31-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 18

Welcome! This is the eighteenth lesson to a 31-Day Meditation Challenge recently recorded in July of 2020 entitled "Seek and Find Within." The audio recording is divided into an opening discourse and a guided meditation.

Integration of the Rotation of Consciousness technique. The intro discussion goes over flow-state, the neurology behind hyper-focus, and the 3 "yogic" observations of the mind.

Enjoy.

Transcript

All right,

What's up everybody?

Cool good to see you all happy Saturday Day 18 it's an integration day.

So we're going to integrate the technique of rotation of consciousness and You know,

Of course allow you the time to experiment with this exercise on your own I just wanted to highlight before we get into like the heavy-duty experimentation Meditation is a really dynamic sort of a it's a dynamic thing to do and if you are serious about it and you really want to push your capacity to Meditate well,

I think it's helpful to To organize your practice in a more like specific way that there are things you can do to develop focus There are things you can do to develop sensitivity You know Essentially you can you can break your your practice time your days your weeks your minutes your hours Into drills and then you can separate the drills which are you know,

Fundamentally what I've been teaching you You can break it apart against pure meditation Which would be something like just holding stillness and just attempting to sort of like allow the mind to flow while simultaneously Focusing on a specific object of attention And so that's that Also before we get into the technique today,

There's just some ideas.

I want to express some philosophical ideas some Biology that that'll help you in hindsight Interact with the experience of your psyche and so the first thing is,

You know What exactly are we doing and what exactly are we experiencing when we have the the willpower or you know?

How yogis would describe it the prana right there like vital?

Biological life energy to actually suspend our thinking right and focus intensely on We're focusing on the sensations of our body what's going on?

And so you're entering a flow state and so flow states are when you are so preoccupied with the task at hand that you know,

Everything starts to disappear time disappears You know what you did earlier disappears what you have to do after disappears essentially your reality becomes this this tiny little moment or this tiny little experience and that You can experience that in many ways you can spirits that if you're cramming to you know get get some work done before a deadline or you can experience it when you're you know doing something that you love like running or Bicycling or playing an instrument or swimming or having an amazing conversation with a friend But whenever people are in it whenever people are in a flow state It feels good And I think the the ultimate lesson here is that it feels really good to forget about the world It feels really good to forget about ourselves and and that's just you know,

That's something to take to heart And so what's going on neurologically you have two different networks in your brain There's many networks But there are two that we're talking to specifically and the first is the task oriented network And the second is the default mode network And so these networks are comprised of different sections of your brain that have been observed to work in conjunction with each other and so the task oriented network is operating when you are Oriented on a task when you have something to do whether it's work or hobby and this is where the flow state emerges from and what happens when the task oriented network is Activated is your brain literally stops processing Self it stops processing the identity that you think you are the identity your brain thinks you are And it also stops processing theories of self Which is our the our inclination to theorize on other people's agendas other people's you know Motivations and when all of that shuts down You know,

We're sort of like we're we're permitted this breath of fresh air this breath of mental quiet This breath of mental peace and so when you're meditating you're trying to focus you're essentially trying to activate this network in the brain and then when you get distracted the default mode network kicks on and Know its nature,

You know the the nature of its name.

This is our default We're sort of wandering through thoughts thinking about everything and thinking about nothing and this is sort of the psychological Fog that we all might feel when we are either overwhelmed or interconnected from what meditators sort of label the present moment the the freedom of the now and So we're sort of operating between these two modes when you're trying to focus You're trying to shift everything into this task oriented network,

Which is really cool,

Right?

You're sitting there and you're trying to light up this specific section in your brain And so yogi's also sort of observed these these patterns of the mind and they came up with three laws And I think you know through my studying of these laws.

It really helps me interact with my practice and and sort of Diminished my tendency to judge myself and specifically my thought process And so the first law is the law of continuity Which means you're always going to end up being distracted at some point,

Right?

So you're never gonna like meditate for 30 minutes and not have your mind wander.

And so that's really good to know And so you're always shifting between task oriented mode and default mode network But just because the mind is thinking doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't focused and as counterintuitive as that seems It'll start to make sense the more you practice.

So that's the first of three laws the law of continuity The second of these three laws is the law of association so when your mind is thinking when you're in the default mode network and you're Theorizing about who you are and what the world is and who other people that you know and don't know are what their motivations are Your brain is trying to put together a puzzle that you know It ultimately doesn't know what it what it looks like It's trying to to make sense of a mystery and so it's building all of these associations and organizing them into agendas that you may or may not be conscious of And so that's you know Beautiful thing back to the conversation of the mind is a miracle you have sort of this supercomputer in your brain that by itself Is is making sense of an infinitely complex reality and the only way we can make anything Resembling an educated guess or an intelligent choice is because of that thinking and so when your mind wanders You know pay homage to it and then the last of these three laws is the most useful It's the law of relativity meaning that when your mind thinks up anything Let's just say it's a little bit of impatience in your practice or a little bit of fatigue Running through the drills of the rotation of consciousness and so you feel this impatience in this fatigue It's not necessarily your fatigue.

It's the fatigue It's the hypothesis or the assumption of your brain of this supercomputer And you have the choice,

You know If there's any any point where we have free will you have the choice to agree or disagree with yourself?

And that's sort of the fulcrum in which a meditator is learning to to leverage And from this from this ability to see that the brain is relative to itself The yogi surmise that we are not our thought process.

We are not the identity.

We are not our names We are not our memories.

We're something else other than that And so when you're meditating again Just like summarizing when you have a thought even even the grammar of how I'm phrasing that is incorrect When your brain has a thought when your brain makes an assumption that we immediately sort of connect to Consider it's just the opinion of an organ not necessarily you so these are these three laws The last thing I wanted to say is you know consider it for a moment when you're in a flow state say you're you know Painting right anything running singing you're you're in a flow a flow state in Relationship to an action which involves an agenda if you're running you want to run further if you're painting you want to paint?

You know the image that's in your mind if you're singing you want to sing in a specific way But when you're in a flow state in meditation,

You're essentially in a flow state doing nothing And so while other flow states involve a narrowing of the mind into the specific task When you can hit that flow state when the task oriented network kicks on when you stop theorizing about yourself and simultaneously You are doing nothing Consciousness,

You know figuratively starts to expand and this is where the Lotus metaphor emerges all the petals of the mind open up to reality and so the last point I want to sort of explain is that We as individuals are defined by our reality And so when we can for a moment or minutes or hours spend quality time In sort of an expanded awareness absorbing as much data as we can through our sensations without judging it or theorizing About it as we experience more and more and more of an unfiltered reality because self and reality are Contingent with each other we experience more of ourselves Right,

And so the yogis also sort of recognize this on a cosmic scale and they said the deep self is purusha is inner consciousness Everything else is property or sort of manifest nature.

And so if I am to discover myself that deep self I Must recognize as much of property as much of physical reality my mind my body and my immediate environment as Possible because the two are dependent on each other to exist.

Well So I hope that makes sense in some theoretical way But what matters most is the actual experience and so how do you achieve that actual experience?

Focus as intensely as you can enter a flow state while doing nothing and and the the sensations the emergence of these these sort of phenomenal Moments inside your own brain will will prove to line up with the philosophies if you take the time to read the philosophies or consider them later Groovy,

So let's get into this everyone Um rotation of consciousness,

You're gonna work this on your own for 20 minutes So seated position Okay,

Nice tall spines hips tilt forward use your abdomen to create more length than you want to Straighten out those arms bring a random finger to each thumb Shut your jaw,

Press your tongue into the back of your two front teeth and then breathe deeply into the belly And so for the first minute Just build your physical experience stillness posture directional breathing Belly breathing Think about chanting or humming so you can feel the resonance and the vibrations that naturally occur within the body.

That's your focus point Then think of those perfect units of meditation that one round of respiration steady inhale a steady exhale And so for 15 minutes uninterpretable You might do a Jefferson Roth resting pose If you're going to do a Covid-19 OHoustonsee You just need to end your lock points to get your list ready Follow like a Feldman Oh Very packed minutes uninterrupted,

What I'd like you to do is scan your body in any pattern you choose.

I would suggest moving from the head down to the feet and then back up.

At first move slowly take the time to feel tissue,

Bone,

Blood flow in your eye,

Your lips,

And your chest and then start to move more quickly and more radically.

Again the metaphor I've been using is like a fly buzzing around you and so for 15 minutes stay committed to this agenda.

And the measure of success is that you're just learning to feel your body in a more intimate way.

When the mind inevitably distracts,

Appreciate that that's normal,

Appreciate it as a miracle,

And then return to the process.

Let's all take a deep breath in together,

Slow exhale together.

You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Increase the pace and shift your attention a bit more radically,

Spontaneously.

Again,

A fly buzzing through the body.

Increase the pace and shift your attention a bit more radically,

Spontaneously.

Increase the pace and shift your attention a bit more radically,

Spontaneously.

Increase the pace and shift your attention a bit more radically,

Spontaneously.

And now follow your attention as it moves through your body on its own.

Trail your mind as it scans through the body.

Like raindrops creating ripples on a lake.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

Deepen your focus.

Feel how the mind moves,

Again the touch of perception.

Now hold the mind in the center of your chest.

If you need to wake up,

Hold your breath.

Build CO2,

Collect prana.

That's going to wake up the brain.

Hold the mind in the center of the chest.

The metaphor is like catching a fly in a glass.

It buzzes around in a tighter vicinity.

And as you contain the mind second to second to second,

Repeat,

Now I am meditating.

This is meditation.

And it takes a ton of energy and a ton of presence.

But this is it.

You can see the light in the sky.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

And now follow your attention as it scans through the body.

Notice while you're focused,

A portion of your awareness is distracted and thinking.

Law of continuity.

The mind will always think meditation is not about turning the mind off.

The languaging of an empty mind,

The languaging of nothingness,

The languaging of nirvana,

Extinguishing self,

Refers to the task oriented network where your brain literally stops processing identity.

Focus more.

Now the Nietzsche quote is appropriate.

Stare into the void long enough.

And the void will stare back.

So there's something in there.

At this point,

Externalize your attention and just listen to the room around you.

Open your mind to its environment.

Breathe into the belly,

Relax nerves,

Calm down in patience,

Stay committed to your work.

And in the midst of the experience,

Consider everything that is not me,

Everything that is external to the center self defines me.

Bring your hands to heart center.

Come back to the buzzing in the center of the chest.

As you skillfully fixate on that sensation at the expense of all other thoughts,

All other experiences.

Again,

Define this as meditation.

Thumb knuckles to third eye center.

And hopefully at this point,

Right at this moment in our challenge,

This closing ritual is starting to make a little more sense.

Put a little more pressure into the hands and into the forehead.

Feel that star of sensation.

That is the target.

That is the bullseye.

Slow down your breath.

And with all your power,

Attempt to focus more dial in to only that sensation.

Notice how difficult that actually is.

Just question in this final moment.

If I could invest all of myself into that sensation.

If I could enter an absolute flow state,

Just feeling my body as it exists.

What would happen?

As you exhale,

Empty your lungs,

Hold your breath,

Release your wrist to your knees,

Bring a finger to each thumb,

Hold the breath for as long as possible.

When you need to inhale,

Keep the eyes closed.

Take a mindful breath through the nose and again hold the breath.

And so we're closing with one round of kumbhaka,

Breath retention,

Collecting CO2,

Waking ourselves up.

When you need to inhale mindfully through the nose,

Big breath in and again hold the breath.

And so notice holding the breath technically makes it easier for you to feel your body,

Which would make it easier to focus on those specific points.

Which would encourage a flow state.

Which would help you diminish your theories of self.

Everybody exhale,

Keep the spine tall.

With your next breath in,

Open the eyes.

Behind you friendly soundShake or open your eyes.

You

Reviews

It's all about the flow state. Coming back to these lessons and still finding great meditation tips. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏