Welcome to this meditation.
This meditation helps us connect with the body in a fresh way.
It is an invitation to reconnect with our skeleton and bones,
To bring a deep and healing somatic presence.
It is a rare meditation from the oldest Buddhist traditions,
And it might have emerged from the first Buddhist community on the Indian soil over 2500 years ago.
It has been preserved and passed on from meditator to meditator.
In this meditation,
We are going to place our attention on our skeleton.
Our intention is to discover and stay in touch with sensations we might find there.
We are not looking for an anatomical truth,
But simply to connect with how this skeleton presents itself to us,
Simply exploring which sensations are there for us to experience.
Let's take some time to find a comfortable seated position.
Invite a posture which is both upright and relaxed.
It might have a natural dignity and nobility,
While staying soft.
If it is comfortable,
You may let your eyes close or lower your gaze,
Gently moving your attention towards your body.
Let the body soften naturally with each breath.
Feel the support on which you are seated.
Feel how it is holding you.
We are now going to move our attention towards our skeleton,
Starting at the top of the skull.
Bringing your attention there,
Explore sensations at the skin level as well as in the bone below.
See whether you can connect with the sensation of the bone itself under the skin.
It is enough to place our attention in this area on the bone with an open curiosity.
There may or may not be sensations there.
If some appear,
They might be vibrations or feeling of hardness or change in the skin.
Or a feeling of openness or an absence of sensation.
Simply notice what you find there.
Spend a moment at this area and explore.
Now move your attention towards the back of the skull,
Exploring the sensations as you do so.
Feel the movement of your body.
Feel the movement of your body.
Feel the movement of your body.
Feel the movement of your body.
Now move your attention towards the back of the skull,
Exploring the sensations as you do so.
Open your attention to include the bottom of the skull at the back.
And opening towards the sides,
The back of the ears.
Moving up the side of the head,
The temple.
And connecting with the top of the head again to try to feel this whole area of the back of the skull.
Notice any sensations there at the bone and around the bone.
Now moving your attention towards your forehead,
Explore sensations there.
Exploring the eyebrow area.
Exploring the eyebrow area.
Exploring the back of the eye socket.
All around the eyes,
Inside.
You may let your attention reconnect with the temples there.
And down with the cheekbones.
The area around and behind the nose.
The upper lip area,
The teeth.
Now moving your attention towards the jawbone.
Now moving your attention towards the jawbone.
And going down towards the neck,
Find the spine at its center.
Simply move down the spine,
Step by step,
And exploring sensations wherever your mind will stop.
Continue to let your attention move down the spine and descend approaching the base of the spine and the pelvis.
If you feel the need to adjust your pelvis position,
Do so gently while keeping your attention on the bone.
Let your attention naturally slide towards your pelvic bone,
Exploring sensations there.
And widening your attention to include the whole of the hip bone and the hip area.
Now slowly bring your attention back to the top of the spine.
And connect with the collarbones.
The shoulder bones.
And towards the back,
The scapulas.
Note the sensations that you observe there,
If any.
If you find any sensations there,
See what is their nature.
Now shift your attention towards the ribcage and let it scan down slowly,
Naturally,
Connecting with the life there.
Now place your attention on your right shoulder and explore the shoulder joint and the bone of your upper arm.
The elbow.
The two bones of the forearm.
The wrist.
The bones of the palm of the hand.
And the fingers,
One by one,
Maybe starting at the thumb.
Now try to connect with the perception of the bone of the hand as a whole.
Maybe including the wrist.
Now moving your attention to the left shoulder joint,
Explore the bone of the upper left arm.
The elbow.
The bones of the forearm.
The wrist.
The bones of the palm.
And the fingers,
Starting from the thumb.
See whether you can connect with the bones of the whole hand.
We will now be moving our attention back to the pelvis area and hip area as the meditation progresses,
Explore whether you can find precision in your perceptions of the bones.
If there are sensations,
Are they uniform or do they change along the bone or from the periphery to its center?
If there is no sensations,
Notice this with precision as well.
Now shifting your attention to the right hip joint,
Explore the bone of the upper leg.
The knee.
The two bones of the lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel and the bones of the feet.
And the toes,
One by one,
Starting with the big toe.
Now shift your attention to your left hip joint and the bone of the left upper leg.
The knee.
The bones of the lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel and the bones of the foot.
And the toes,
Starting with the big toe.
The heel.
Take some time to explore what is happening in the left foot.
Now let your attention come back naturally to any place where you would feel comfortable.
That might be the spine,
The chest,
The pelvis.
If you would like to explore further,
You could check whether from that area your attention can open further to include surrounding parts of the skeleton and the bones.
Let this be natural.
Do not push here.
And simply be curious how much you can connect with an overall perception of your skeleton as a living structure,
As the core of this body,
As a place where your attention can rest and deepen.
Maybe feel how the skeleton helps lighten the body.
How it helps muscles,
Tissue and organs to rest.
Or simply stay with any perception of the body that emerges for you at this moment.
Let any insights emerge,
Any understanding,
Sensation,
Feeling.
Spend as much time as you like in this deep presence.
When you are ready to end the meditation,
Simply let your eyes open.
And from this place of bodily presence,
Let yourself open to your surroundings.
Thank you for this moment of practice.
