Present Moment Awareness

Thich Nhat Hanh, a beautiful Vietnamese Buddhist teacher writes: “The quality of our presence is the most positive element that we can contribute to the world.” Below is a meditation focused on coming into the present moment. Note, the background noise comes from my backyard chickens pecking at my back door during the meditation!

I have some friends who deeply embody presence. When I am with them, I am filled with joy and lightness, just from their being-ness. I'm a do-er, I've always been one. It's hard for me to slow down, so I’ve been self-medicating with both meditation and hanging out with those spirits who can be in the moment and teach me the wisdom of “now.” We practice present moment awareness so we can more fully embody presence in non-meditative moments.

Transcript

All right, Okay, Go ahead and get settled wherever you're going to be for the meditation. You can be on a cushion, On your chair, Whatever feels comfortable that allows you to be, Have a stable base and an upright spine. Start by taking three deep breaths in, Breathing in through our nose and out through our mouth. We're going to set our grounding cord, Which is simply that visual that connects you into the earth and just have the intention that you're grounded, You're tethered to the earth, Your hips are as wide, The grounding cord is as wide as your hips, And it goes through your floor, Through the foundation of your building, Deep into the earth. You can even imagine whatever the grounding cord going all the way to the molten center. You might even link it in, Like hook it to the center of the earth, Or just allow it to melt and disintegrate. And now with each out breath, Just allowing your body to be cleansed. You're just creating space in your body for new nourishing emotions, Feelings, Perceptions. So with each out breath, You're just grounding off anything that doesn't serve, Any old programs, Judgments of self and others, Anxiety, Future concerns, Planning. And just simply washes down through your body and out through the grounding cord. On your in breath, We can fill up our energetic body with earth energy. So if there's a place you've visited recently or some place that feels nourishing to you, Allow that rock and earth and water come in through your toes, Your legs, Your thighs, And your belly. And then with your exhale, You're grounding off. And I like to kind of imagine that the earth energy is coming up in the front of my body, Through my toes, My legs, My pelvis. And then the energy that's grounded off comes off the back body, Off the lower back, The bum, The sits bones, And it just drops down into the earth. Allow your spirit and your body, Your heart to be recalibrated to the rhythm of the earth. Continue to ground off anything that's not serving. Move our attention into our upper torso, Our high back, Our shoulders. Allow your body and your spirit to rise up to feel that elongation of the spine. Your lower body is still rooted, Grounded, Connected. Allow your awareness to come into the crown of your head, Just right at the top of your head. Allow your awareness to come into the crown of your head, Just right at the top of your head. Crown is where we hold seniority and mastery. Allow the crown chakra to open, To receive cosmic chi. Just to kind of imagine a shower of starlight, Father sky, The yang energy to come in through the crown of your head. Father sky, The yang energy to come in through your crown. And again, There's no efforting with any of this. There's no effort. It's just an opening, A receptivity to the energy that's all around us. Allow that starlight to come in through your crown. Perhaps there's a color. Perhaps there's a sensation. Expansion, Possibility. Your soul's library of information, You're being given. Your next steps, Answers to your questions. Guidance, Permission to be yourself. If you're having trouble connecting the star energy, You can gently place your awareness above your head, Above your roof, Above your town, Way out in the cosmos. And just be patient. Perhaps there's a star that's twinkling brighter or calling your name or just seems like you're magnetically drawn to it or vice versa. Just allow that star to move directly over your body, Over your head. Just kind of like a cosmic shower, Glittery, Sparkly, High-frequency energy. We're going to sit in silence together, So just enjoy. If you'd like, You can reconnect with the earth and sky energies. I like to use the earth and sky to just settle my mind, Giving it something to focus on for a little bit. I like to use the earth and sky to just settle my mind, Giving it something to focus on for a little bit. I like to use the earth and sky to just settle my mind, Giving it something to focus on for a while. Rounding off allows kind of all the extraneous thoughts to fall away. So I invite you to just enjoy being stable and energized. If your mind has wandered, I invite you to come back to the present moment. The practice is recognizing you're in thought and just coming back to perhaps the sensation of your breath or your position of your back in space. You can allow the sounds that you're hearing You can allow the sounds that you're hearing to come in through your ears. Maybe label them, Maybe just register them as vibrations. Continue to use your grounding cord to ground off any mental formations. You can bring your awareness back into the present if it's wandered. Feel the sensation of your palms, Whether they're touching your knees or maybe they're feeling the air. Bring your awareness into your palms. Bring your awareness into where your bum connects with your chair, Your cushion. What does it feel like on your skin? Texture of your clothes. Bring your awareness to your ears. What sounds are you hearing besides my voice? What sounds are you hearing in this moment? Bring your awareness to the top of your shoulders, To your shoulder blades, To your upper back. When you feel your posture in space, What about the sensation of your breath? Can we hold all of those in our awareness? The sensation of our palms, Our bum, Our back, Our sounds, Our breath. Again, If mental formations arise, Just ground them off, Let them go. We're going to sit in silence for two more minutes, And then I'll ring the bell to end our meditation. I invite you to practice with this present moment awareness. Practice with this present moment awareness.