So,
Like any meditation,
We are going to start by finding a comfortable position,
Closing down the eyes,
If that feels okay for you,
And taking gentle stretches in the body.
We're going to want to concentrate,
Focus,
And drop in really deeply.
So,
Having a couple of gentle stretches through the shoulders,
Spine,
Hips,
And arms,
Neck will support us.
So,
Take your free movement now,
Deepening the breath,
You're on your back,
You might pull your knees into the chest,
Starting to take slower,
Fuller breaths,
Maybe you're inhaling to the count of four or six in,
Pausing at the top,
And slowly exhaling.
Maybe the arms reach overhead,
As you inhale,
A little bit more space into the back of the body,
Opening the back of the ribs,
Opening the spine.
Then,
Your inhale expands the belly out in all directions,
And slowly turn your face left and right,
And start to slow everything right down.
Taking those full body breaths that inflate your body,
So you might breathe down the arms,
Inflating all the way out to the fingertips,
Letting it go.
A full breath down the legs,
All the way to the toes,
Inflating the legs.
Letting it all go.
Same for the lower back,
In and out,
Letting it go.
Same for the belly and the pelvis,
Inflating to the very top and hold,
And release.
Relaxing your shoulders,
Throat,
And face,
Relaxing your forehead and scalp.
You might connect to the heart space now,
The first pillar of the Hridaya meditation,
Centering in the very center of the center of your chest.
Energy will pop back into your face,
Eyes,
And forehead,
And we then again inhale and bring the energy down to the heart to trace deeper into the middle,
Deeper than an energy center,
Deeper than the body,
Into the heart of your being.
Breathing in and out of the heart space,
You sense the mystery,
The depth,
And the intimacy.
As you trace even deeper into the center,
The infinity that lies in the center of your being,
Noticing the very fine vibration,
Spanda,
The vibration of your being in the center,
Bypassing the thoughts,
Letting them pass through the forehead while you ground into the mystery,
The intimacy of the heart,
And notice what is this tremor,
Fine vibration of your being in the middle of the chest,
The feeling of me or I.
Maybe you soften a smile into the cheeks,
Affirming the joy of your being,
Which is the existence in the heart space.
Maybe you enter from the back of the chest into this vibrating,
Alive,
Essence middle.
Fuller,
Clearing breaths,
Just let go tension and striving on your periphery,
Clearing it out with some breaths as you expand and open your middle.
Maybe you affirm in your heart space finally love,
Joy,
Acceptance,
Or allowing some of those essence heart qualities,
Breathing them in,
Love,
Joy,
Being.
Might stay here deepening the heart space as you breathe in and out of your middle.
You might also incorporate the pauses.
We introduce a short pause at the top and at the bottom of each breath.
So stillness at the top and stillness after exhale.
Opening a doorway to a background of stillness.
Inhale,
Pause.
You don't need to hold the breath if that feels uncomfortable.
You notice the short pause,
Or if you like to pause for half a second or more,
That's also fine to lengthen that gap between breaths and the gap between thoughts.
Stillness at the top,
Stillness at the bottom,
And whatever arises,
We say,
Not that,
Not that,
Not that,
Nothing that arises is this essence presence that we are.
Finally,
We ask ourselves the question,
What am I essentially following the inquiry to our essential being,
The part of us that is aware and awake,
The space in which the thoughts arise?
What is aware?
Am I aware right now?
And what is it that is aware?
When you ask that question to yourself,
You can't objectify what it is that awareness is pouring out from.
You can only be that presence.
The body needs any movement,
Stretches,
Fuller breaths.
Make sure you're participating with the body here in that you're keeping it relaxed,
A sense of allowing everything to be as it is,
And the breath can support that.
Your breath fills you with presence and now,
And empties you on the exhale,
Keeping the heart open,
Revealing the depth and stillness of our being,
Keeping the pauses,
The silence between thoughts,
And keeping the self-inquiry,
What am I essentially?
Paying some fuller breaths here,
Maybe a palm on the heart or whatever you need to do.
To integrate the stillness back into your system,
The day ahead,
The material behind you,
These full body breaths.
