The Whole Person Meditation

Most days, we live from the surface of ourselves. Our nervous system, our stored emotions, our energy, the deeper awareness underneath — all of it running, mostly without our knowing. This 22-minute practice walks you through six layers of the human system, using breath, movement, and sound, so each layer has a chance to be met. Done daily, the architecture begins to settle into a different baseline. Use this for whole-system reset, before something that matters, or any moment you want to come home to yourself.

Transcript

Welcome to the whole person practice, A walk through the architecture in your body. Six movements, One for each layer. We'll begin by finding a space where you can stand and where you can sit down. You will need both. A space where you can move and where you can be quiet. Your eyes will be closed for most of it. Headphones, If that helps you move inward. Knowing that there's nothing to fix in this practice and that there never is. There is only meeting what is. Meeting your nervous system, Meeting your body, Meet what is moving, Meet the field around you and in you. Meet whoever you have been being and meet the awareness that has been there the whole time. Let's begin. Find a comfortable seat to begin with, You might be on the floor or on a chair. Spine is tall but not stiff. Feet or bottom on the floor grounding into the earth. And the invitation is to close your eyes and if that feels uncomfortable to you maybe just soften your gaze. And we'll begin with the breath, The first layer. The nervous system finding its own rhythm. I'll count you through the first few and we'll begin by breathing in through the nose for one, Two, Three, Four, Five. And out slowly through the nose. Again breathe in two, Three, Four, Five. And out two, Three, Four, Five. In two, Three, Four, Five. Out two, Three, Four, Five. Stay with that rhythm on your own. Five in, Five out. The breath beginning to hold you. Coherence breath. Stay here, The body is reading the breath, The nervous system is beginning to listen. Each inhale drawing in new love and light and grounding energy. Each exhale a signal to your nervous system that we are not under threat right now. As you continue to breathe in for five and out for five know this is the foundation breath. The capacity to come home to coherence. And without this nothing else lands. Take one more long deep breath in and one more long breath out. Whatever your body needs to release is being released. The nervous system beginning to settle. Your inner architecture coming online. And you can either open your eyes or keep them closed as we move to layer two where we stand up. Feet hip width apart, Knees soft. Letting your arms hang. We are going to shake. The body has been holding patterns, Patterns that go back longer than you can remember. We give the body a chance to release. But before we shake take a moment standing on your feet feeling where your body is right now. Notice the places that feel tight. Maybe the places that are ready to move. The places that feel heavy. The places that feel quiet. And you don't need to know what's held there. You don't need to name it. Just notice. The body knows what it's been carrying and the shape will meet whatever is there. And we begin with a gentle bounce in the knees up and down. Easy. And now let the bounce become more of a shake. Let it move into your hips, Your belly, Your shoulders. Let your arms shake. Loose. Floppy. Like you're trying to shake something off your hands. Let your jaw shake. Open your mouth a little, Let it move. Let your head shake side to side or up and down. Or both. Letting everything go, No choreography. The body knows. Faster if it wants to. Slower if it wants to. Making any sounds if that wants to come to. Whatever your body needs to release, It is being released. And now let the shake start to slow. Slower. Smaller. And coming to stillness. Stand. Feet on the ground. Eyes can be soft or closed. Curious around what has moved. Notice what feels different in the body now than it did a moment ago. Now stay standing or come back to your seat, Whichever your body would prefer. And now we use sound to move what is held in the organs, In the tissues. The Taoist teaching, The healing sounds. Each sound you'll inhale through the nose. And then exhale on the sound, Long, Full, Letting the vibration move through you. And we start with the liver. The liver holds anger, Frustration, The charge, The emotional charge that gets stuck when we couldn't say what needed saying. So today we breathe in. And we let go. Inhale now. Exhale with the sound. Again, Inhale. Exhaling with the sound. One more time. Inhale. Exhale, Clearing the emotional charge. Now the heart. The heart holds grief and joy, Both. Everything the chest has been carrying. Inhale now. Exhale, Heart. Again, Inhale. Exhale, Heart. And now the kidneys, Deep, Low from the belly. The kidneys hold fear, The deep fear, And the exhaustion of carrying fear. Inhale deeply. Exhale. Exhale. Move to the lungs. The lungs hold sadness, The sadness that has had nowhere to go. Begin with an inhale. Exhale. Again, Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. And exhale the sound. Taking your own breath, Letting it do whatever it wants to do, Noticing whatever has moved, Has moved. And whatever didn't, Didn't. Both are fine. As we move into layer four, The energetic field, Bring your hands together at the centre of your chest. Palms touching in prayer position. Eyes closed or partially closed. And you've just released. Now we call home, We gather. The energy moving through you, Or the energy that you've leaked out into the world, We call it back in. And we call in the energy of coherence as we inhale deeply through the nose. Let your hands draw apart, Palms facing together as if you're opening a space that you've created. Open at your heart. On the inhale, Your hands are opening and as you exhale, You let your hands return to your chest. As if you're gathering the field back. Holding yourself. Inhaling, Your hands open. Exhaling, Your hands return at your own pace. Inhaling, Opening. Continuing on your own, Using the breath and the movement together. All the parts of you that you have misplaced or leaked out into the earth, Calling it back. The body learning and relearning how to hold itself. And as we enter into layer five, Stay seated. Eyes closed or partially closed. Relaxing your arms down, Now there's nothing to do. The version of you that's been working all day. The leader, The parent, The partner, The strategist, The achiever. Whichever version of self has been at the front, Please let them rest. You are not asking them to leave. You're not getting rid of anything, You're letting them put the weight of being who they have been down. Just for a moment. The body is regulated. The charge has moved. The field is held. And there is nothing right now that identity needs to defend. So let it rest. There's no version of you that has to be performed in this moment. No one's asking anything of you here. And layer six. The body is here. The breath is moving. Identity at rest. What might be left is awareness itself. Notice that you are aware. Not aware of something, Just aware. There is something noticing. There has always been something noticing. The thoughts that pass through. The sensations of the body. The breath coming and going. Something is watching all of it. And that noticing is the witness. You don't have to do anything to be the witness. You already are. You always have been. Staying with your own breath now. Stay with the awareness. You have just walked through the architecture. Six layers, One body. The nervous system settled. The somatic body released. The emotional charge moved through sound. The field held. Identity softened. Consciousness available. This is what is underneath the leader. This is what is underneath everything you do. And when you are ready, Take a deep breath in. Followed by a long breath out. Wiggle your fingers. Wiggle your toes. And when it feels right, Open your eyes. Welcome back and thanks for practicing with me today.