Hi,
My name is Michaela and welcome to Calm Your Koshes.
Today I'm going to guide you through a different type of meditation.
It's a standing meditation.
We'll use this opportunity to become more aware of different sensations as we stand and just become aware of standing in itself.
We can become more present just in the everyday activities.
So I ask you to please get up,
Make sure that you have enough space around you and that you are standing balanced,
Feet in line with your shoulders.
Please close your eyes.
Or if you prefer to keep them open,
Just maintain a soft gaze.
And breathe in deeply.
And while the breath is filling your body,
Allow your whole body to stretch a bit more upright.
And breathing out,
Let your body relax.
Still upright but settled and comfortable in yourself.
With your arms loosely at your sides.
Breathing in,
Direct your attention to the area where your body is expanding.
Breathing out to where it is contracting.
Do it a few times until you get a good sense of your inner space.
Expanding and contracting with your breathing.
Let it happen naturally.
Now expand that spacious awareness down to your feet.
Can you feel your feet touching the ground?
Can you feel the pressure on your toes and soles?
The whole weight of your body pressing against the ground.
Now try to imagine that you are breathing in through the soles of your left foot.
Drawing the breath from there up to your chest area.
And then while breathing out,
You send your breath down to your right foot.
Down into the earth.
Maybe imagining that you have nostrils at the soles of your feet so that you could draw in the breath from the ground under your left foot.
Filling your chest area and then breathe out down into the earth underneath your right foot.
Do the whole cycle a few times.
Letting the energy move through your body as you direct the breath with your awareness in this cycle.
Now drawing the breath in from under the sole of your right foot.
Imagine you have nostrils there,
Letting it flow up into your chest and then with the out breath down through your left foot into the earth.
Be aware of the whole cycle.
So with this exercise,
What is now the subject?
And what is now object?
Who is aware of what?
What does your awareness include?
The body standing.
You breathing in and out.
The breath energy flowing in a cycle.
The sound of my voice.
Your own thinking.
The space in which all this happens.
All that which you are aware of,
Can that be the object of your awareness?
Everything which is arising in the space of your awareness right now would be the object,
Right?
Reversing the cycle again.
Breathing up through the left sole to the chest and then on the exhale,
Taking it down to the right foot.
Feeling the connection with the earth with each breath.
Find all points of the foot on the earth.
Again,
We reverse the cycle,
Drawing the breath in from under the sole of the right foot.
Letting it flow up into your chest.
And then with the out breath,
Down through the left foot,
Deep into the earth.
So,
What is the object?
What is the subject?
Is it you?
The person you are?
Or is it awareness itself?
Think about it.
And remember,
Every thought arising in awareness would be an object,
Wouldn't it?
So what is the subject?
Don't forget to breathe.
Just stand for a while.
Eyes still closed.
And let the answers to this question arise in awareness.
If you are the subject,
Are you able to choose the object?
Can you decide what object you want to choose?
Like now.
Can you decide to stay with the breath as the object of your awareness?
Can you decide to stay with the breath as the object of your awareness?
Now,
Taking the breath in through both soles of the feet,
Flowing up to the chest.
And then on the exhale,
Flowing back down,
Coming out through both feet into the earth.
And as that subject,
Decide to stay with the breath as the object of your awareness.
And then,
On the exhale,
Flowing back down,
Coming out through both feet into the earth.
And when you're ready,
Come back just to your natural breath,
Natural rhythm.
Letting the standing meditation practice go.
Maybe making some slow,
Gentle movement of the body.
Moving the head and gently opening your eyes.
Namaste.
