toe to top of the head,

Scanning the interior of the body from the top of the head,

Through the central cavity in the body,

Down to the base of the feet.

Scanning the spine from the low spine where it terminates in the tailbone to the top of the spine where it connects into the skull.

Taking a moment to scan the body,

Holding all things in awareness,

Letting everything be,

Every sensation,

Painful,

Pleasurable,

Neutral,

Tingling with aliveness,

Or dead or numb,

Everything as it is,

Everything as it should be,

Just as it is in this moment.

Now extending our meditation,

Extending our awareness above the head,

Above the top of the head,

Above the crown chakra,

We breathe in,

Taking a big inhalation,

Breathing the energy in through the base of the feet,

Up through the body,

And all the way to a point three feet above the top of the head,

Breathing in as if our body-mind extended three feet above the top of the head.

Releasing,

Letting go,

And then breathing in again from the base of the feet to three feet above the head.

And again,

Breathing in,

A last breath,

One more breath,

Breathing in to a point three feet above the head.

Checking on your exhalation,

Allowing your awareness to expand outward,

Upward,

Below,

In all directions to infinity.

Allowing your sense of self to expand to a release,

To its natural limitless state,

Touching all at one with all,

Without limits,

Without boundaries.

Take a moment and be this unlimited awareness.

Notice the suchness,

The is-ness of this and every moment.

You are the suchness.

You are the space in which all things arise.

Now,

Dropping the meditation,

Letting the meditation go,

Letting this focal point go,

Simply return to simple breathing meditation.

Breathing into the low belly,

Inhaling to the low belly to a spot about an inch below the belly button.

Breathing out.

Breathing in a completely natural,

Uncontrived way,

Putting your mind's eye in your lower abdomen,

Making that a focal point for your mind.

Simply breathing in and breathing out.

And we'll sit like this with simple awareness of our breath for about ten minutes.

And then I'll ring the gong to end the meditation.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

GONG GONG May my consciousness and my behavior be of service to all beings in all worlds.

Releasing all into the suchness of this and every moment.

Reviews

Wonderful and very interesting experience. A journey through the parts of the body is so appreciated, and then I became transparent... merging with the Universe. Thank You, thank You.

Fabulous! Steve and I am looking forward to expanding further in your upcoming class at Equilibrium.

Loved this meditation, calming and cleansing the whole through breath.

I fell asleep, which is what I wanted. Thank you!
But I also want to hear it. I will listen again.

Wonderful body awareness. Really helped me stay focused. Thank you.

Best yet. Wonderful breath meditation

Glad of no music. Thanks

Great one. Thanks.

Wow! Beautifully guided! Thank you so very much!!!

Novel, effective body scan,resulting in deep meditation. Thank you.