2016 Post-Election Meditation

A simple practice that begins laying down and bringing attention to bodily sensations and ends with kindly awareness of thoughts and emotions. Recorded live with some background noise.

Transcript

Okay,

So first,

As you're settling into laying on the floor,

Just noticing what it's like.

How is it to just surrender yourself to gravity?

And then just taking three very long,

Deep breaths,

Really filling the whole of the belly with the breath.

And then as you breathe out,

Just allowing all of that air out.

You could even exaggerate the out-breath by pulling the navel up and in,

Just to make sure that you get all that stale air out of the lungs.

You can make any sound you'd like on the exhale as well,

Anything that helps you to relax further into the earth here.

Ahhhh.

So we're laying on the floor,

On the first floor of this building,

But underneath us is the earth.

So down through the foundations of the building.

What's actually supporting us here is this planet earth that we live on,

That we share with all other beings.

So just trusting the planet to hold us here in this space.

We don't have to tense against that pull of gravity,

But we can just really allow the earth to take the weight of the body fully.

Just allowing the breath here to bring a sense of ease and release.

Just taking a moment to tune into all of the places where the body is actually in touch with the cushions beneath you.

Maybe a sense of pressure there.

Just feeling into those sensations directly.

And then on the next in-breath,

We're just bringing our awareness now into the head,

And in particular the very top of the head.

And we're just noticing what's there,

What sensations are there.

And it could be that you're not in touch with any sensations,

And that's fine as well.

But you can just get curious about sensations or the absence of sensations.

And then bringing your awareness down to the sides of the head.

Any sensations there?

Around the ears,

A hairline,

If you have one.

And then round to the back of the head,

Particularly paying attention to sensations where the head meets the cushion.

Seeing if you can't notice any unnecessary holding here,

And then using the breath to help release.

Let that head go completely.

And then coming round to the front of the head,

The face.

So much is held here,

So much of our inner emotional world is expressed here.

So just notice what sensations there are in the forehead,

Eyebrows,

Eyelids,

Eyes,

Cheeks.

The nose,

You can sense here the breathing,

You're breathing through the nose.

You might even feel air in the sinuses,

Under the eyes.

The lips,

If you'd like to encourage a sense of openness and release in the mouth,

You can just have the lips slightly parted and the tongue resting in the top of the mouth.

And then bringing awareness into the jaw,

A place where we often hold tension,

Seeing if you can't feel into any sensations in the jaw,

However it is.

And then becoming aware of the whole face,

Just allowing the face to be completely open and natural here.

And then coming down into the throat,

You might be able to sense sensations of breathing here,

Deep in the throat.

And also sensations in the muscles,

Tendons,

Skin of the neck.

Maybe the collar of a shirt rubbing here,

Something subtle as you breathe.

And then aware of the shoulders,

The tops of the shoulders,

Sensations in the sides and back of the shoulders.

Maybe allowing the shoulders to fall down and away from the ears and into the floor.

And then aware of the arms falling out of the shoulders,

So noticing any sensations in the upper arms,

Elbows,

And lower arms.

And if you notice a sensation as we go through the body that's unpleasant or painful,

Then the invitation is to just get curious about that sensation.

And any tensing that might be happening around that sensation,

So just easing into it,

Leaning into it with a kind curiosity.

Coming now into the wrists and hands,

And fingers,

Noticing any sensations here.

Often our hands are quite busy,

So you might be aware of a lot of energy tingling or throbbing in the hands.

Just allowing your awareness to dwell in that,

While also allowing the hands to be at rest.

And then coming back up to the shoulders,

Particularly that spot between the shoulder blades at the very base of the neck.

And in your own time and in your own way,

You can draw the awareness down the back,

Moving from the upper back to the middle back and into the lower back,

Just noticing any sensations as you move down each vertebrae in the spine or muscles on either side of the spine or the skin there.

Particularly noticing how sensations change as you breathe.

Completely inhabiting the back with the breath.

And then coming round to the front of the body.

And just noticing the rising and falling of the abdomen with the breath,

Allowing the breath to gently massage the soft tissues here.

Noticing any sensations in the belly.

And then dropping down into the pelvis.

Noticing sensations in the pelvic floor.

And then the hips.

And down into the thighs.

Inhabiting the knees.

And then dropping the awareness down into the calves,

Noticing any sensations in the muscles of the calves and also the shins,

The fronts of the lower legs.

The ankles.

And finally the feet.

Allowing awareness to drop right down into the feet with sensations at the top,

Sides,

Bottoms of the feet and the toes.

So the body,

A whole world of sensations just waiting to be discovered,

To be dwelt in and with.

So on your next in-breath,

I just invite you to come into the heart center.

I'm just going to explore this area a bit.

So feeling the lungs expanding,

Contracting on each breath.

And just noticing any sensations here.

And then connecting imaginatively with the heart itself.

This amazing organ that keeps us alive.

Pumping all that fresh oxygen that comes in with the breath throughout the body.

And seeing if we can connect with a sense of appreciation here,

Tuning into the wisdom of the heart.

And in particular,

Seeing if you can't drop awareness into the back of the heart.

Just really letting the heart rest back in the rib cage.

Rest back in your being.

So you're holding it fully here.

Fully with whatever is here now.

Whatever emotions are held here.

Meeting them fully with love and curiosity.

And then just remembering your intention for why you came here today.

What was it that got you up this morning and brought you here to want to meditate?

Whatever it is,

Just letting that intention meet how you are just now.

Bringing the two things together fully in the heart.

And as you lay here breathing,

Just allowing that intention to expand outwards from the heart center to fill the whole of your being.

So fully owning and inhabiting that heart wish.

And the whole of yourself behind that intention.

Nothing left out.

Just being with the whole body breathing now,

All of the sensations coming and going as you breathe here.

Just taking a moment now to notice how you are.

Just how you are just now.

In particular if anything is different from when you first laid down.

And in a moment I'm going to ring the bell.

And in your own time,

In your own way,

Transition into a seated posture.

We're going to go right into a seated meditation from the body scan.

So just taking your time to transition into a comfortable seated meditation posture.

Please go for it.

So closing the eyes as you feel ready.

And again as we've been doing,

Just noticing what it's like to be sitting here now,

Especially after the body scan.

How is it?

How are you?

Again just beginning with some deep breaths into the belly just to allow yourself to arrive in your seated posture.

Coming in through the points of contact with the floor and the lower body.

Feet,

Knees,

Sitting bones,

Thighs,

Calves,

Anywhere where you're in touch with that sense of pressure under the body as the body meets the Earth.

And then also aware of the body rising up into space.

Opening to sounds all around us as a way to help us locate ourselves in space.

Getting fully here,

Fully taking your seat,

Your place in this space and in this moment.

Session.

And then beginning to connect with the breathing.

So we're always breathing,

But we're very seldom in touch with the actual direct experience of the breath.

So just allowing yourself now in this absorbed space,

Embodied space,

To just come into relationship with those direct sensations.

Quite simply,

Getting curious about how it is.

ADAHAM So as the breath comes and goes,

There'll be sensations,

There'll be movement and temperature,

There'll be a sense of how long or short the breath is,

Whether it's deep or shallow,

Fine or coarse.

You may find it pleasant and you may also find it unpleasant,

Or you may find it neutral as an experience.

But whatever's happening,

This is what you've got,

This is your experience just now of the breath.

Can you meet it with kindness,

Curiosity?

And as you do so,

Allowing the mind and the breath to become one,

Just getting as absorbed as you can in the breath.

I'm tomorrow.

So allowing now the breath to drop you deeper into the body.

So just broadening your awareness to take in the fullness of the body just now.

The whole texture and fabric of sensations coming and going as you breathe.

Whatever they are,

However they appear.

Just being with the fullness of your experience just now.

Bringing as much kindness to that experience as you can.

Whatever it is.

And then turning the mind towards the thoughts that are arising.

So when we meditate we're not trying to suppress thinking.

Instead we're just trusting that the more that we abide in the breath,

In the body,

In felt sensations,

The more thoughts will just become like any other sensation.

So we don't have to believe them,

We don't have to buy into them,

We don't have to make a me out of them.

We don't even have to reject them.

They can just come and go like any other sensation.

So just beginning to get curious about thinking in this open space.

Noticing thoughts coming and going.

Could even meet them with curiosity.

Just interested in that habit,

Whatever it might be.

And if at any point you get lost or confused,

Just always using the breath as an anchor to come back to to support the awareness,

The steadiness in the practice.

And then as and when you feel ready,

Opening again to thoughts.

OK?

This same quality of awareness,

This same curiosity to our emotions.

Often thoughts and emotions are all jumbled up in a big,

Confusing ball of messiness,

So we don't have to try and parse it all out.

But if you are aware of any emotions just now,

You could do the same with those,

Just noticing how they are,

Where they are in the body,

How they thrive,

How they change,

How they pass.

Whatever's there,

Just abiding with kindness,

Love,

Curiosity,

Interest.

Bringing yourself fully into relationship with that emotion,

Without getting caught up in it or believing the stories it tells you.

The last few moments of this meditation,

Just simply coming back to the breath.

You can drop anything that was going on just then.

Whatever happened is what happened.

So just coming back to the breath now,

To the body,

To the sensations.

Opening to sound.

You could even open the eyes gently,

Resting them on the floor in front of you with a soft focus.

Leaning back in the posture to encourage a sense of non-efforting,

Especially if your habit is to be quite willful and driven,

It can help to rest back a bit in the posture at this stage in the practice.

And even turning the hands,

Palms upward.

Just again,

Encouraging receptivity here,

Surrender,

Letting go of anything that took place in the practice.

And just trusting that whatever's happened,

Your intention is enough to have an effect.

So just spending a few moments now being completely open to the totality of experience in this moment.

Knowing that you are alive and ultimately okay.

And just being open to the totality of experience.

Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose.

Instead,

Create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it.

And just being open to the totality of experience in this moment,

Just being open to the totality of experience in this moment,

Just being open to the entirety of experience in this moment,

Just being open to the entirety of experience in this moment,

Just being open to the entirety of experience in this moment,

Just being open to the entirety of experience in this moment,

Reviews

It was a very good body scan, since this was live the coughing is expected. However, it is very difficult to take the stress of the election away.