Evening Meditation (Amma's beach)

Evening meditation with slow breathing exercise (Anapana) and body scan (Vipassana) to have a relaxing evening. Recorded with the sounds at Amma's Beach, India.

Transcript

Welcome to the evening meditation recorded at Amas beach in Kerala,

India.

Start by sitting symmetrically and upright but without it being uncomfortable.

If you're seated on a chair,

Make sure your legs are uncrossed and your feet are firmly planted in the ground.

Close your eyes to start the journey within and close your mouth so that you're only breathing through your nose.

The nostrils filter the incoming air better than the mouth and also allow you breathing to be slower and thus more serene.

Become entirely still.

The only thing moving inside you is the air coming in and out of your nostrils.

Notice how the air coming in is colder than the air coming out of your nostrils.

Observe your current mood as if you were inspecting your emotions from the outside,

As if these emotions were separate from your being.

If at any point during the meditation you're bothered by incoming thoughts,

It's normal and it doesn't matter.

When you notice these thoughts,

Simply bring your attention back to the physical sensation of the cold air coming in and the warm air coming out.

Without forcing anything,

Try to slow down your breathing so that it becomes a very thin As if this stream of air were a magical substance bringing you joy on every inhale.

As if this stream of air were a balloon of happiness inflating inside you on every inhale.

Here and now,

Your entire being is this stream of air coming in and out of your nostrils.

Progressively,

This stream of air is becoming thinner and thinner.

Your breathing is slower and slower.

Once again,

If during this meditation your attention loses itself in thoughts,

Sounds,

Or physical sensations,

It's perfectly normal and it doesn't matter at all.

When you notice these thoughts,

Sounds,

Or physical sensations,

Simply bring your attention back to the physical sensation of the cold air coming in and the warm air coming out of your nostrils.

In the movie Kung Fu Panda,

Master Uguay tells Po that the past is history,

The future is mystery,

But now is a gift and that is why we call it the present.

We're now going to do a body scan to connect to our sensations in the present moment.

Try observing your sensations without reacting to any of them.

Remain entirely still and remember that all thought sensations are impermanent.

Try placing all of your attention at the very top of your head and see if you can feel any sensation,

Whether it's tingling or just the feeling of the air on your head.

Move down your attention to the back of your head and try to see if you can feel any sensation.

Now place your attention on your forehead,

On your eyes,

Your nose,

Your nose,

Your eyes,

Your nose,

The space between your nose and your upper lip.

Your mouth.

Your cheeks.

Your chin.

Your chin.

Your throat.

And try simply observing your sensations without encouraging any feelings of craving or aversion,

Simply observing.

And when your attention gets lost,

Simply bring it back to your breathing and to the body scan.

Try all your attention and feeling sensations on your neck.

And by moving from top to bottom,

Try to feel all the sensations along your spine.

And try scanning the rest of your back to feel any other sensations.

Now going also from top to bottom.

Try scanning your chest to see if you can feel any sensation,

Whether it's the contact of your skin against your clothes or of your skin against the air or any itchy or tingling sensation for instance.

And by moving from top to bottom,

Try to feel any sensation,

Whether it's the contact of your skin against the air or any itchy or tingling sensation for instance.

Now imagine that a beam of yellow light is coming into your solar plexus.

A beam of yellow light that is bringing you joy and happiness.

And now try placing all your attention on your heart and see if you can feel your heart beating.

And if you can't feel it beating,

It doesn't matter.

Just simply try placing all your attention on your heart.

And now imagine that a pure white light is coming out of your heart.

As if you had a super power,

The purest whitest light you've ever seen.

And imagine that this light gives love to anything it touches.

And now imagine yourself being enveloped in this white light.

Being protected and loved by this white light.

As if you were in a cocoon of this white light.

And now imagine that this white light is projecting outward.

And that it's coming into contact with every person you've seen or thought about in the last 24 hours.

Imagine each of these persons being touched by this white magical light and instantly feeling the joy,

The love and the happiness.

And now try silently wishing yourself and all the people you've visualized being touched by this white light.

May we be happy.

May we be in good health.

And may our dreams come true.

And now getting back to the body scan,

Try placing all your attention on your right shoulder to see if you can feel any sensation.

And slowly progressively moving down your right arm to see if you can observe any sensations.

Okay.

And now place your attention on your right hand.

And try feeling how much your hand vibrates.

And similarly,

Place all your attention on your left shoulder.

And try going down your left arm,

Feeling all the sensations.

And now place all your attention on your left hand.

And try feeling all the life that is in your left hand.

And now place all your attention on your genitals.

And just as we did with the arms,

Place all your attention at the top of your right thigh.

And moving from top to bottom,

Progressively scan your thigh and your leg to see if you can feel any sensation.

And place all your attention on your right foot.

And try to feel how much life there is in your right foot.

And similarly,

Try placing all of your attention at the top of your left thigh.

And progressively,

From top to bottom,

Scan your left leg to see if you can observe any sensations.

And to finish this body scan,

Try placing all of your attention on your left foot.

And feel how much life there is in your foot.

And once again,

Before finishing this meditation,

Observe your current mood as if you were inspecting your emotions from the outside.

As if these emotions were separate from your being.

And when you're ready,

You can slowly come out of this meditation and start noticing the weight of your clothes on your body.

The surrounding sounds.

And of course all the colors around you.

Try to keep as long as possible throughout the evening the feeling of calm and serenity you might have felt during this meditation.

And if you are new to the practice of meditation,

Remember that just as is the case for physical exercise or dental hygiene,

What matters to feel the benefits of meditation is to do a little bit every day.

If you do this meditation or a similar exercise for 10 consecutive days,

You'll start seeing significant changes in your life.

I wish you a beautiful evening.

Until next time.

Reviews

Thanks for a beautiful meditation. I worked from home today and put this on. I meditated outside. The sun set gently while I meditated with your guidance. With the sounds of the beach, I felt like I was there. Thank you.

Helped move from unease in the body due to exhaustion into a fresh state of being. Thank you 🙏🏾

Holy wow!!!!!

My mother Listening to this while in hospital recovering from a broken hip. She said it's pure bliss. ❤️

Thank you! I'm not ready to observe my emotions from a distance yet. I can barely recognize them for starters, but it was great to try.

Thanks so much for your lovely meditation. May the joy be with you. Nàmaste

The best body scan I’ve ever done. I love the way I feel after listening to this and your Budda meditations, as well as any you put out.. thank you so much Jonathan. I look forward to every morning and evening

I wish I was at Amma’s beach! A struggle not to feel an obligation to be upset when in difficult times. ??? A beautiful tranquil meditation.

Fantastic. thank you

Thank you. So relaxing.

I found this meditation really Deep and effective . I' m grateful.

One of my favourites. Namaste 🙏

Wonderful practice! Thank you Jonathan

Love it so soothing thank you so much you lovely man 👨

Very good bodyskanning. Really appreciate thanks

Lovely way to end my day. Thank you

Thank you. Bon soir

Went a lot faster than 29 MN, it helped me clear my mind and re center myself.
I enjoyed the background sounds very much. They weren't a distraction at all.

I love all your meditations... The sound of the waves is beautiful and it's like being there. Thank you so much! 🙏

Brilliant meditation. Thank You!