Fully Here In Time And Space

Do you always meditate with your eyes closed? Join me to explore flowing between eyes open and eyes closed; inward focus and outward focus; and close-time versus earth-time. It’s best if you are outside or sitting near a window so you can see into the distance.

I love this practice as it helps my ADHD brain to unstick if I am overly focused inside myself, for example, if I am anxious or ruminating; or if I become stuck in an outward focus such as with dissociation or distraction. It helps me become more fully in the place where I am, as well as connected to myself. I find it slows everything down and allows me to focus and have a sense of perspective.

This meditation aids fluidity as it moves between different points of focus and levels of awareness. It’s a technique for neuroplasticity created by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman and this is my softer flowing version, so I think of it as feminine form Space-Time Bridging.

Let me know how you like it in the review comments. Please note that this practice is not a replacement for professional medical or psychological care.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back, Or welcome for the first time. I'm happy that you're here. I'm Kerry Mackay and I love this practice because it balances inward awareness with outward awareness. It helps me to become more fully in the place where I am, As well as in myself. I find it slows everything down and allows me to focus and have a sense of perspective. It's best if you're outside or sitting near a window so that you can see into the distance. Many meditations invite us to focus inside of ourselves, Which is of course valuable, But sometimes we're already overly focused inward, Such as when we're anxious or ruminating, And so putting more attention inside can actually be unhelpful. And then sometimes we're overly focused outside of ourselves, Like when we're dissociated or distracted. So bringing more of our attention inward could be helpful there. This practice invites you to balance both inward and outward awareness. It's based on a technique called space-time bridging, Created by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. So let's begin. Make sure you're comfortable. And then notice whatever you are sitting on or your points of contact and just settling down, Feeling the weight and the physical body wherever you are today. Keep your eyes open for now. And become aware of the breath. Just noticing the rise and the fall, The breath in its natural rhythm Allow the breath just to be however it is. And then from here start to become aware of your hands. So your awareness on the surface of the palms of the hands. It's helpful if you look down at your hands or bring them up so that you can see them. We're being present now with the skin of the hands, So noticing any sensation. And at the same time have some attention on the breath. Following the gentle rise and fall hands and breath and acknowledging the whole surface of the body from the hands around the arms. The skin that wraps around you, Even the back. The soft boundary between you and the world. Being with the surface of the body and at the same time gently following the rise and fall of the breath. Now letting go of the hands and let your eyes rest on the exact spot where you are. Somewhere within a metre of where you are sitting or standing. And focus on a single point. It could be a blade of grass beside you or the corner of a cushion, For example. So having an awareness on this close point also be aware of the rhythm of the breath allowing your attention to be on the breath as well Lovely and now we're going a little further away from ourselves. Invite your eyes to rest on a point in the middle distance maybe around five meters away from you. Choose a point and let the eyes rest on that point. We're becoming more fully in the place where you are. You might be looking at a fence or a tree or something on the far side of the room, A building maybe. Allowing your awareness to rest on this point and also be aware of the rhythm of the breath following the in-breath and the outbreath Now we're going to move further away again and imagine as we do that time slows down. Lift your eyes to the furthest away point that you can see, Like the horizon. Allow your eyes to go wide and soft. Being more fully in the landscape where you are resting here and also having an awareness on the breath the gentle rhythm of the in-breath and the out-breath. . . Letting this go now and I invite you to become aware of the space above you. You may wish to close your eyes as you expand your awareness up and up into the vastness of space. Acknowledge the tiny speck that you are on the surface of the planet. Resting now in slow space-time and also following the rise and fall of the breath gentle in-breath slow out breath in breath. . . Out breath. From this vast perspective. We're slowly going to travel down and down. Coming back to the body, Taking your time, Coming slowly back to yourself. And this time the invitation is to come inside the body Gently bring your awareness right inside however you like. Perhaps sensing the inside of the head? Noticing the inside of the chest maybe filling up the arms the belly and the legs with your loving awareness being with the experience of your interior world. Noticing the breath on the inside as well. The movement of the breath. Noticing where you feel it now. Being with that gentle expansion. Gentle softening back as you feel the breath from the inside The soft rhythm of life. And from this place of connection with yourself. Become aware also of the surface of the body, The skin, Creating this soft boundary between you and the world. And then perhaps open your eyes and stay connected to yourself as you also acknowledge the exact spot where you are. And then acknowledging the place. The room or the garden, The place where you are now. And acknowledging the landscape. Or the cityscape. The environment that you're in. This is where you are. And then becoming aware again of the space perspective, The tiny dot on the surface of the earth that is you. Being fully with yourself. Being fully in the place where you are. Gently flowing between states, Time and space. Thank you for joining me today, I'm really glad to be practicing together. I hope you find time to repeat this meditation wherever you are and if you'd like to practice again with me there's a short version without the introduction and a quicker practice. So I'll see you soon in the next meditation.