So yes,
Hello,
Hello.
Today we're going to continue exploring posture and relaxation by looking at body awareness.
And there's a sweet spot in meditation,
Sort of like the Goldilocks zone between trying too hard and not trying at all.
The classic metaphor in meditation is it's like a stringed instrument.
If the strings are too tight,
The strings might break.
And if the strings are too loose,
You won't get a nice melodious beautiful tone.
This balance point between too tight and too loose is constantly changing,
Moving and floating.
It's not static or fixed.
So our practice is to become aware of this point inside each of us between too tight,
Too loose,
And to find our own personal Goldilocks zone.
It will be different for each of us and it will subtly shift over time,
Over our lifetime,
And it will actually shift during the course of any single meditation session.
We use our self-awareness of our body to notice when we're trying too hard or when we're distracted and drifting off.
Finding this subtly changing balance point between effort and ease is what we call resiliency.
It's one of the three aspects of posture,
Along with being upright and aligned and relaxed,
Then resilient,
Finding that that balance point.
So it's that balance between effort and ease.
A useful analogy might be the balance between effort and ease of driving a car.
When you press the accelerator pedal,
The car gets moving.
Once the car is moving at the speed you want,
You can ease off the gas pedal to prevent further acceleration and drive smoothly on.
Similarly,
While meditating,
We apply effort to activate our calming and concentration muscle,
Finding our breath.
Once we're settled and focused on our breath,
We can ease off the effort a bit.
Resiliency is one of those three aspects.
During meditation,
We use body awareness to search for that correct balance of effort in each moment,
Being aware of what we're feeling inside and what we're thinking,
And then adjusting as necessary.
Crisp awareness and vibrancy of the sensations of your breath fading or becoming a dull background sensation of which you are hardly aware,
Then apply a bit more effort to gently ease your attention and focus back to your breath.
Over time,
This process of adjustment resiliency becomes second nature and happens automatically and then spills forth into your regular life.
Doing this can lead to some fascinating insights.
One of these is how even sensations that seem really permanent are actually constantly changing.
This insight can come as a huge relief,
Especially if we're dealing with any kind of physical or emotional discomfort.
The expression,
This too shall pass.
You can actually watch that happen.
One of the wonderful benefits of meditation is if you direct your attention onto any sensation with enough clarity and enough patience,
It can start to break up.
It's like it gets all fuzzy and flowy like river bubbles.
So let's float down the river of this thing called our body and see where we go.
Having fun exploring our body's sensations.
Okay.
Coming now to sit.
Entering into our meditation.
Setting your intention to be here,
Present and alert.
Eyes closed or open.
Whichever you prefer.
Settling into your favorite meditation posture.
Upright,
Aligned,
Relaxed,
And resilient.
Sitting as tall as you can with the least amount of effort.
Finding the balance between effort and ease.
Beginning with three deep calming breaths.
Breathing in fully through your nose and exhaling completely through your mouth.
Making a soft sigh.
Gently closing your mouth.
Continuing to breathe in and out through your nose.
With each out breath,
Releasing any tension,
Cares,
Or worries.
Letting them melt away.
Softening your forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Mouth,
Neck,
And shoulders.
Arms,
Hands,
Chest,
Lower back.
Releasing your belly.
Soft.
Hips,
Pelvis,
Groin,
Legs,
Feet.
Breathing in,
Aware of your whole body.
Breathing out,
Calming your whole body.
Checking in with your mental posture.
At ease,
Open,
Calm.
Nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing you need to do.
Nothing you need to fix.
Not concerned about any distractions.
Whatever is going on in and around you,
Everything is welcome.
Dropping deeper and deeper into our body.
Exploring the different sensations within our body.
Letting our awareness move freely through our body.
With purposeful wandering.
Investigating the touch of your clothes.
The air on your skin.
The contact between those parts of your body and the surface that supports them.
The seat.
The ground.
The temperature of the air.
The sounds.
The feeling of your muscles working to hold your body upright.
The pulse of your heart.
Your breath in and out.
And perhaps you may find regions of fatigue,
Soreness,
Even pain.
Tingling or itching.
Allowing yourself to be curious about what's happening in your body as your attention moves through it.
And when your attention lands on a particular sensation,
Imagine you're feeling it for the very first time.
Now choose one sensation or set of sensations to pay attention to and make that your point of focus for this meditation.
See if you can get as clear as possible about what you're feeling.
Zooming your attention deep into it.
Not judging or criticizing it.
Or trying to decide if you like it or don't like it.
It isn't important to understand it intellectually.
You simply want to feel it.
If it helps you stay focused on a feeling,
You can use a marker like the word feel.
Repeating feel at a relaxed pace as you rest your awareness on that particular sensation.
Feel.
Feel.
Feel.
If and when your mind wanders,
Which it will because that's just what minds like to do.
Notice it wandered.
Oh,
My mind wandered to inner talk.
Or I just got lost in an image rich daydream.
And after noticing,
Returning again to feel in a good natured way.
Smiling to yourself for noticing.
Not judging or criticizing yourself for becoming distracted.
Accepting it's completely normal.
Every time you notice your mind wandered,
You return to your sensation or your breath.
Your meditation muscles get a little stronger.
See how deep into the particular body sensation you chose,
You can go.
And as you observe it,
And feel it,
See if it changes in even the smallest way.
If as you're doing this,
A particular sensation gets too intense,
You can always move your attention somewhere else in the body.
That's a bit more neutral.
Perhaps the palms of your hands,
Or your feet on the ground,
Or your seat on the cushion or chair.
Feel how alive your body is.
How the breath comes and goes.
How sensations might tingle and froth.
How they come together,
And then spread out again.
You also might notice some sensations are not changing.
They're mostly stable.
This too can be a wonderful thing to observe.
If you find something solid and still,
See if you can sync up with that stillness.
Dropping deeper and deeper into the solidity,
The stillness,
Becoming extra still.
All of this is feel.
Feel.
Good.
Clear.
At ease.
Open.
Face soft.
Shoulders relaxed.
Belly warm.
Whatever is changing can ease you.
Whatever is not changing can stabilize you.
And perhaps both are happening at once.
You're inside your personal still point of the turning world.
Stay with feeling your body.
Feel.
Now,
Let go of all this effort.
Doing nothing at all.
No longer even trying to meditate.
Meditation gives us deeper awareness of our body.
We start to feel more comfortable in our own skin.
Beginning to trust our body's natural intelligence.
Learning that our real identity is deeper than all these sensations.
When the bell chimes,
Easing your awareness from breath to sound and vibration.
Staying with the theme of feeling and feeling how the mantra resonates throughout your body.
Nam-myoho-ren-ge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-ren-ge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-ren-ge-kyo.
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Nam-myoho-ren-ge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-ren-ge-kyo.
Returning again to breath.
Breathing in,
I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know I am breathing out.
In.
Breathing in,
Aware of my whole body.
Breathing out,
Calming my whole body.
Calming.
Breathing in,
Smiling to my whole body.
Breathing out,
Easing my whole body.
Smiling.
Easing.
Slowly and gradually beginning to emerge from your meditation.
Releasing,
Relaxing your meditation posture.
Wiggling your toes and your fingers.
Taking a deep breath in and stretching your arms up in a nice big stretch.
And as you lower your arms,
Letting out a sigh.
Rubbing your legs.
And gently rocking side to side,
Slowly and gently to bring some motion back into your body.
Taking it up slowly.
Reaching behind to your lower back and giving your lower back a massage.
Sliding your hands around to your lower belly.
And gently holding your belly,
Offering your affirmations of loving kindness metta to yourself.
Beginning with,
I am well.
Sliding your hands over your heart.
Repeating,
I am happy,
Loved and loving.
Crossing your arms,
Putting your hands on your opposite shoulders,
Giving yourself a hug.
As you lightly stroke down your arm from shoulder to elbow a few times.
Repeating,
I am safe,
At home,
In my body,
With my breath.
Caressing your face,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks,
Your jaw.
Through your hair,
Over your head,
Around to the back of your neck.
Pausing to give your neck and shoulders a massage.
And hands back to your heart.
To your belly.
Repeating,
I am peaceful and at ease.
And thank yourself for coming today.
Giving yourself this gift of self-care,
Relaxation.
And being able to share it together in community.
And all the things you had to choose from,
You chose self-care and community.
Healing.
Compassion.
Love.
Take these good feelings with you into the rest of your day,
And rest of your week.
Rubbing the palms of your hands together,
Warming them.
Lightly cupping them over your eyes.
With your next in-breath,
Opening your eyes into your hands.
And as you breathe out,
Slowly lowering your hands.
Thank you everyone.
