This is a Central Channel guided meditation,
Led by Dr.
Reggie Ray,
Spiritual director of the Dharma Ocean Foundation.
In this practice,
We rest in the space of the Central Channel and open to the vastness we discover there.
It builds on previous guided meditations that Reggie has offered in this series for Insight Timer.
Okay,
So we're going to do 12 breaths into the lower belly,
And then I'm going to teach you a little bit of meditation posture.
So we're going to do this sitting up.
So once again,
Just to remind you,
Medium to full in-breath into the lower belly,
Very gentle,
Slow,
And then empty out,
Empty out,
Empty out,
Empty out,
Empty out,
And squeeze the lower belly down until it's practically zero.
And I will just give you a few tips,
Which you've already heard,
But just to remind you.
Okay,
So 12 breaths,
Please begin.
On the out-breath,
You can pull up on your perineum,
Squeeze your anal sphincter,
Pull up on the genital region,
Tighten that pelvic floor and breathe out,
Empty,
Empty,
Empty,
Empty,
Pulling the pubic bone back toward the spine.
On the out-breath.
If you get done before me,
Just do a few more.
Okay.
And then let's all do one more together.
At the end of the out-breath,
Empty,
Empty,
Empty,
Empty,
And then even when there's no more breath,
Empty a little bit more,
And then hold your breath out just for a few seconds until it's uncomfortable,
And then breathe in.
Okay,
So one more breath altogether.
And then just breathe naturally,
Putting your awareness in your body,
Feeling the energetic flow through your limbs,
Your torso,
Your head,
The prana or the life force flowing more freely through your nadis,
Your channels,
Bright energy,
Not solid,
But very bright,
Very dynamic.
And let that be your focus of attention right now.
It's the energy flowing through your energy channels,
Your nadis.
And feel how steady it is.
It's not empty alone.
It's emptiness that is very alive,
Very dynamic,
And incredibly steady.
Okay,
So we're going to do one more set of 12-fold lower belly breathing.
This time your lower belly is warm.
So just a reminder,
Keep your awareness between your navel and your perineum during this practice.
Keep it there on the in-breath and the out-breath.
Don't let it travel up to your heart or your throat or your head.
Keep your attention in the middle of the lower belly.
Okay,
So 12 more breaths in the lower belly,
Medium to full in-breath,
Slow,
Gentle,
And then very full exhalation,
Again slow and steady,
And emptying out,
This time try to empty out 100% of the breath in the lower belly.
Okay,
So please begin 12 breaths.
Pulling up on the perineum and the out-breath.
Tightening and pulling up.
Pulling the front of your lower belly back toward the spine on the out-breath.
In-breath.
In-breath.
And again,
If you finished before me,
Just do a few more.
And then once again,
Let's do one all together,
And this time empty,
Empty out,
And keep emptying beyond the breath,
And then hold the breath out,
And this time look into your body.
Look into the awareness of your body while you're holding your breath out,
And you especially can look into the lower belly and see what you see.
Okay,
One breath all together.
Totally relax your body and begin to breathe naturally.
And then let's put our awareness along our back line in the central channel area.
We're just laying our awareness along our back line from our tailbone up along our spine just inside the body to the back of the head.
And we're leaning our somatic feeling back into that back line.
Stay back in the space.
Don't come forward.
And touching the openness there.
And relaxing into it.
And then we're going to come up to our palate,
Breathing in through our nostrils,
And noticing where the breath lands at the back of the throat and the palate,
Feeling that coolness.
It's very empty,
It's very open,
And it's cool at the same time.
And then we're going to open our awareness behind our palate,
Opening the back of our head,
Extending our awareness behind,
Opening behind us,
Opening,
Opening,
Opening,
Behind,
Back.
And see how far does your awareness open behind your head.
How far back can you feel?
Let go,
Let go,
Let go,
Let go backward,
Let go open.
When anything comes up,
Let go and move behind it further back.
And let your whole self surrender into that open,
Vast space.
Give yourself permission to just dissolve into it,
And open to infinity behind you.
And let your whole self surrender into it,
And open to infinity behind you.
Okay.
Okay.
And then we're going to come back.
And just be in your body and see how it is right now.
Be empty.
Feel what you're feeling,
But let it happen within the huge space,
The vast space of the Soma.
There's the room,
There's the light,
Periodic raindrops,
There are all the people sitting,
Breathing,
All the colors.
But meantime there is this enormous ocean of stillness.
This is our true nature,
It's who we are.
And we can rest in it to our heart's content,
Making room for everything.
Okay.
Just rest back.
Rest along the central channel.
And if you start thinking,
Just come back to the back line.
You can't be in the back line and think at the same time.
Let go of the thinking and come into the utter peace and openness of the back line.
Okay.
In the primordial space of the Soma,
Which is the primordial space of reality,
There is no anxiety,
There's no fear,
There's no paranoia,
There's no anger,
There's no neediness,
There's just an absolute openness that is completely confident,
Endless,
Joyful,
About everything.
Freedom.
That we've always sought.
It's already there.
Please continue this practice as long as you like.
