Mindfully Visiting Our Inner Neighbourhoods

In this meditation, Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides us through the places inside of us that we rarely get to visit. See what you discover with this adventure!

Transcript

So allowing the body to settle into a comfortable posture.

Seeing if we can set the intention right from the get-go of having an active attention,

A curious attention,

Maybe an open heart,

And then letting the body kind of follow these intentions,

Like a little more straight,

The chest a little more open,

Maybe checking in where there are tensions in the body seeing if it's possible to release some of them.

And as the body settles and becomes more and more still,

We can become aware of our breathing,

And allowing the breath to become an anchor point for this meditation,

Kind of a center of gravity for our attention.

So the sensations of breathing in and breathing out that remind us what it's like to be present and what it's like to be alive.

And as we go explore now the different neighborhoods of our being,

Knowing that this breath and these sensations of breathing are a little bit like our compass,

They help us bring us back into the present moment and find ourselves if we get lost.

And first going to visit the so-called good neighborhoods of our being by kind of recalling aspects of ourselves or our days that we like that are going well or that went well,

Maybe sweet memories,

Sweet moments,

A pleasant interaction,

A beautiful sight like a sunset,

Savoring some food,

Savoring a moment,

Feeling connected with someone else,

So just kind of getting in contact with that kind of memory.

And as we do that,

Seeing if we can go and explore what shows up in our body as we do that.

As this movie kind of plays in our mind of some sweet moment,

What does that feel like in the body?

Just kind of like doing a brief body scan,

Checking in with areas where we're noticing changes,

Like maybe a sense of lightness in the shoulders or warmth in the chest,

Maybe some changing in your breathing.

What does this neighborhood feel like?

And seeing if it's possible to become aware at the same time of these sensations,

These pleasant sensations in the body with an awareness of your breathing.

So in other words,

We're breathing with these pleasant sensations and these pleasant memories.

That is a version of who we are.

Sometimes in some context,

This is how we feel.

So just taking a few moments to breathe with this version of ourselves.

So just taking a few moments to breathe with this version of ourselves.

If we're getting lost in thoughts,

Minds wandering,

Either in these pleasant memories or other memories,

See if you can also kind of bring your attention into our body,

Right here,

Right now.

Being aware of our breathing will help us become present.

So continuing to breathe with these other sensations,

The warmth in the chest,

The lightness in the shoulders,

The tingling in the stomach,

Whatever is showing up in your experience.

And then letting go of these memories.

They are a part of you.

So we're going to let them just recede in the background,

Do their own thing,

And then bringing your attention back to just your breathing.

And as we do that,

I'm going to invite you now to go explore a slightly worse neighborhood.

And so kind of recalling parts of yourself that you're not crazy about,

Maybe a slight mistake that you made recently,

Feel a little guilty about it,

Nothing major,

But just not the best version of you.

Something you maybe regret saying or doing,

Maybe someone who annoys you a little bit.

So just recalling that memory,

Playing out that scenario in your mind.

And as you do that,

Going to check in,

In your body,

What's showing up,

What's changing.

Noticing maybe some tensions,

Some holding,

Some embracing,

Heart rate changing,

Breathing changing.

What are we noticing as we kind of walk into this slightly worse neighborhood that is part of who we are also?

If we get lost,

We can come back to our breath and then breathe with these maybe slightly more unpleasant sensations.

Just continuing to scan your body for what it feels like to be in this neighborhood.

And rather than running away from this neighborhood,

We usually tend to do,

We're practicing what it's like to stay steady,

To stay put in this part of ourselves that we are not crazy about,

We tend to turn away from.

Here we're practicing something different.

Opening ourselves to this part of ourselves.

Remaining present,

Breathing with making room for these sensations.

Still breathing this sense ofので pretend when you think you would like And then letting go of that memory,

That part of ourselves,

Letting that receipt to the background.

So there it is in the background with the so-called good neighborhood,

The positive side of us,

Parts that we like,

The pleasant ones.

They're still there in the background,

Part of who we are.

Let's just return to the breath for now,

Feeling this next in-breath,

This next out-breath.

And here I'll give you a choice to either stay with just your breathing,

Or if you want,

You can go in the bad neighborhood,

The one that we don't typically go in.

So you might allow yourself for a few minutes,

A few moments,

A few minutes maybe,

To recall kind of that shadow part of yourself,

Part that you don't want to look at,

The big regrets,

The lows,

The part of yourselves you're not proud of.

For this practice,

It's simply to just acknowledge that that part of yourself exists.

What would it feel like if I kind of brought my intention into my body right now,

And I allowed myself to feel what it feels like to be that version of me?

Often there's some pain,

Kind of like an ouch,

I don't want to feel this,

But just practicing with even these sensations,

That emotional pain,

That fear,

That sadness,

That anxiety,

That shame.

And rather than getting lost in thought about them,

Seeing if we can practice getting down into our bodies and feeling the bare sensations related to those emotions,

Tightening in the throat or in the chest,

The pit in the stomach,

The tension.

And I allow myself to feel those just as they are.

Maybe to direct my breath into these parts so that I can create space for these sensations to just be there as they are for now.

Knowing that we're not going into these bad neighborhoods on our own,

But we're in good company.

We have the support of others who are meditating with us,

Of our community.

And so for the next few moments,

Just practicing breathing with,

Being aware of,

Practicing accepting just as they are,

These sensations that are one part of who I am.

Not turning away,

But turning towards and staying put and open and kind and curious.

And then slowly letting that part of ourselves recede to the background of our awareness to join the other neighborhoods,

Knowing that all of those neighborhoods are parts of who we are.

And another part of who we are is this alive human being that's sitting here or lying here breathing.

And so just connecting with that as we finish the meditation.

Being aware of the body as a whole,

Sitting or lying here,

Just breathing and just being.

Do as one would NOT sit or move.

아니에요 punches.

Reviews

This meditation allowed me the time and space to experience different parts/sides of myself and observe the different sensations in my body. I think this cultivates acceptance, emotional intelligence and awareness.leading in the direction of understanding and perhaps transcendence. Thank you for this outstanding offering 🙏

Thank you! Needed this walk through both neighbourhoods! Namaste 🙏

Liked it very much..
Thank you...

Wow....unexpectedly powerful.

Perfect pacing and cues, and such a calming and pleasant voice. Bookmarking this one to return to frequently. Many thanks.

Very useful to go to good neighborhoods and bad and see how that is in my body. Let's me be open to what is.

Even better today
🕺👌✌️🙌💙✌️🙏

Great journey to our shadow and light sides. Thank you.

Thank you for this different experience, which resulted in new non-conceptual insights. You are skilled in allowing the student to experience new territory with a sense of safety and I am grateful.🙏🏻. I am bookmarking as this is one that I am certain will yield new insights on different days. This is the kind of practice that profoundly changes how I live my life off the cushion.

Slightly tough but neccisary. Thanks. Glad that I did it & that you lead it so well.

Thanks for helping me feel less alone in my"not so pleasant" neighborhoods. This will be an excellent prelude to my quiet meditations on weekends. For me, a nice balance of guidance and quiet time to be in the moment. Bookmarked.🙏🏽

Thank you. Great instructions for me.

Good but challenging

I fall asleep...

A unique combination of comforting and emotionally engaging.

Perfect. Loved the soothing voice, the space between sentences, the intuitive "script", and the exercise of living with our not-so-good parts.

Excellent practice. This helped me work with some difficult aspects of who I am.

Loved this! Thank you and hope others find it as helpful as I did!