Hello,
And welcome to Methods,
An exploration in guided prayer and meditation.
My name is Keith Christich,
And I'm inviting you into a practice of self-emptying.
I'll be guiding you through the three centers of intelligence as we know them in the Enneagram.
That is the head,
The heart,
And the body,
Understanding that intelligence is not reserved to the mind alone,
But that our heart has a sort of emotional intelligence,
And that our body has intelligence experienced through the instincts.
As we begin,
Take some time to sit upright.
Be relaxed and alert.
You can close your eyes or keep them open and rest your gaze on the floor a few feet in front of you.
We'll be bringing each of the three centers of intelligence online,
Taking notice of our body first,
Then our heart and our head,
Moving deeper and deeper into the inner eye of our own awareness,
This deep eye that is ever-present within us,
Aware of the ever-changing world,
The ever-changing emotions,
Thoughts,
And body sensations,
This awareness that is our deepest self.
Let's begin by taking notice of our bodies.
Notice if there's any tension,
And see if there's anything you can do to adjust your body to make yourself just a little bit more comfortable.
Then take notice of your breath.
You may notice the breathing coming in and out of your nose,
Or the rise and fall of your chest.
Notice how naturally you breathe.
Notice the easefulness of your breath.
We are breathing at all times,
But we rarely take notice of this.
It's an intelligence built into our body.
In letting go of the awareness of the body and breath,
Bring your attention to the state of your heart.
What's the state of your emotions right now?
Do you have a sense of any positive or negative emotions?
Is there a lot of emotions?
Are they coming and going?
Or is there a calmness and a simplicity to your presence?
In letting go of the emotions,
Open your awareness to the state of your mind.
How do you find the state of your mind right now?
Is it busy and full of thoughts?
Or is there some calmness and spaciousness between the thoughts?
Notice how easy the thoughts come and how easy it is to just let them go,
Holding on to nothing.
In letting go of the intelligence of the mind,
Open your awareness to the state of your spiritual heart.
What is the state of your spiritual life?
Is there any particular longing or desire of your soul?
Is there any desire that you would have of God or the Spirit,
The Divine or the Universe?
Is there any way you would like your relationship to the Universe or the Divine to be any different than it is right now?
See if there's anything you can do to get any more clear about what it is that your spiritual heart is desiring or longing for.
In letting go of even your spiritual heart right now,
Invite you to just rest in the simplicity of being,
Noticing your own sense of I am here right now.
Not needing to think about anything,
Not needing to feel anything emotionally or physically.
Letting all of these thoughts go and just resting in your own I am-ness.
Resting in your own sense of presence.
So we'll take the next few minutes to just rest in the simplicity of mind,
This openness of heart,
Letting go of thoughts,
Letting go of emotions,
Letting go of any bodily sensations,
And just resting as awareness,
Resting in our own sense of being here now.
Let's take a few more minutes to rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
Let's rest in the simplicity of mind.
I invite you to return your attention to your breath,
Noticing once again how easy it is to breathe,
Noticing how naturally you breathe,
Maybe offering a subtle smile of gratitude to your body,
To your lungs,
For always breathing even when you're not aware of it.
You may want to take notice of the way your body feels right now.
Is it relaxed?
Do you want to soften your back or your neck or your jaw?
Notice the state of your heart once again,
Noticing any changes in the emotional energy since the beginning of this meditation,
And opening your awareness to the state of your mind.
And in a moment,
Whenever you're ready,
I'll invite you to open your eyes.
Thank you.
I'll see you in the next video.
