Awareness Of The Senses: An Insight Meditation

The Buddha taught that the first foundation of mindfulness is awareness of the body. This guided meditation invites you to awaken to the present moment through the direct experience of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and knowing.

This practice may be enjoyed seated, standing, or as a walking meditation, allowing mindfulness to become part of your everyday experience.

Transcript

Welcome everybody, Thank you for joining me today. I'm going to offer you a body meditation. The Buddha taught the first foundation of mindfulness is mindfulness of the body, That everything can be known in this body through the senses, Through awareness of the senses. You'll find yourself in a posture that works well for you. You might be seated, You might be standing, You might be reclining. You can even do this with slow walking meditation. Whatever it is, Do that and find your place. If you're seated or standing or reclining, You might close your eyes. Otherwise, A soft, Gentle gaze downward. And begin. Just noticing there is a body. What is that like? There is a body. This body that has skin and muscle and tendons and bones and all of the organ systems. Becoming aware of this body at this time. It may have comforts or discomforts or sensations of pleasant or unpleasant. Yet for now, For this meditation, Is becoming aware that This body consents. Visual sensation, Hearing, Taste, Touch. Smell. The beginning with this sense of touch. Noticing the ways the body is touching whatever you're connected to. Furniture, Floor, Or the earth. You might notice, Where are the feet? The sensations in the bottoms of the feet, Touching whatever they're touching. Or the backs of the legs touching the furniture. Noticing sense of touch. What is that like? There may be a little pressure. Maybe vibration, A pulsing. Just notice the sense of touch wherever you notice it. Maybe it's where the tongue is resting gently in the mouth. The lips touching or the eyelids touching. This noticing touch. You might notice if the mind is telling a story about it's pleasant or it's not pleasant or why things feel the way they feel. Try to let that go. And simply notice the experience of touch. And then moving to visual perception. If your eyes are open, You might notice the quality of light, Colors. Something moving outside of you. And if your eyes are closed, There still is visual perception. Light and shadow, Movement. Behind the eyelids, Just notice. Then moving to sound. Just noticing what you hear. This is not going out to listen for something specifically. But more, Imagine just opening up the ears. Letting sound in. Sounds nearby. The sound of my voice. Or sounds further away. It's noticing sound. And now coming to the sense of smell. The presence or absence of smell. Is giving your attention to the sense of smell and seeing what's there. And now the same for taste. Maybe there's a lingering taste in the mouth from something you had earlier. Maybe not. Simply notice. And now once again, The sense of touch. A sense of visual perception. Sound. What's here? Smell. Taste. All of the senses can be known. By offering it your attention. And from the perspective of mindfulness practice, Consciousness itself is another sense. Because you're aware of each of these senses. The awareness of sight, Sound, Touch, Taste. Smell. All of it can be known. There is a body. Becoming aware of these senses is one of the quickest ways to become fully present, And you can do it anytime. Now bringing yourself back to breathing here. Just be here. There is a body. Thank you for being here.