Letting The Body Adjust Its Own Posture

When we think about our meditation posture, it's usually in terms of adjustments we consciously make in order to be more upright, open, or relaxed. But we don't have to take a willful approach at all. If we simply observe the movements that the body makes as the breath flows in and out, we can appreciate that the body is adjusting its own posture all the time, and we can simply allow this to take place, bringing about a sense of non-striving and peace.

Transcript

So,

Always we start with soft eyes,

The muscles supporting the eyes at rest,

The focus within the eyes soft,

Just noticing in passing how that gives you access to the whole of your visual field,

Noticing how the entire experience of seeing even behind your closed eyelids just happens,

Noticing as well how soft eyes slows the mind and helps create a soft inner field of attention,

In which sensations from all over the body can arise,

Again,

Effortlessly,

And letting the eyes be kind as well.

You might be able simply to remember what it's like to have kind eyes,

And notice that in remembering that,

The experience arises once again.

It may be that you need to recall some specific instance,

A specific memory of looking with love,

Just allowing those qualities of tenderness,

Warmth,

The other qualities of love to arise,

First in your visual field,

And then turning your attention back to the body again,

Noticing everything that arises with tenderness,

With warmth.

So as you're observing the body and the breathing,

With soft kind eyes,

With a soft kind inner field of attention,

Just noticing how the body changes its posture continuously,

With every in-breath and out-breath.

In every moment,

Your body's posture is slightly different,

Noticing how the chest rises and opens with every in-breath,

Comes back to rest with every out-breath.

Notice how the diaphragm pushes down on every in-breath,

And how that helps the spine to straighten and become taller,

And noticing how,

On every out-breath,

The diaphragm relaxes,

Releasing that pressure in the belly,

And letting the spine settle again,

Noticing how the upper chest becomes broader on the in-breath,

And how the shoulders rise,

And how everything settles on every out-breath once again.

You might notice as the spine lifts,

Becomes taller on the in-breath,

That this affects the neck and the angle at which you're holding your head,

And how this all changes on the out-breath,

And the softer you can allow the body to be,

The less holding on there is,

The more noticeable these movements become.

So just see if you can allow the body to be soft,

So you can really notice the ways in which the body is adjusting its own posture as you breathe in and out.

So just continuing to sit,

Observing your experience in this way,

For the next couple of minutes,

Until you hear the bell.

Reviews

A great meditation for myself as I meditate often with legs up the wall . thanks 👍