Spacious Awareness

This Open Awareness meditation allows you to enter a space of true presence. This practice will provide you with the techiques to experience spacious awareness anywhere. Enjoy the benefits of acheiving a stillness in the mind.

Transcript

Spacious awareness or open awareness is a tricky practice especially when you're not on retreat.

It's hard to get into the space that allows for it.

You need a lot of concentration and focus to be able to let go of that concentration and focus in a sense.

And we're going to try a method today that can be helpful in entering a space of open awareness or spacious awareness.

So I invite you to find a nice comfortable upright posture.

Not too uptight.

Just straight spine,

Straight as possible.

Close your eyes or have a soft downward gaze.

Drop your shoulders.

Just let them drop.

Take a deep breath in and down.

Take another deep breath and let's get centered.

And I invite you just to check in with your body.

Check in with your jaw.

Check in with your hands.

Check in with your back.

With your belly.

If you find any places of tension,

For now just notice.

Just see if they want to release or not.

Let them do what they do and just notice what's there.

It's always good to begin a practice with some sort of open heart space activity.

So let's begin with some gratitude.

Find something you're grateful for and be present with that.

Experience the gratitude.

I'm grateful you're here with me right now.

Find something else you're grateful for.

Sit with that.

Be present with that.

Experience the gratitude.

And one more thing,

What's something you're grateful for?

Doesn't have to be anything big.

It can be this breath.

Just experience that gratitude.

Feel it perhaps accumulate with the rest of the gratitude.

It's a wonderful feeling,

Gratitude.

Cultivate it.

And now turn your attention to your breathing.

Try and follow an entire breath from the very beginning of the in-breath to the end of the in-breath to the transition between the in and the out and all the way to the end of the out-breath and the transition there to the in-breath.

Keep going,

Just following the entire breath.

Wherever you notice it in your body,

Just be present with it there.

And experience that enthusiasm to expression.

Keep your attention on your breathing.

At the moment we're just trying to develop some focus,

Some attention.

If you find yourself drifting off,

Bring yourself back.

Because there's a lot of lurking things that can Non jeopardize your life.

Where is your attention?

Bring it back to breathing if it's not there.

We're going to shift our attention now to sound.

Whatever sound arises,

Whatever you notice,

Put your attention there.

Notice the qualities of the sound,

The volume,

The pitch,

The nature of the sound.

You may notice something in the background in this recording.

You may notice something around you.

It may just be the sound of your own breathing.

Place your attention there.

And allow it to shift.

If your attention shifts to another sound,

Just allow that and be present there with that sound.

Okay.

Is your attention still on sound?

If not,

Bring it back.

If ever sound arises,

It's fine.

Is your attention still on sound?

Is your attention still on sound?

Just another minute or so placing attention on sounds.

See if you can keep your attention there.

Okay.

Let's shift our attention again this time to bodily sensations.

Again,

No particular focus is necessary on any particular sensation.

Just whichever sensation arises now,

Notice that.

Again,

Notice the qualities of the sensation.

Is it static or does it maybe move?

Does it change in some way?

It's your relationship with these sensations.

Is it a sensation you're itching,

So to speak,

To stop?

See if you can be present with it.

Notice what happens.

And allow yourself to shift from one sensation to another as they arise for you.

We're focusing on bodily sensations.

If you're not,

Bring yourself back to placing your attention there.

Notice if a story arises about a particular sensation.

See if you can just let that drop away and keep your attention on the sensation instead.

Okay.

Okay.

Let's shift our attention now to thoughts.

See if you can treat a thought as if it's a sense,

Or your thoughts as if they're senses.

Just another bodily sensation.

See if you can identify the place where thoughts arise.

If you can,

Wait there.

Wait for the next thought.

And when it arises,

Perhaps give it a name.

It may be,

Oh,

It's a judgement,

Or,

Oh,

It's planning.

Oh,

Reminiscing.

Planning again.

Whatever arises,

Just see if you can give that thought a name.

And let it be.

Just let that one go and wait for the next.

If that one arises again,

Just do the same thing.

Thoughts.

Okay.

If you find yourself getting caught up in a thought,

And watching it,

Or participating in it as it turns into a story,

Just give that one a name.

Come back to the place where thoughts arise.

And wait again for another one.

That one might not be done yet.

If so,

Give it another name,

Or the same name.

And let it be.

You're not required to get it caught up in the story.

Okay.

Where is your mind?

Is it in a thought,

Or watching a thought,

Or waiting for a thought?

If you find yourself in a thought,

Give it a name,

Let it be,

And wait for the next one.

Now,

Let's attempt to enter a space of open and spacious awareness.

In doing so,

The trick is just to try and notice what you're noticing now.

Whether it be a thought,

Your breathing,

A bodily sensation,

A sound,

Perhaps a taste in your mouth,

Or a smell.

It doesn't matter.

Just put your attention there.

Place your attention where it lands.

Treating your thoughts as another sense.

And as your attention moves,

Just follow your attention.

Okay.

Check in.

Are you caught up in a story,

Or are you paying attention to what is arising now?

If you find yourself constantly getting caught up in story,

That's quite normal.

If you do,

Perhaps use your breath as an anchor.

Come back to your breathing.

And when you feel you're able to place attention on your breathing for enough time,

Let your attention open again,

Widen,

Broaden,

And place your attention where it lands.

Just be there with that present.

You may notice judgements arising about a particular sensation,

A particular thought,

A particular moment of noticing.

Judgements are just another story.

See if you can let that judgment just drift off,

Fade away,

Give it a name,

Like a thought.

It's just all it is.

It's just a thought.

And come back to what you were noticing.

In that moment,

Perhaps it's the thought.

Okay.

Okay.

Where is your attention now?

Let it simply rest where it is.

Nice story.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Bring your attention back to your breathing.

Back to the sensations in your face,

In your hands,

In your feet.

Give each of those things a bit of a stretch.

Your face,

Your hands,

Maybe wheel your toes.

That's a good way to stretch your feet.

And as you're ready,

Open your eyes,

Maybe stretch your whole body,

And come back to the room.

Thank you for your practice.

Reviews

a nice calming centering meditation on what is 🙏🏻✨

Thank you, wonderful meditation for silence and awareness ⭐️

One I'll be bookmarking. Beautifully guided. Thank you 🙏

beautifully simple 🙏

Very good meditation. Difficult yet very helpful. An important practice. I would like to return to this many times. Thank you.

Very nice
Thank you

The guidance was very helpful. Thank you.

Beautiful
Guidance , thank you! :)

Really calming, easy to do and good technique! Thank you! I would love to listen to an hour long breath meditation from you ❤️

What a pleasant, simple exercise in awareness! I appreciate the balance of open space & gentle reminders. A new favorite. Oh goodness! I’m attached!

Beautiful guidance with plenty of space to discover awareness. I will bookmark this one. Thanks 🙏

Great! Thank you 🙏

Excellent took me real deep. Namaste.

This was so peaceful and awakening my awareness. Thank you.

Thank you. Wonderful space to practice. Minimal guiding was lovely.

Beautiful...perfect guidance (use of language, pace, spacing, tone) for me. You gently spoke at perfect intervals. Thank you for this gift!

Nice mix of quiet and guidance

Excellent guidance with plenty of spacious awareness 🙇💚💫

Beautifully spaced with direction and silence, Thank you!

Simple and clear instructions, only what is necessary, leaving a lot of silence to really practice.