Welcome to this Compassionate Inquiry practice.
And to shake things up a bit I want you to move a little bit before we go into the actual meditation.
Not just to get loose but also because I want you to feel your body a little bit more.
So just make any movements and motions that feel good to you right now.
And if you want to have an idea what to do you can slowly make circles with your wrists.
Nothing too complicated and then you can so you can do your own movements or you can follow me.
You can if you're doing what I'm saying that you can make these circular motions with your wrist and also start moving your elbows and your shoulders.
Just very simple circular motions.
And also move your neck a little bit.
Make it enjoyable.
Not too strong,
Not too light.
I want you to feel it but not to get exhausted.
And then also include your upper body.
Just going back and forth.
Circular motions.
And really let go a little bit into that.
Circular motions back and forward.
Don't think about how it looks.
Just enjoy the movement.
And then slowly let the movement come to an end.
Slower,
Slower,
Slower.
Until you can feel almost no movement anymore.
And then kind of find that stillness in your posture.
So just for a moment feel into your body.
Maybe you can feel the pulsating,
Vibrating,
Tingling of your body.
And just without words feel into that energetic space that you call the body.
So keeping your eyes closed.
If you have your eyes closed and if you have your eyes open just keep a unfocused gentle gaze.
Anything I will suggest in this practice is a suggestion.
Only follow if you like it,
If you agree with it.
So let's relax the body a little bit more by doing a physiological sigh.
So how to do that is you breathe in preferably through your nose.
Breathe in fully and then when your lungs are completely full breathe in a little bit more extra and then do a full exhalation.
That can be through your nose or your mouth.
So I'll explain one more time.
So before you do it just listen.
You breathe in fully through your nose,
Completely full and then when you're feeling like your lungs are completely full then you add one extra little inhalation and then you release everything when you exhale.
And then you can also relax your face,
Relax your shoulders,
Really go with the exhalation into more relaxation.
So do two or three of those physiological sighs and notice how that feels.
And then just allow your breathing to return to its natural rhythm.
Just for a few moments do absolutely nothing.
One way to look at meditation is doing absolutely nothing but just being in the stillness.
So take a moment to enjoy that right now.
Very good.
Now what we're going to do is we're going to make a little trip to the mind and then we're going to go back to the body again.
And the idea is that you will see a bit more clearly the illusory,
Ephemeral nature of your thoughts.
Okay?
So we're going to bring to mind some pretty strong judgments about ourself.
Just remember we're not believing the judgments but it can be a little bit uncomfortable.
So just put that kind of reminder in place for yourself.
We're going to go towards some uncomfortable labels and thoughts.
We're not believing them.
Okay?
And so what I invite you to do is to just go towards your mind and bring forth your short version of your bio.
So if you were to meet somebody in an elevator going up four floors,
How would you describe your life to that person?
So just,
You know,
Your short story.
And you can sort of say it to yourself or think it.
It'll probably be like five sentences.
So just what would be your short bio?
Take a moment to kind of conjure that into your mental awareness right now.
And now I want you to remember three unkind labels that you have about yourself.
Let's change that a little bit.
Let's do two unkind labels and one kind label.
So for me I could say,
For instance,
Narcissist,
Egotistical,
Beautiful.
Right?
So that would be my label that I find painful,
That I find scary.
So find what are your labels.
Maybe it's lazy,
Maybe it's ugly,
Whatever it is.
It could be some kind of diagnosis that you have that can be painful.
So take a moment and just choose three and two negative and one positive.
Again,
We're not believing the labels but we all have those,
Right,
About ourselves.
So two negative,
One positive.
Take not too long,
Just 10 seconds to find.
Okay.
Now I want you to notice your body again.
Coming from that relaxed,
Having moved,
Doing nothing space,
Now we have gone towards these mostly unpleasant labels.
What are you noticing in your body right now?
Do you notice perhaps your shoulders went up?
Do you notice maybe your face is contracting?
Is there anything happening?
Is there something going on in your What can you notice in your body?
Just take,
Without wanting to change anything,
Just take a few moments to go back to your body and see what you find,
Having these labels in mind.
Okay.
Now let that go.
You can sort of let go of the labels,
Let go of the effort and just revert back to doing absolutely nothing again.
Let's do one more physiological side to kind of invite relaxation.
So do one more physiological side and then just do nothing for a few moments.
Okay.
And now let's go fully back to the body.
What I mean with that is don't think about your body but see what you can feel.
And in fact,
Let's amplify again the sense of our body.
So move again.
So you can kind of do the same as you did in the beginning.
Any movement that you like or doing the circular motion.
So really move your body,
Shake it out a little bit and get some juices flowing.
So do that for about 30 seconds.
Really feel that you are doing something without exhausting yourself.
Keep moving.
20 more seconds.
Last 10 seconds.
Keep moving and then slowly bring it to a standstill again.
Not like a statue but like an unmoving organism.
There's always some subtle motion happening and just find that stillness again.
And now fully embody your body.
Completely be in your body.
Feel your body from within your body.
Feel your breath.
Feel the sensations,
The tinglings,
The vibrations,
The subtle energy movement.
Don't think about it.
Just sink your entire consciousness in your entire body.
And if that's difficult then simply take any place where you can feel your breath moving in and out of your body.
Or you can cleanse your wrists and just feel your hands.
So cleanse your wrists and let go.
Cleanse your wrists and let go if that's what you need.
And so either by just feeling or the breath or the hands,
Fully be in your body.
Know you are in the body.
And now look in your body for those labels,
Those three categories or stickers,
Concepts that you found about yourself mentally.
Where are they in your actual living experience?
See if you can find it anywhere.
Of course you can't and I know you know that but look anyway.
I want you to really convince yourself with evidence that those mental images are nowhere if you look in your actual lived experience.
So do that experiment.
Do it honestly for a moment.
Just do some effort in looking in your body.
I know it's an impossible task but just assure yourself.
Do a quick body scan from head to toe.
Take about one minute for that.
Really look.
Okay so I trust that you didn't find it.
Just as you cannot find a thought in an apple pie,
You cannot find those labels with any reality in your body.
And despite all the doubts that the mind can cast,
Trust your body.
So that's the practice I wanted to share with you.
I hope it's to your benefit and if ever there's a label that comes either positive or negative but the negative ones tend to be challenging sometimes.
Just remember to go in your body and feel that they are not there.
They're not real.
Thank you for practicing with me and I hope it was to your benefit.
Have a beautiful rest of your day.
