The Zoom Sessions: Monday Night Meditation Group From Thornbury

This is a field recording of a live meditation session hosted on Monday 13th April 2020 for the Thornbury Community Meditation Group. Due to the coronavirus, our group is meeting for meditation via Zoom during the locked down. This recording was made to enable group members to return to the session 'as and when' they would like to, or if they had missed the session they could sit with us when it suited them. Please feel free to use the file or share it with others who you think may enjoy it.

Transcript

This recording is of a drop-in session that happened on the 13th of April for a Zoom meditation group.

This practice includes a grounding technique,

A body scan,

An intention setting for the practice,

Leading into breath work,

Then into a welcoming practice and ending with an examine of the day and is led by Matt Albury.

Okay then guys so we'll make a start then with our grounding technique and also as I lead us into each stage of all the different practices tonight you'll hear a bell in between each practice and obviously we'll end with our three bells at the end.

So just allow yourself to bring yourself in that place of comfort,

Just so you settle yourself in.

And as you do this just bring that awareness then to that floor underneath your feet or where there is support and you just bring your awareness to there.

So if you're in a chair you're noticing the floor,

The contact with the body of the chair.

If you're lying down just noticing the contact of what you're lying down on against your body and then take your awareness to the sounds around you so we just notice what's going on.

Notice some of the sounds that are in the room where you are and then the wider sounds that we can hear.

And then we'll do our two breaths so take a lovely breath in through the nose and sigh for the mouth.

Take a lovely deep breath in again through the nose and just allow yourself just to settle for a moment.

Bring your awareness to what's around you,

What it feels like to be in your body at this moment.

And then when you're ready we'll make a start on the body scan so bring your awareness to your feet on the floor taking your awareness out onto your toes,

The tops of the feet and the ankles,

The shins and the calf muscles,

The knees,

The thighs.

Taking awareness up onto the hips and the backside and just notice the full sensations in the feet and the legs and then allow your awareness then to flow up through from the hips up onto the belly and the lower back.

Taking the awareness then up onto the upper back and the chest and just notice the physical sensations there.

And then take your awareness then across up onto the shoulders and the shoulder joints.

Taking your awareness across then onto the upper arms,

The elbows,

The forearms,

The wrists,

The tops of the hands and the back of the hands,

The palms.

Notice in the little dish there,

The little hollow forms and then take your awareness then out onto your thumbs,

First fingers,

Second fingers,

Third fingers and fourth.

And then flow your awareness all the way up through the arms up to the shoulders just noticing the physical sensations there.

And then take your awareness across then onto the shoulders,

The throat,

The back of the neck.

Taking your awareness then up onto the jaw,

Up onto the mouth.

Notice in the lips,

The teeth,

The gums,

The insides of the cheeks,

The roof of the mouth,

The tongue and the space underneath your tongue.

And then just take a moment just to be aware of the tastes and the physical sensations that are present in the mouth.

And then take your awareness then up onto your nose and your nostrils.

Taking the awareness then up onto the eyelids and the eyelashes and the eyeballs and just notice the sensations there.

And then take your awareness then around onto the ears.

This time we're noticing the shape of our ears.

And then take your awareness then up onto the forehead,

The back of the head and then the crown.

And just notice your presence,

What it feels like to be in your body at this moment at this time.

And then when you're ready start to then just flow your awareness all the way back through the body as if you're being emptied out through the bottom of your feet.

And just as you flow just let go of anything you want to let go of.

So as you flow just as you go all the way back down to the tips of the fingers,

Tips of the toes,

Just picture whatever you want to let go of just leaving your body through the bottom of the feet and into the ground and the ground just taking it away.

Just allow that to be the place which you observe this flowing through the body.

And then when you're ready bring your awareness then as you flow all the way back through your body as if you're being filled afresh.

Maybe you're being filled with light or a new fresh liquid.

Just allow yourself just to flow all the way through the body until you reach the crown of the head.

And then when you reach the crown of the head again just bring yourself back to that place of awareness what it feels like to be in your body at this moment at this time.

And then just think of this intention you want to set for your practice.

So like we said before we started what would you want from this practice that you're doing now?

What do you need at this moment for the next few moments as we practice?

And we do whatever's right for us what we need at this time.

And then when you've set that intention bring bring it back in with the breath bring this intention into your body with your breath picturing it coming in with the breath and settling down in your heart centre.

Just noticing taking root in your heart centre and then bring your awareness then back to your breath.

Just watching your breath come and go.

This is where we'll bring our first observation of our practice to our breath.

So really just allow yourself then just to settle in as we start to do this welcoming practice.

So you're just noticing your breath noticing how the breath just rolls in.

A little pause and it rolls back out.

Just watching that natural ability of your breath just to naturally bring the breath back in.

If the breath rolls out just without you even trying just naturally rolls in and allow this to be your focus that sinks you in.

Sinks you into that place of stillness within you.

Just allow that to be.

Just allow your sense to that indwelling sense of peace.

You you you you you And as you do this then start to allow your awareness then in your own time just to widen.

So you start to focus your whole range of your body's awareness.

So you're like you're exploring what's there.

What you're feeling.

Where you're feeling it.

And the key thing with this welcoming practice is you're not trying to judge it.

You're not trying to change it or fix anything.

You're just acknowledging that's how you feel.

We welcome that feeling at this moment.

And as I was saying at the start we can even use those words so we can say welcome fear or welcome peace.

So we just acknowledge the full awareness of what's going in our bodies and we just welcome it.

We just sit with it.

We don't resist it.

So just allow this to be your place where you rest now.

Watching the breath bringing full awareness to your body and emotions.

You you you And then we're now coming to the part of the welcoming practice where we let go of what is going on at the moment.

So we just quietly say these words to ourselves.

As I say them just quietly repeat them to yourself and just let the words wash over you.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and I embrace this moment as it is.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and I embrace this moment as it is.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and I embrace this moment as it is.

So just bring awareness to your body as you do this.

If there's areas where you notice physical tension perhaps in your body as you allow that breath to come and go and roll in and out in its natural way.

Soften if you can into those areas.

Just letting gravity take its way on those shoulders or on that lower back or wherever you might find you have tension just allow yourself just to soften.

And I'll say these words again.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and I embrace this moment as it is.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and embrace this moment as it is.

I let go of my desire for security,

Affection and control and I embrace this moment as it is.

So I'm just going to read the words of this poem to you now which is by Denise Levertov,

The Avowal and it's a poem that's used at the end of the welcoming practice that is done by Thomas Bushlach.

As swimmers dare till I face to the sky and water bears them.

As hawks rest upon the air and the air sustains them.

So would I learn to attain free fall and float into the Creator's spirit deep embrace knowing no effort earns that all surrounding grace.

So just now just return your awareness then back to your breath.

It's allowing yourself to settle back there so we're watching the rhythm of the breath in that mindful way.

Notice the breath rolling in through the nose and down in the back of the throat feeling the movement in the chest and the ribs the ribs on the back of the belly.

Just allow that to be your place of observation.

You you So I'm going to lead us now into the examining of the day.

It will be slightly different than normal because we as soon as we end the examining we won't go into our grounding technique.

We'll just sort of come back to that place of stillness again and then I'll speak words of metta,

Loving kindness over us as a group and for all beings elsewhere.

So we begin by lighting a candle.

You Come home to yourself.

Come home.

You.

Lovingly welcome into your home the person that you are.

Let your hands find rest and allow your hands to hold the weave from your day.

Come home.

You.

As we remember the day as it was remember a moment of light or life.

And allow it to live again in your mind's eye and revisit it.

Particularly focusing on what it was that brought life and light.

You.

Be still.

Be grateful.

As we remember the day as it was remember a moment that might have caused frustration disappointment or despair and gently let that be visited again by allowing it to live again in your mind if possible to revisit it without judgment.

You.

Be still.

Be accepting.

Now gently take the moment of life and light and the moment of despair or frustration and gently allow them just to settle into the divine love within you.

Just allow that divine love to take away the moment of light in the moment of dark.

Just allowing them to go.

Be still.

Be still.

And in the closing moments of our exam and bringing awareness to tomorrow the things that you hope to achieve tomorrow or maybe even set an intention for your day tomorrow how you want to be in your day what qualities you would like to bring and then trust for your tomorrow.

Be still.

And as I gently blow out the candle bring your awareness back to your breath to return into where we started just noticing the rhythm of your breath naturally coming and going and I'll speak these words of loving kindness over you and therefore other beings.

May you be truly happy.

May you be healthy and well.

May you be safe.

May you be peaceful and may you be loved.

May you be truly happy.

May you be healthy and well.

May you be safe.

May you be peaceful and may you be loved.

May all beings be truly happy.

May all beings be healthy and well.

May all beings be safe.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be loved.

May all beings live at ease.

So when you're ready bring your awareness back to the sounds around you.

Bring your awareness to the sensations of what's supporting you either it's you're lying down on a bed or sat on your chair.

So allow that sensation of being held to come into your awareness.

And then take your awareness to the feet on the floor contact that you have and then we take our two breaths.

Taking a lovely breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

I'm gonna do that again a lovely deep breath in through the nose and then gently open your eyes and move gently when you're ready.

We've been practicing for quite a while.

Reviews

A supportive range of practises. I liked the poem Matt. 🙏

Thanks Matt, really enjoyed this. Particularly the lovely words you say towards the end wishing everyone happiness and good health, I found it quite moving.