Stage 1 (TMI) The Mind Illuminated From 2018 Course

TMI Stage 1 guided practice from a course I led in the Finders Course Alumni community in 2018. There are some other influences from Shinzen and anapansati contained in the practice, but the main thrust is to start your TMI practice.

Transcript

We'll start with the bell and end with a bell.

So if you struggle with dullness,

I would say keep your eyes open for now.

And it also may help for peripheral awareness to see what it is.

So if you want to open your eyes,

That's fine.

The folks that already are doing the six step preparation,

You guys can do that now.

I'll give you a few minutes.

Okay,

So now we do the four step transition to the meditation object.

And again,

I would open my eyes and become aware of peripheral awareness.

So visually,

Let everything in,

Auditorily,

The body,

We want to emphasize sensation over thought.

So if you find yourself thinking,

Just try and come out,

Come back to seeing,

Hearing,

Feeling.

And with a wide open zoomed out peripheral awareness,

Just count 10 breaths.

And now we move on to step two,

Just become aware of the body.

A real relaxed way can keep your eyes open or you can close your eyes,

Whatever.

If you suffer from drowsiness,

Keep your eyes open.

If you get triggered from the breath,

Keep your eyes open.

Just whatever sensations you feel in the body,

You're not really honing it in the breath itself,

But you know everything.

The pressure on your butt,

How your back feels,

The whole body,

Just bring your attention to it.

And again,

Not pushing away peripheral awareness.

And again,

Count 10 breaths.

And now we move on to step three,

Just become aware of the body.

Now let's go a little bit more closer with attention,

Bring attention to breathing.

You could do it in a few different ways,

Just whatever you feel,

Or you can follow it from your nose,

Through your throat,

Past your palate,

Past the lungs,

Down into the belly.

Now those of you that know anatomy know that the lungs don't go into the belly,

But it just feels that way because the abdomen rises and falls.

So just feel the breath go from the nose on the inhalation all the way down to the navel,

And out on the back for a reverse process.

As we sit here and do this and we consider this,

You know,

It's like what do we need?

Most of us are healthy,

Not too hungry.

And what's the one thing that we need now?

We just need a breath.

And so just consider this.

All we need is what,

You know,

Half gallon quart pint of air,

And the universe has supplied us with an ocean of air.

Just think about that.

Right now,

What do you need?

You need a breath.

The abundance of this.

How much abundance there is of what we need.

So right here at this stage,

We're grateful for this.

And we come from a sense of abundance and not from a sense of lack.

We're not lacking anything of what we need.

This ocean of air that we live under,

All living beings are breathing in the same ocean.

All their needs are met in this respect.

And we're all connected.

It's the same ocean for all of us,

No matter where we're at right now.

So our bodies are literally living in an abundance of connection.

And even the mind and the heart as well is living in an ocean of awareness in which we're not separate.

So here,

Really try and feel your way into this.

This sense of abundance and this sense of gratitude as you count your breaths.

Next,

We'll refine attention even more by focusing at the sensations of the breath at the nose.

So again,

If this causes some stress,

Hang on in the abundance for a little while until you can come to the nose.

But the abundance doesn't change,

It's still there,

So it shouldn't be a problem.

So we just come to the sensations of the breath at the nose.

So we're going to deviate a little bit from what Chuladasa talks about.

He doesn't recommend playing with the breath,

But I'm going to suggest trying to elongate the breath to make it longer than it is right now.

Not heavy-handedly,

Just get out of the way.

Maybe sit up a little more.

Give your rib cage room for the lungs to expand and contract.

Be patient on the exhale.

A lot of us sort of lean into the future,

But the lungs deflate naturally.

In this way,

Just remove the unconscious controls that you already have on the breath.

Just nudge it longer on the inhale.

Actually be patient on the exhale.

And maybe in the periphery of awareness,

You'll feel the body relax more.

So let's count 10 breaths as we do that.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Nine,

Ten,

Nine,

Nine,

Ten,

Ten,

Ten personal breathingmud.

If you find it's very difficult to focus on these sensations and you're getting agitated,

Just come back out to step two of the transition we just did and go through it again.

Take your time and just come back gently,

Calmly,

Intently in a relaxed manner.

Just focus on the sensations of the breath at the nose.

So as you direct and sustain attention at the very tip of your nose,

On the exhalation,

Relax any tension that you feel in your lips.

See that the longer you breathe,

The more relaxed the lips get.

Direct and sustain your attention.

Inside the nose,

In the middle of the nose,

And see if you can discern any breath sensations there.

On the exhalation,

Relax any tension that you feel in your cheeks.

If you find that you're struggling with drowsiness,

You can open your eyes gently.

Just crack them a little light in.

Keep your focus on the breath.

If you find it's very difficult to focus on these sensations and you're getting agitated,

Just come back out to step two of the transition we just did and go through it again.

So as you direct and sustain your attention,

On the exhalation,

Relax any tension that you feel in your cheeks.

If you find it's very difficult to focus on these sensations and you're getting agitated,

Just come back out to step two of the transition we just did.

Direct and sustain your attention at the bridge of the nose inside.

And see if you can discern any breath sensations there.

On the exhalation,

Relax your eyes,

Your forehead,

Your temples.

With each exhalation,

We're relaxing more,

But we're not going into dullness.

We're not going to sleep.

We want to enjoy what it feels like to be relaxed and calm.

So savor that.

Enjoy that.

And stay mindful.

Direct and sustain your attention at the back of the palate.

This is a pretty subtle sensation,

So you may have to let your tongue come off the roof of your mouth if it's plastered to the roof of your mouth.

You can trace a line from your tip of your tongue back towards your throat and try and feel where the breath intersects with the palate.

And for the folks who have a hard time finding the breath at the nose,

You can use this object if you can find it.

And on the exhalation,

Relax all the muscles in your jaw.

And stay mindful.

And stay mindful.

And stay mindful.

And stay mindful.

So survey your whole head and see how it feels to be rid of tension.

How pleasant that is.

We're going to keep moving through the body and bring the same relaxed pleasantness down into the whole body.

This will help too for longer sits.

If you feel pain in the knee,

Why does the pain have to grow?

Why can't you take the ease and the calm and bring it to the pain?

So we're trying to develop the skill of finding the ease and bringing it into the body.

Relaxing the body.

But staying mindful.

Staying alert.

Don't let peripheral awareness collapse.

Don't lose your attention.

We're learning how to balance these and increase their power.

Direct and sustain attention in the throat.

See if you can discern the breath passing through the throat.

On the exhalation,

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Relax your neck and your trapezoids.

Direct and sustain your attention an inch or so above the sternum.

Feel the lungs expand and contract against your chest.

And on the exhalation,

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Direct and sustain attention at the bottom of the sternum.

Feel the lungs expand and contract,

But feel them against your back.

And on the exhalation,

Relax all the muscles in the back.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Direct and sustain your attention a few inches above the navel.

Feel the diaphragm rise and fall.

And on the exhale,

Relax all the muscles in your abdomen.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Direct and sustain attention a few inches below the navel.

Feel the diaphragm rise and fall.

And on the exhalation,

Really relax the grip that some of us have in our lower abdomen.

Really let your legs fall to the ground if you're sitting cross-legged or if you're on a chair even just let your legs fall.

Let the earth support them.

Let the breath on the exhalation really collapse like a balloon.

The last bit of it is just puffing out the last bit of air.

You're not forcing it.

You're just being patient.

Just let it totally relax and collapse that.

If you're wearing pants,

You can maybe feel your abdomen shrink away from your pants or your belt.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Once again,

Direct and sustain your tension at the nose.

Notice if any tension has crept back into the head.

Where did that come from?

Take a breath and breathe it away.

Relax your shoulders and your arms.

Now bring your attention to the whole body from the head to the toes.

And feel the whole body breathing.

And again,

Where there's any tension in the body,

Just learn to just breathe it away with the breath,

The long breath.

And if your body is in a relaxed,

Calm,

Tranquil state,

Appreciate and savor that feeling.

What Shinzen calls a state of rest.

We feel rest.

If there's no tension in the body,

That's feel rest.

But even maybe more importantly,

If there's no emotion,

If there's an equanimity or a state of ease without much emotion,

That's also feel rest.

Learn what that's like.

Enjoy that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So before I ring the bell and you come back to the room,

After the third ring,

And you open your eyes,

Try and stay in that relaxed,

Zoomed out peripheral awareness,

Emphasize the peripheral awareness.

Your attention can go whatever,

But really stay relaxed and open.

So when you're ready,

Just come back to the room.

Come back to the room.

Reviews

thanks, I found that quite challenging, more reason to follow the whole course! thanks again, brilliant!

Thank you so much for this teaching 💜 so clear and full of ease 💜

Your guided meditations bring me to places I've never been to. The process is very interesting.

I’m returning to practice after a few weeks without meditation. I found this session a good reintroduction, with just enough of a balance between intrusion and being set adrift. Eric’s voice and use of language works for me.

Great the way the emphasis on relaxation produces greater clarity. of mind.

Skillfully guided body scan, very helpful. I wouldn't label as TMI 1 though :)

I'm new to meditation so this was my longest time to date. I will be back for stage 2. Thank you

Very good. I’ll go on practising the whole course. Thank you 🙏💍🥀🙏

What a beautiful practice! Kind and gentle voice with just enough guidance and lots of space. Loved it thank you! 🙏❤️

Outstanding! Very well instructed with lots of quiet pauses to sink deeper. Kind of like desert caravan slow moving breath and body scan. But the time seemed to fly. Looking forward to your other practices. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏🕉️☸️