Open Awareness For Circles

This meditation is designed to be used as a group meditation in Insight Timer Circles. The recording begins with an introduction as to what to expect in the session and invites participants to welcome each other and acknowledge the group. It continues with an introduction and then goes into an open awareness practice that is a little over 10 minutes long. The meditation closes by inviting the participants to share about their experience and to thank themselves and one another.

Transcript

Hello.

Good morning,

Good afternoon,

Good evening,

Wherever you are.

I'm Ryan and welcome to Our Mindfulness Daily Practice and this is a guided meditation recording designed to be used for Insight Timer circles.

So feel free if you're in a group meditation now to have a look and see who's in this meditation with you and maybe take a moment to say hello to introduce yourselves to one another,

To greet each other,

Maybe say where you're from.

What brings you here today?

So we all practice for a variety of different reasons.

So just feeling free to connect into that intention.

Why am I here today?

What am I hoping that this meditation is going to help me with?

And maybe not even this meditation,

But my meditation practice in general.

What do I hope is going to happen to me for my meditation practice?

So feeling free to write that,

To share it with everybody who's here in this group guided meditation as well.

And so maybe seeing if there's some commonalities.

Or maybe there are some differences in why we are here to practice.

So just recognizing that,

Acknowledging it,

Acknowledging each other.

And so today's practice,

We will be doing an open awareness meditation.

So open awareness is a little different from some of the other kinds of meditations we may do in mindfulness practice.

Some of the quintessential meditations rely on us fixing our attention in a particular place.

And so open awareness maybe begins this way,

But through time as the meditation goes on,

We begin to do exactly what it's called.

We begin to open our awareness into everything that's happening in and around us in the present moment.

And so there are advantages to each of the different types of meditation,

Whether we're doing focused attention,

Focusing the attention on one place,

Or open awareness,

Simply being aware to what's happening in the present moment as it comes in.

And so one of these advantages perhaps of the open awareness practice is that it's something that we can use as we go throughout our daily lives.

Mindfulness practice is kind of like the gym for the mind.

So focused attention is just training this single pointed awareness so that we get used to bringing attention to one particular thing.

And as we do it,

As we notice our mind wandering,

We just keep letting go of the mind wandering and coming back.

And so focused attention is a little different from open awareness in that open awareness is a way for us to train ourselves to be aware of everything in our experience in this present moment.

So you'll notice that all kinds of things are happening in the present moment.

Even right now,

As you're sitting here,

Listening to this recording and being here with everybody else that's here,

Just noticing the things that you can feel and see,

And hear,

And even maybe smell and taste.

Like what do you observe in this present moment?

So maybe just taking a moment here and now to notice what's happening in the present.

What kind of inputs are you getting from your body?

So you can have your eyes open or closed.

So if you have your eyes open,

Noticing there is a lot of information coming in from our eyes.

Human beings are very visual creatures.

So the things that we see can begin to dominate our awareness.

And so this is one of the reasons why we may meditate from time to time with our eyes closed because it can be a bit overwhelming.

We may through attention to sight,

The other senses may not be as clear or as apparent.

And so if there's something you're noticing,

Feeling free to write that in the chat.

What is it that you find in this moment?

Through touch,

Maybe you feel your cushion,

Your chair pressing against your body.

Maybe you can feel the air moving through the room.

Maybe you can notice clothing touching your body.

So all of these things that are happening in the present,

We have so many inputs that we don't necessarily tune into.

They just become part of this mundane background of our awareness.

So is it possible to start to truly notice what's happening in the present moment?

And besides touch,

What about hearing?

What about sight?

And can you notice that your ears don't simply hear raw sound,

That your mind without your consent instantly decodes the things you hear.

You hear a fan noise,

You hear a dog barking,

You hear a jackhammer,

You hear the beeping of a car.

So all of these things,

We don't just hear them as raw sounds like the way a baby would hear sounds.

We instantly decode them.

And similarly with our eyes,

With our sense of smell,

Everything becomes labeled by the brain.

And so this is part of what the open awareness practice is.

It is about simply noting what is happening in the present moment.

So as we go through the practice,

You may notice things that are coming up.

And so would encourage you,

If you like,

You can of course just keep your awareness open.

But sometimes it helps us to organize our experiences.

So you hear a dog barking in the background,

And you can just label it as sound.

And after labeling it,

Letting it go.

You may notice a pain in your shoulder that begins to dominate your awareness and this could be touch,

Or tightness.

Or you could even label it as pain if that's appropriate for you.

So just letting that one word,

Generalized kind of label,

No need to be too specific about it as things come up in this practice.

And of course,

There is one other present moment experience which we haven't talked about yet and that is thought.

So thoughts will come up as we practice.

So the idea of this practice is seeing if you can just observe thoughts as any other present moment experience.

So just like sounds as sounds arrive into our field of awareness and then pass away.

Seeing if you can be the same with thoughts,

It can be tempting for us to follow our thoughts.

Our thoughts can be very leading and want to bring us places.

So instead of going somewhere with your thoughts,

Instead,

Just noticing that they're here.

Thought,

Labeling it like this.

Thinking.

And then letting go and coming back to this kind of place of neutral awareness where we can allow whatever it is in our experience to come up.

So that's the idea of this open awareness practice and we find that there actually is some application in other kinds of conditions as well that open awareness practice can be helpful,

Especially for depression,

As it does leave this kind of choice out of the picture.

And so whatever is coming up,

Just being with it,

Having that observation of what's here and then letting it go and then seeing what's coming up next.

So instead of being so focused,

We're opening awareness to whatever's coming up in our experience.

So let's go ahead and get into our practice.

So feeling free to sit in whatever way is going to be comfortable for you.

Would encourage you to adopt a posture that combines relaxation with alertness,

Sitting in a dignified way.

And noticing,

Perhaps the connection between the body and the mind as we sit in a dignified way it's different from when we sit in a slouched way,

In a way that isn't so determined in a way that may not reflect our deepest intentions of seeing if we can reflect that deepest intention with the posture of the body itself,

Our determination,

Our focus,

Our desire,

Whatever it may be,

What we want to get out of the practice to be reflected here in the posture.

So as we sit up straight and tall,

Maybe letting the shoulders rest down and back,

Hands resting on the knees or in the lap,

Or wherever feels comfortable for you.

As we begin to drop into stillness.

So just letting the body rest in whatever posture or position you're in now.

And so seeing if you can remain still,

Remain inactive,

And just allow the experience to come to you.

So of course,

There's always some intention before movement if we choose to move.

So the idea is not to have some preconceived idea as to what's going to happen next.

Just letting the present moment arrive.

Being receptive to everything that's happening in your experience.

And so maybe to get started,

We can focus on something that feels grounding,

Something that we can use as an anchor in our practice so that if our mind begins to become too active,

That the experience of open awareness becomes overwhelming in any way,

Knowing that we can always come back to this place of grounding where we began.

So maybe it's the sensation of the seat,

The cushion,

The chair,

Feeling the pressure as it presses against your body.

Maybe it's sensations in the hands and the feet.

Or maybe it's following the movement of the body with the breath.

So even though we sit here in stillness,

Noticing that the body always continues moving as it can't remain perfectly still,

As we exchange gases with our external environment through breathing.

So wherever you've chosen your point of focus,

Your home base for today,

Just letting your attention rest there for a few moments.

And then as you feel ready,

Beginning to expand your awareness away from this point.

So noticing the body as a whole,

Noticing all of the inputs that are coming into the body through this sense of touch.

And even awareness of the body that doesn't involve touch,

Noticing the position of your head on your body,

Your shoulders,

Where are your hands?

What about your feet?

So even though there may not be direct contact in any of these parts of the body,

You know where they are.

Something inside of you has this awareness of where each part of my body is located right now.

So tuning in to the entire body,

From the crown of the head to the tips of the toes.

Noticing this body sitting here in its entirety.

And seeing if there are sensations that come up in the body that grab your attention.

Maybe the movement of the breath is most obvious.

Maybe there's a strong sensation of pinching in one of your knees that wants to or feels like it wants to dominate your awareness.

So noticing that,

Touching it,

Putting out the welcome mat for your experience in this moment.

Air moving on the body.

Moisture.

Tingling.

Itching.

So each time you notice something,

Just gently giving it this label,

Whatever label comes to you.

And letting go and seeing what comes up next.

And then expanding our awareness to the field of sounds.

So not trying to hear anything,

Just noticing what's already here.

What's arriving moment to moment.

Sounds in your room.

The sounds outside of the room.

Even the sound of my voice as part of your present moment experience.

So noticing what's coming up in the body in the soundscape.

And then as you feel ready,

Including everything that's happening in your experience,

Noticing this present moment in all of its fullness.

The sensations in the body,

The sounds arriving on the ears,

The smells,

The tastes.

If your eyes are open,

Noticing the things that you see,

The colors.

If your eyes are closed,

Noticing that you still have some awareness and noticing the thoughts.

Thoughts coming and going like clouds floating through the sky.

A cloud is here and then it just drifts through.

It's gone.

So noticing,

Maybe giving these little one word notes,

Noting your experience in this present moment as you open your awareness to everything happening here and now.

And seeing everything.

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And so there's no need to check if the meditation has ended yet.

Don't worry,

There will be a bell to signify the end.

So staying with it.

Noting what's happening.

Noting any anticipation you may have,

Any boredom or curiosity about when this meditation is going to end.

Just being with your thoughts,

Your emotions,

Your bodily sensations,

What you hear,

What you see,

What you smell.

Being with the entirety of this experience.

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So congratulations for having made it through this practice today.

So maybe taking a moment to thank yourself for having made the time to do it,

To be here.

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Knowing that you can take this awareness with you.

That practicing open awareness regularly is a way that makes it easier for you throughout your daily life to drop into the richness of each and every moment of your experience.

So remembering that as you go through the day,

You can always drop into this kind of awareness.

So maybe taking a moment to thank everyone else who has been on this meditation with you.

And if anything interesting has come up today in this meditation,

By all means,

Taking a moment to share what happened,

What was most present for you.

So feeling free to continue talking about whatever it is that you want to talk about.

Leaving this this little chat forum up for as long as useful is useful for you because here on Insight Timer Circles,

Once the meditation is over,

The circle or the meditation space,

Let's call it,

Stays open.

So even when this recording's over,

You can continue chatting for a little while.

And then once you close it,

It's gone.

And so that's one of the really cool things about it is really like how circles is present moment kind of thing.

So whatever you've written in here doesn't go back to the main circle.

So not to say you can't share in the main circle after this is over,

But we just encourage you to feel free to stay in this safe space as long as you like.

So thank you for joining.

I hope to see you again soon.

I hope to hear from you.

I hope you're doing well.

I'm wishing you the best.

And until next time,

Bye bye.

Reviews

I'm so happy you have created meditation for circles I really like listening to you talk before meditation 💛 thank you 💛