An Integrating Presence Full Moon Meditative Experience

My first guided full moon sitting -- recorded live on 10/18/21 -- intends to set aside distortions and point in the directions of well-being, true knowledge & realizing awakening. Focusing primarily on the body in order to experience the full moon in potentially nuanced ways, I guided participants through various observations, inquiries, connections, remembrances, energies, considerations, and perhaps even imaginations and visualizations while in states of meditation, contemplation & reflection.

Transcript

Let's just take some breaths and settle in,

Arrive in the room.

So some extra deep breaths.

And so the intention I've set for this,

Well first off let's set our own intentions for this meditation.

You can set some more after you hear my intention.

So this is to dissolve distortions and to intend towards true knowledge in realizing awakening.

So let's just spend another moment or so to see if we resonate with that and then set any other intentions.

And it's to dissolve distortions we may have and to intend towards true knowledge in realizing awakening.

Okay let's tune into our body and our breath.

Let's do a brief scan throughout the entire head,

Neck,

Shoulders.

You can invite these areas to relax.

Down through the arms,

The hands,

Back up to the shoulders,

Relax.

Upper torso,

Middle torso,

Lower torso,

Invite to relax.

Hip and pelvic area,

Relax.

Legs,

Upper legs,

Knees,

Calves,

Feet,

Relax.

We can just notice if there's any other areas of tightness or tension that are obvious,

We can just invite them to relax as well.

So now let's reflect on the symbolism,

Information and ideas we have about the Moon,

Especially the full Moon,

Which tonight is a full hunter Moon.

So let's take it one by one real briefly.

The symbolism that we,

What we think the Moon symbolizes,

What we've heard from others and what we think it is.

And then maybe some information we've heard from others or information we've had up to this point about full Moons.

And then any ideas,

So similar ideas we may have.

And now let's reflect on our relationship to this information,

These ideas and the symbolism we have.

How do we relate to it in our everyday life or on special occasions?

Okay now I invite you to temporarily set aside what we've just brought up and looked at.

You can always pick it back up again later and invite us to tune into our bodies as our primary way to experience this full Moon,

Perhaps in a new way that we've never experienced it before.

So we'll use other techniques too,

Like visualization and reflection,

Memory,

Contemplation,

Even imagination and visualization at times.

But are the same with our body though.

We want to use it as the primary instrument for experience.

If this is all possible,

It doesn't mean we have to stop doing anything else or experiencing anything else.

Just include this body,

Include our bodies,

Include the body.

So just so you know,

Recently I've been dealing with some neck and shoulder pain,

So I don't know if that may play into anything or not.

So if anything gets too intense,

We can just disengage and we can open our eyes and let the words wash over and come back to our breath.

So anytime we can not participate,

Disengage from this.

So let's start with our feelings.

I'll go back through these one by one.

Emotions,

Moods,

And nervous system,

Especially around times of the full Moon.

Start with emotions.

What emotions are we feeling now,

If any?

We don't have to make any happen.

Then we can notice emotions around the full Moon as well.

So now and in relation to full Moons,

And ourselves and others too.

Where do we experience these emotions in the body?

In what ways?

On to moods.

So if there's any kind of mood present,

Emotions can be like the weather.

They come and go and they change,

And moods can be more like the climate,

So like a Pacific Northwest or a desert,

Maybe a tropical region.

So what moods are present during full Moons,

And what mood may be present now?

And then on to our nervous systems.

So how do we experience our nervous system?

Now the central nervous system is basically the brain and spine.

We have the sympathetic nervous system,

Which is fight or flight.

We have the parasympathetic nervous system,

Which is rest and digest.

We even have the peripheral nervous system,

Which if I'm getting this right,

Is more responsible for sensing and sensations.

So we can focus on either of these individually or as a whole,

Or however we experience our nervous system right now,

And then with full Moon.

We don't have to make anything happen either.

Okay,

Going deeper now into the water element.

As we know,

The Moon is said to be responsible for the tides of the oceans.

High tide and low tide.

So let's tune into the water element and the waves on the ocean and the tides of the ocean.

Visualize them,

Feel them,

Sense them.

Maybe we can even hear waves in the ocean.

Also we can sense the movement of water,

Of waves.

Maybe the body is swaying slightly with the breath.

Let's notice the breath might have a similar rhythm,

A wave of the ocean coming in the shore,

Drawing back out to sea.

Now we'll move on to a three-way comparison from memory.

Most of the three biggest influences,

Probably energetically in most of our lives,

The Earth,

The Sun and the Moon.

We'll start with Earth,

This planet.

Without me suggesting too much,

Just tune in to those experiences we've had from memory,

Or perhaps those we wish to experience,

Where there's a deep connection with Earth Mother,

This planet Earth.

Maybe it's times in nature or some of the experience we've had,

Earth-related.

Let's take a few moments to get the feel of Earth.

Perhaps we can notice this in Earth-like elements of the body,

Like the bones.

Let's tune into our Sun here.

The Sun,

Even though it may not be shining now,

It's still shining somewhere in the world,

Even if we can't notice it.

Maybe bring to mind one of the most memorable experiences we've had with the Sun.

Maybe notice the warmth of the Sun.

Good organ for the Sun is the heart,

Heat,

Warmth.

And now to the Moon.

So whatever experiences come to mind that are most memorable,

Create a strong connection with the Moon.

And notice how the Moon is the exact distance between the Earth and the Sun to be able to create an eclipse.

Next we'll explore energy.

So the three different energies,

Frequency,

Vibration,

And radiation.

So let's start with vibration.

It's often said,

Raise your vibration.

This is the energy of the heart,

Is one way,

But this leaves some silence to experience vibration energy for ourselves.

However,

You may like that,

Or however it may be happening now.

So next,

Radiation energy.

So this is the type of energy that comes from the Sun,

From heat sources,

And like when doing loving-kindness meditation,

Radiating in all directions,

Front and behind,

Left,

Right,

Above,

Below,

Radiating out energy from all directions.

Third one is frequency.

So if I'm understanding frequency right,

It's more of a specific,

Dialed-in energy.

So some frequencies are said to be helpful,

Or more helpful than others,

And some frequencies are said to be not as helpful as others.

So possibly tune into a specific energy you'd like,

Or maybe just notice what's here now.

Some frequencies are present.

And now let's tune into the energy of the Moon,

And maybe we'll notice which one of these three types of energies is more prominent with the Moon.

There's no right or wrong answer,

Just take a moment.

The energy of the Moon in these three different ones,

Frequency,

Vibration,

Radiation.

Okay,

Now invite,

Maybe even challenge,

To do some deep remembering,

And see if it's possible to tap into some ancient memories,

Knowledge and observations of the Moon now,

The Moon we have now,

And possibly others.

So I'll back up,

And we'll just spend a moment on each of these.

What kind of memories,

If any,

Do we have of the Moon that may extend beyond what we feel we're capable of right now?

So just setting this intention can be visual,

Or feeling,

Or maybe even a desire to have this as a possibility later.

And then knowledge.

Perhaps we can tap into deeper knowledge of the Moon that we feel we may not have right now,

Or that goes beyond what we've seen,

Heard or read about the Moon.

So an inner knowledge.

And then again with observation.

So how could we potentially observe the Moon in a way we've never observed it before,

Using our inner sight,

Our imagination,

Or however else we'd like to observe?

It doesn't have to be the physical Moon either,

It can also be anything related to it.

And now,

We're welcome to do each of these individually again,

Or just kind of at the same type of thing for other Moons.

We'll just spend a few moments on this because it's quite far out.

So not this Earth Moon,

But what about other Moons?

Either existing or not yet in existence,

Or maybe they were in the past but are no longer now.

Okay,

Now I invite you,

Any of these experiences that you may have had around this deep remembering,

Is to feel into the truth of these,

If any,

Experiences.

It's kind of like maybe you're muscle testing for the truth of these experiences,

And just feel into the truth and see if those experiences or memories or observations,

If they change any,

Are they still just as strong?

The next is the contemplation.

How would life be different without this Moon that we have now?

So if the Moon we have now was not there,

How would things might be different?

There's no right or wrong answer here,

Or no right or wrong experience.

Now the same thing with potentially a different Moon,

So a similar space object but not the same space object.

Again,

No right or wrong experiences here.

Or perhaps something fundamentally significant has changed with our current Moon.

It's another possibility.

And then this next contemplation and imagination is of the heart.

So if the Moon had a heart,

What would it be like?

So obviously this is a metaphoric statement here,

Figuratively.

The heart of the Moon.

What would that be like?

And then further,

Can we feel into that heart and see what's needed?

And ask what does the heart of the Moon need?

And now let's use this same line,

This heart connection,

To reflect a little bit more down to earth here.

Time to reflect on our community connections.

So taking time to notice the different communities we've been a part of in the past,

Those communities we're a part of now,

And potentially the communities we'd like to be a part of,

Are those we'd wish to strengthen.

Perhaps bringing to mind different moments in life that make life worthwhile,

Strengthen our human connections and bonds.

Just a general sense or feeling.

Very definite things,

Memories.

Could be aspirations,

Resolve to leave certain things behind,

And aim towards other things.

And starting now to wind up this experience,

This meditation,

A reflection and consideration,

Again using the body if we can.

So what's been helpful and what's not been helpful about this experience this evening,

Especially for our well-being and for being free,

For others but especially for ourselves.

And then maybe more particulars of how this may be helpful and without needing to know exactly how that would play out,

Or not really needing to know at all right now in this moment,

How what we've experienced might be helpful.

And I'll leave us with the classic image for equanimity,

Which is a bright full moon reflecting in a still mountain lake,

Or just a still lake.

So bring to mind the image of a bright full moon that's reflecting in the water,

And we're really only seeing its reflection in the water.

And we may notice that the water might be a little choppy,

But if we focus with the intent for the moon to show on clear still water,

We can notice any ripples subsiding.

May all beings everywhere be safe,

Internally and externally.

May all beings everywhere be happy and joyful.

May all beings everywhere be healthy and strong.

May all beings everywhere live with ease.

And may all beings everywhere realize awakening and be free.