Meditating In Body & Spirit

This is a recorded version of the LIVE offering on Saturday mornings at 8am eastern time- meditating in body and Spirit. The meditation uses the breath to connect with the body and breath of the Holy Spirit. Every time we meditate we create a pathway home to ourselves and to the divine within. The stillness of our beings opens us to experience the felt sense of both the peace already woven within us while also attuning to the movement of the Spirit breathing through us with each breath.

Transcript

This is a recording based on the live option for Insight Timer, Saturday mornings, 8 o'clock Eastern, Called Meditating in Body and Spirit, Big S Spirit. It's an opportunity to both come home to one's own body and using the breath to connect with the breath of the Holy Spirit. So let's begin. I invite you to get comfortable either in a seated position or lying down. Some people like to meditate standing. Just using your wisdom, The wisdom of your body, To notice what would be most responsive to you in this time of meditation. So I'm going to be sitting on my beloved cushion. Whatever stance you take, Whatever position, I invite you to draw your attention to the feelings and sensations of your body making contact with whatever is beneath you. So if you're in a seated position noticing feelings and sensations, The backs of your legs, Your bottom, Maybe your lower back, Making contact. If you're lying on the floor, Lying on a bed, Noticing the feelings and sensations all along your back, All along the back of your body, Making contact with what's beneath you. And if you're standing, Noticing the feelings and sensations in your feet, Making contact with the floor, The earth beneath you. Just giving yourself the gift of simply being right here in this present moment, Anchoring your attention and your feelings and sensations of your body. There's nowhere else to go, Nowhere to be, Nothing to do. Simply giving yourself the gift of being right here, Present, In this present moment. Now let's take the opportunity to maybe wiggle your hips a little bit. If you're in a seated position, Feeling your sits bones, Allow yourself to be grounded right there in your hips. And if you want to, You can place your hands on your hips and then pulling through the hips, Elongate the spine. So we want a nice long spine, A nice long spine signals to the brain, Oh I'm awake, I'm alert, Even if my eyes are closed. I'm here, I'm present. I'm present to myself and to this present moment. So squared in the hips, Pulling through the hips, Nice long spine, Not rigid, Just nice and long. Then you may want to do a couple shoulder rolls if you're standing or sitting. If you're lying down, You may just want to do a couple shoulder shrugs, Bringing the shoulders up to the ears and then releasing, Releasing any tension that you've built up. And then when that feels complete, Leaving the shoulders in a back position, Creating a little bit of an opening through the chest. So situated in the hips, Elongated spine, Open chest. And now very intentionally, Let's slow the breath down. I want you to use the wisdom of your own body, So I'm not going to count. I want you to count for yourself. Just see how many beats a normal breath in and then a normal breath out is for you. And then the invitation, If it's responsive, Is to elongate that breath by an extra beat or two or three. So elongating the inhale and elongating the exhale, Allowing yourself this gift, Really connecting with your breath, Elongating it in a way that feels responsive to you in the present moment. So if you notice, Whoa, That feels like too much elongation, Then just let that go. Go back to a rhythm that feels responsive, Feels good to you, Feels organic. And if you notice that your mind wanders, No worries, No judgment. It's just a mind being a mind. You can actually use it as an opportunity to go, Ah, My mind has left my breath. Let me walk it back. And very kindly, Gently, Firmly, Escorting the attention back to the breath, To this elongated breath moving in and out of your body. And right here, Still at the beginning of this meditation, In your mind's eye, Seeing yourself in your totality, In your wholeness, Noticing any thoughts that are moving through your mind, Noticing any emotion, May feel like your heart is being stirred, Noticing any movement in your soul, Any whispers of the spirit moving through, Maybe noticing any feeling sensations too in the body. You may have a pain or you may feel some ease, But just give yourself a moment to notice, Where am I in this moment? Again, Taking in the wholeness, The mind, The body, The soul, The spirit, The heart, And just whatever's here, Acknowledging there's room for it. It doesn't need to be anything other than what it is in this present moment. And then see if there's a way in your mind's eye to hold this sense of wholeness with warmth, Compassion, Light, Bringing in even a sense of curiosity of, Where am I right now? What is going on inside of me? And meeting it like a good friend, Welcoming every part, Because every part makes up the wholeness of the moment. And there's room and there's space. Simply to be with. Beautifully done. So if you haven't already done so, I invite you to close your eyes or cast them down, Checking in again with the hips, Pulling through the hips, Elongating the spine, Maybe a shoulder roll or two, Opening the chest, Giving yourself the gift, Bringing your attention to the life-giving air, Moving in and out of your body by way of the nostrils, Just noticing any feelings and sensations right there in your nostrils. And again, If your mind wonders, No judgment, It's actually an opportunity to practice compassion. Oh, There goes my mind again, Just wondering, Noodling off, And then using it as an opportunity to guide the attention back to the breath. And if at any moment you notice, Oh, The breath is not working for me, You can always go back to the feelings and sensations in your body, Making contact with whatever's beneath you. And if the breath is working and it feels responsive, See if you can lower the attention a little bit further down, So it's moved down into your chest. You might even want to put a hand on your chest. See if you can notice that slight rise and fall as this life-giving air moves in and out of your body, Staying with this sense of your breath. And when you're ready, Lower that attention a little bit further down, So that you're resting your attention in your diaphragm. If you want to use your hand, You may move that hand that was on the chest and place it between the belly button and the ribcage, Just noticing that slight expansion and deflation of the belly as this life-giving air moves in and out, Giving yourself this gift of simply staying at home in your own body, With your own breath. And anytime you notice that your mind drifts, Hold it lightly, Hold it loosely. Use it as an opportunity to escort the attention back home to the breath. Just this gentle way of being with yourself, Creating space to simply be with, With a sense of compassion and kindness, A sense of love, Or maybe even a sense of playfulness and curiosity. Now I'd like for you to choose, Where does it feel most organic to engage the life-giving breath moving in and out of your body? So it could be one of the ones we've just practiced, Like going back to the nostrils, Could be the slight rise and fall of the chest, Or it could be the slight expansion and deflation of the belly, Or it may be somewhere else. It may be lower in your hips, For example. It's possible that it's slightly different every single time you come home to meditation. So just following the wisdom of your own body, Noticing where is it easiest, Where is it most organic to enlighten my attention on my breath? And then the invitation is to anchor yourself there. Anchor your attention within the breath, Noticing the feelings and sensations of your body as you make contact with the breath, Or simply staying present to this moment by way of paying attention to the feelings and sensations in our body, Making contact with breath. Now working with this breath, See if there's a way in which you can sense, Maybe it's more of an imagine, See if there's a way in which the breath, Your human breath, Somehow through the mystery of the divine, Feels connected to the breath of the Holy Spirit. So as you anchor your attention on breath, You're using it as an opportunity to engage the breath of the Holy Spirit, The movement of God moving in and through you. And don't worry if this doesn't come immediately, If it doesn't feel natural all of a sudden. Just stay at home with the feelings and sensations of your human breath moving in and out of your body. And as you stay open to that sense of your breath, The movement of the breath moving through you, As you stay open to that movement, See if there's a way in which it's connecting you to the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who we understand through Scripture to be breath, To be fire, To be a comforter, To be our guide, Wind, A dove. The Holy Spirit takes so many different forms and shapes, But there's multiple places throughout Scripture where it says that someone was filled up with the Holy Spirit. So as your body fills with this life-giving air, See if there's a way to sense, To connect, To imagine that filling up is by the breath of the Spirit. In coming home to yourself through meditation and mindfulness, You're coming home to this benevolent, Loving, Generous, Gracious God whose movement happens through the vessel of you. It's one of the many reasons I've so enjoyed learning about and practicing meditation over the years, Is because it grows my ability to come home to myself, To come home to this body that God gave me, This vessel. And in the stillness, I can best detect I have a capacity for a greater alignment within myself and to recognize that movement of the Spirit within me. So allowing yourself to simply stay with this breath. And when you notice that your mind drifts, It leaves this anchor of breath, Use it as an opportunity to practice compassion for yourself and kindness. Use it as an opportunity to engage again, To take, Walk that path home, Back to the breath, Back to the stillness of your body and the feelings and sensations you notice moment by moment. And in the stillness, Experiencing the breath of the Spirit, This breath of the Spirit coming home. She's always here. It's simply a matter of opening, Allowing ourselves to attune to the breath of the Spirit moving in and through us. And as we come to the end of this meditation time, I invite you to open your eyes, To take in the land, To the visual scape around you. And you may want to take a deep breath in, Bringing your arms up over your head, A nice long stretch. Oh, And on the exhale, Letting the arms go back down. Hmm. You may want to take the opportunity to give yourself some thanks for creating this time and space and what for most of us is a busy and hectic life, To come home to the stillness and the breath, To come home to ourselves and to the breath of God and the breath of the Holy Spirit moving in and through us. And so as you go through your day or if you've been meditating at night and the evening, As you move into the rest of your day, My hope and prayer is that you will feel more connected to the Spirit in everything that you do, Not just in formal meditation, But as you mindfully go about your day. May the Spirit continue to open your eyes, Open the eyes of your heart to see God and all those that you encounter, To experience God's love within you. And may that breath keep guiding you moment by moment. Until we meet again, Amen.

Reviews

This was very helpful and supportive. Thank you so much teacher