The 'Chill-Derness'

The Chillderness is that bit between Christmas and New Year. Here's a guided meditation for you if you're going nuts, getting cabin fever or feeling out of sorts right now, as the urge to get back to 'normal' kicks in.

Transcript

Hey there, It's Karl here inviting you to join me on the Childerness meditation. Now the Childerness is that chilled out bit between Christmas and New Year where if you're in the kind of Western world, Your whole set up may have been knocked for six by these public holidays and you're wondering what on earth to do between the 25th of, Right in the middle of, Between the 25th of December and the 1st of January, Excuse me, Which says something doesn't it about our programming and conditioning and how we are subject to public holidays. But anyway, Let's not be thinking too much, This is meditation made simple. Just a good opportunity if you are feeling a little bit in the Childerness and it's having its effect on you to just sit down and join me in a peaceful contemplation of being alive, Which is pretty cool really, It's something we can do at any time if we're not dogged by all these preoccupations and thoughts and worries and what we should be doing. And I think that's the thing about Childerness is that this sense, I've certainly felt it, Is that we should be doing something as our culture allows us to relax. The momentum of another aspect of the culture is like get busy, Do stuff, Go shopping, Watch TV, Watch your favourite movies, Hang out with your favourite people, Do this, Do that. Anything just rather than just be still and enjoy the pristine glory of being alive, Which is an amazing, I was going to call it a resource, It just is, It's just always there, But we're not. So here's a chance to do that now, Right now and get right into the glory of being alive. With a very simple meditation, This is what it's all about on Munson's Meditation Made Simple, It's just being aware of being alive, Sat in the chair. And that's not always easy because of the whole momentum of the mind and this, That and the other. And I've found a relatively peaceful place to sit, But it's really kind of, I'm in the middle of nowhere in the Portuguese countryside and it's really noisy in nature, But in a great way. A heron just flew through the valley as a tractor chugging past, Got a little six week old baby Solomon strapped to my chest while I'm doing this. So in some ways very favourable conditions, In other ways a little bit challenging, But we don't need to find excuses, We can always find a moment if we're so inclined to take it easy and connect with the glory of being alive. So how do we do that? Let's just breathe out. And let go of the preoccupations and ceaseless thinking on the out breath and let go of any tension in the body. Just ease up, Chill man, Chill in the childerness, Truly. And maybe you're feeling it like I'm feeling it of any residual tension, It creeps in really very sneakily, But here's a moment where you can let it go with the out breath, Metaphorically. Just let it all go, Not just metaphorically, But breathing out, We're letting go and we can let go of the tension and some of the more obvious worries. And just for a moment, Boundary, A few minutes of our precious life to not be pulled here, There and everywhere. Not by activity, Not by other people's agendas, Not by our own agendas, Just a couple of minutes full of sacred minutes of, Oh, Isn't that good just to be and let go. And we can deepen that, That's the wonderful thing about meditation as far as I'm concerned. Is our ability to not just be aware of being alive in the chair, But go deep into that and as we practice go deeper and deeper into that. And allow the crowing cock-crawl to just be part of our vast awareness. Allow the baby dreaming in his sleep with his little noises to be part of our vast awareness. And not be distracted by it, Just allow it, Just allow ourselves to be, Come back to that breath when you can. As your mind cranks up with all this nonsense, Just breathe it out, Let it go. Sit in the chair. It might be that you can feel the breath coming in and out of your body through your nostrils, Over your lips. And this is all really good data if you like, Bio-data that we're alive, The tingling in the lips, The nostrils, The weight of the body on the chair, The pressure of our feet in our shoes or on the floor. No need to go into it, But just be aware of all those signs of our body being in this existence and the subtlety of it. Because we're often taken there by pain into the body. But the body has a gentle hum, Tingle, Bliss of being that we can tune into. And let's do that now. I'm feeling the sun on my face and the breeze on my face. Whatever's there for you, Tune into it, Revel in it, Be aware of it. But there's no need to go off into a thought train or disappear with your thoughts about it. Be here. Be here right now, Enjoying that sensation of being alive and maybe in the silence we can enjoy that together for a moment. So stay with your sensation of being, Whatever it is for you. The pressure of your clothes against your skin, The air coming in and out of your body, Sun on your face, Feet on the floor, Whatever it is, Just be aware of that subtlety. If you drift away, Just come back to it. That's all you have to do for these next couple of minutes. Let's do that together. Filled the Just let all the sensation and the senses be there. No need to act, Do anything. You're in the Childrens and you can enjoy it. The world will make its claims on you soon enough. Other people will be suggesting things to you. Your own, Whatever it is, Your own conscience and imagination will be pulling on you. But you might want to gift yourself a Christmas present of some Christmas presents. Ah, Very good. And just be here. Free in the Childrens. Enjoying having a body. Not judging whatever it is or sounds. Might even be some wind on the microphone. Just see if you can be with it without judgement. Minds are so busy all the damn time we're judging everything. We really don't have to, It's just a habit. Perfect. And as you just gently open your eyes maybe, If they were sure. Just be aware of that bigger awareness. I'm guessing, I'm hoping that you'll have tuned into something a little less particular than all your worries and anxieties and thoughts. And you just tuned into the vastness of the soundscape and the vastness of just being a little less particular, A little less judgemental. And stay there if you can. You know, This is the resource. This is the beautiful awareness that you can start to bring more into the rest of your life. So that the meditation isn't some sort of colony or special thing that you do outside of the rest of your life. You bring it in. Bring in that awareness and that being and that beauty into all that you do. And enjoy more of your life coming from this place. Or being in this place I should say. You've got this energy, You've got this back up, You've got this place to go to, To dip into. Bloody marvelous. And take it with you for the rest of the Childreness and into the New Year. And I wish you well for the New Year. Whatever that means for you. Go well.

Reviews

Love the focus on being alive, and all the ambient sounds.

Wow, this is one of the more bizarre meditations I have done, not only for the fact that Christmas was 5 months ago but also I usually get irritated by background noises on meditations but I actually loved this one. I think it's because it was so relaxed and so real - I was right there with you in that Portuguese countryside feeling the sun on my face. And if it hadn't had all the background sounds it wouldn't have been so effective. I also think Baby Solomon should have his own recording as every time he gurgled it made me smile. Many thanks.