Welcome,
Here we are again.
I hope that this meditation finds you well.
This week we are exploring the concept of deeper listening.
So this isn't the type of listening that you just do with your ears.
We're not really concerned with the auditory sense,
Although of course you are using that in order to listen to this meditation.
But we're more concerned with the felt sense or a deeper embodied sense.
Quite often people talk about intuition,
Being in touch with their intuition or we may think of others as being highly intuitive.
But the reality is that those who are,
Are actually really in touch with their embodied self.
They understand how to listen deeply to all of the nuanced ways that the body is communicating with them.
This type of listening is really powerful and it's life changing.
When we're listening just with our ears or when we are listening just to the mind,
Then we are overriding the most deepest and innate sense of wisdom that we possibly could ever possess.
We make decisions and judgments based off of our mental constructs,
Our narratives.
These come from our conditioning,
Our internal belief systems.
And actually it could well be that if we were to just tune in and pay attention,
We would hear a completely different story.
I use that in inverted commas or let's say a completely different answer from the body to the one that the mind is coming up with in that moment.
And let's not forget also that the mind always seeks to keep us safe or rather the brain is always seeking to keep us safe.
That is the physiological response of the brain that we cannot override in that moment.
And that's why we need to learn to really tune into our bodies.
So let's give it a go.
I invite you to find a comfortable seat or a position lying down.
Again,
One in which you won't fall asleep but if you do,
It's not a big deal.
You can always come back and start again.
Allow yourself to be settled.
Start to tune into the fluctuations of your breath,
The movement of your breath as it effortlessly comes in and out of your body.
We're not breathing here in any specific way.
Allow it to be free and natural.
Paying attention to whatever it is that you are sitting or lying on.
Finding that sense of connection first and foremost to the earth beneath you.
To rooting through these points of contact.
Allowing yourself to feel grounded,
To feel anchored and to feel supported here.
Noticing any sounds that you have in the space surrounding you or the space outside of where you are.
All is welcome here.
We're not trying to block anything out.
We're not trying to make anything more preferable over anything else.
Simply allowing,
Simply accepting.
Beginning to tune in now to your body and to notice all of the different sensations that your body is producing in this moment.
So when I talk about sensation,
I'm not asking you to label anything as an emotion because emotions have their roots in a story and a story is of course a mental construct.
I'm asking you to connect to the visceral and the tangible sensation of your physical body.
Taking a moment to explore what you're feeling.
Remembering there is no right or no wrong.
The only thing I'm asking you to do here is not to label anything as an emotion.
So be kind and patient with yourself as you do this because we are conditioned to literally do that.
We are conditioned to put a label on everything that we feel.
So this may be a new exercise for some of you.
It may help to give what you're feeling a shape,
A texture,
Perhaps a colour.
You may want to give it a character or an archetype if that helps.
And I invite you to hold that sensation.
And as you hold that sensation,
Can you do that with your whole body?
Can you hold the sensation with your whole body and draw it in a little closer?
If you notice yourself beginning to get tense or to tighten,
Soften back into your breath.
Find the contact between your body and the earth beneath you once more so you can reground.
And when you're ready I invite you to bring to mind something that you have been thinking about or considering or pondering over.
Maybe it's a question that you've been asked,
Maybe it's an idea that you have,
Maybe it's a situation that you've got going on.
And as you explore whatever it is,
As you bring it to mind,
Notice the sensation in your body.
How does your body respond here?
What is it that you are tangibly feeling in your body in the way of a response?
Notice if your mind begins to go into story and if it starts to go into story come back to sensation.
And now perhaps to think of an alternative outcome or an alternative answer or an alternative solution.
And again as you do this I invite you to notice how your body responds.
How is it communicating with you?
How does it feel different to what you previously did?
Please remember that there is no right or wrong here,
It's just a simple observation and exploration of your body,
Of all of the wisdom that your body contains.
And when you're ready you can stop that particular practice and allow yourself to just sit with whatever it is that you are experiencing your body right now.
And take a moment here to reflect on the different bodily sensations that you had in response to your question or your scenario.
What was it that the body brought forth for you?
How did the body show up?
Were you able to access an answer?
Notice also if you went into story or if maybe your mind tried to override the answer that your body was giving you in that moment in favour of a different one.
The thing here is the body cannot lie.
The mind however is amazing at fabrication but the body cannot lie.
I hope you found this useful.
Please feel free to come back to it time and time again.
