Leaning Back: A Practice For Leaning Back Into Stillness

As humans, we are wired to always be moving forward. Chasing dreams, executing plans, getting there on time. This meditation practice will allow us to see how it feels to lean back in our experience rather than leaning forward as we do in the rest of our lives.

Transcript

Hi friends.

Today I want to share a practice with you that I find really interesting and I've been enjoying a lot.

So I,

Just like anyone else as a human being,

We're wired to always be moving forward,

Right?

We've got goals,

We've got plans,

Sometimes I even have places to be.

So there's always that sense of leaning forward,

Always going with that forward momentum.

That's why a meditation practice,

A mindfulness practice,

It's great to take that opportunity to kind of step back into the present moment,

Not be living in a future that hasn't even happened yet.

And just taking that step back and using that space for whatever suits you at the time,

Right?

Even responses that we might feel are automatic,

There's actually a tiny,

Just nanoseconds of space in between our mind creating this intention and our body acting on it,

Or our mind acting on it.

Real simple example,

I've got this cup of water here and I see it,

I'm reminded that the water is there and I'm thirsty.

So my mind makes the intention,

I'm going to grab that cup and I'm going to take a drink of it.

And then I'm reaching for it,

I grab it,

I take a drink of it.

I don't say that to myself,

But there is that intention setting,

Right?

I set that intention and before it's just that imperceivable amount of time between me setting that intention,

I'm already reaching for the cup and taking a drink.

This can be more useful in social interactions.

Say somebody is talking to you about something and you know where they're going and you don't agree with it.

Your instinct might be to jump in there,

Interrupt them,

Disagree,

Give your peace,

Which isn't a great way to go about it,

Obviously.

And just imagine with our practice,

Just creating that space in between the trigger and the reaction.

I think this practice is for making space,

Giving ourselves our better judgment to have time to slip in there and say,

Maybe I will let them finish,

Actively listen.

Then once they say their peace,

I will share my thoughts and we'll have an open discussion about it,

Which is obviously the better way to go,

Right?

If all of our interactions happen that way,

We'd be in a lot better place,

I think.

So with that in mind,

I want to do this practice with you and just practice taking that step pack.

Instead of living nanoseconds in the future,

Living maybe nanoseconds in the past and exploring that space between the future,

The present,

And the past.

So if you're ready to go,

I invite you to join me in a comfortable seat.

I'll give you a moment to get there.

If you're sitting upright,

Just take some time to sway a little bit,

Settle your sit bones into whatever you're sitting on.

Whether it's a cushion,

The couch as I am,

The bed,

A chair,

Whatever's most comfortable for you,

You just want something upright,

Something sturdy,

But something comfortable.

Once you're there,

Send your gaze over your left shoulder and just look around,

Appreciate the space to your left.

Colors,

Shapes,

Light,

Dark.

Take an inhale,

A big one.

As you exhale,

Slowly move the gaze across through center,

Again,

Appreciating everything on the way,

All the way to the right shoulder,

Noticing things on this side as well.

So big inhale,

Slowly panning your vision across through center,

Back to the left.

Just taking in the space,

Getting familiar with it.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Pan across to the right.

Inhale,

Then back to the left where we started.

Come back to center,

Raise your gaze up a little bit,

Taking the space above you,

Again,

Noticing whatever's there.

Take a big inhale here.

As you exhale,

Close down the eyes,

Bring the head back down to a comfortable position.

Continue those deep breaths.

Put that little bit of extra focus on the breath too.

Every part of the breath,

From where it starts in the diaphragm,

As you inhale,

It rises up to the chest,

Through the throat,

Up to the nostrils,

Feel that cold air coming in the nose,

And then the warm air,

As you exhale,

Move back down through the throat,

The chest,

Back down to the abdomen.

Follow the breath like this for a bit.

Just noticing every tiny little aspect of your breathing.

Use the exhales here to soften the rest of the body,

Keep the spine straight,

The crown reaching towards the ceiling or the sky.

Exhale and soften the shoulders down.

And on the next exhale,

Soften the belly.

On the next exhale,

Soften the jaw.

Just using that inhale to lengthen the spine,

Come up straight.

And the exhale to soften.

Notice if you're coming into this practice carrying anything,

Any feelings,

Emotions,

Maybe some tension,

Maybe some excitement.

So notice what's going on in your experience right now.

You don't have to do anything with it,

Just notice it's there.

Continue breathing.

Focusing on those minutia details with each breath,

How it feels in the belly,

How it feels in the chest,

How it feels in the nostrils.

The Clubs.

Just following the breath as it rises and falls.

Just following the breath as it rises and falls.

See if you can catch that time in between setting that intention to inhale and your body actually inhaling.

Intention to stop the inhale and turn it into the exhale.

Notice those nanoseconds of time in between the in-breath and the out-breath.

Almost imperceivable amount of time.

It can be hard to notice that it's there.

I want you to consider two minutes ago you took a breath.

You inhaled deeply.

And you exhaled.

Full breath.

Where is that breath now?

It's in the past,

Right?

It's gone.

There's no getting it back.

No going back to it.

It's in the past.

Let's no longer end this moment with us.

60 seconds ago you took a breath as well.

You inhaled deeply.

Then you exhaled.

But where is that breath now?

It's just as gone as the other,

Right?

Just in the past.

That last breath you took,

The last time you inhaled deeply,

And then exhaled.

Where is that last breath?

It's just as gone as the other two.

No getting it back.

Take a deep inhale now.

As you exhale,

Consider where that in-breath is gone.

And then inhale,

Consider where that last exhale is gone.

As soon as we switch from the in-breath to the out-breath,

From the out-breath to the in-breath,

That previous half a breath is gone.

As we consider this,

We're living that half a breath in the past,

Grasping for that.

Half a breath,

We were talking about nanoseconds earlier,

Half a breath can be a long time compared to that.

I want you now to see if you can cut each in-breath in half.

Just chop in half,

Let it fade into the past as you finish the second half of the in-breath.

Going in this way,

Just creep up closer and closer to that moment,

That edge,

And the present turns into the past.

There's a fine line right there.

Just hang out right there on the cusp.

Maybe we're right there,

Right there on the boundary,

Maybe we're still just nanoseconds into the past.

Either way,

We're in that space.

The space of the present becomes past,

Becomes memory.

We'll put it up here.

Sometimes,

Maybe this can feel like sitting waist deep in a stream.

The water gently coming towards you,

Touching you,

And then going past.

You look forward in that stream,

And that's all water in your future.

The water behind you is water in your past.

We are right there in between those two things.

Sitting right there at the boundary where this present moment moves past us and becomes the past.

We are right there in between those two things.

There can be a lot of reactions to this feeling,

To this exercise.

Maybe it's scary to you that that thought that time is slipping by.

Once it's past you,

There's no getting it back.

That causes a little bit of anxiety.

Maybe you're just comfortable and peaceful in the cool stream.

There's no wrong way to feel.

Regardless how you feel,

The stream is passing you.

You just need to find out what that means to you and how you feel about it.

We continue to hang out right there on that edge,

Right there on that cusp,

Right on top of that moment.

The present passes us.

Now let go of that boundary.

You don't need to put so much focus on holding yourself in that place.

Just let that effort go.

Sway back and forth a little bit.

Wake the body back up.

Down turn the face towards the sky,

Towards the ceiling.

Open the eyes.

Plank them open slowly.

Once again taking the space above you.

Turn the gaze over the left shoulder.

Taking all that in again.

Big inhale.

Then on the exhale,

Spend that time panning across,

Taking in your space,

Looking over the right shoulder.

Inhale.

Then come back to center.

I hope you found some value in this practice.

I appreciate you sitting with me.

Reviews

INCREDIBLE practice. This was everything I needed just now to find my place within me again. THANK YOU! ❤️

Thank you 🙏