Take a moment to settle into a posture that will allow you to be relaxed and reposed,
But at the same time alert and focused.
So by allowing the spine to stretch upwards,
That will help create the alertness,
And relaxing down from that upwardly stretching spine will help create the ease and relaxation.
And just take a moment to let the body settle.
And enjoy the stillness of the body,
The stillness that comes from really accepting the way the body feels,
Moment by moment.
And be aware that there are six senses operating.
At any given moment,
You may be pulled towards a sensation in your body,
Or you may be pulled towards a sound,
Or a thought,
Or perhaps a visual impression.
We're going to take as our object of meditation just one small piece of your experience,
Which is the sensations that arise within your body.
So ignore the other senses.
And if you find yourself pulled into thinking,
Or hearing,
Or seeing,
Gently return.
Return to the sensations in your body.
Allow your awareness to freely float within the body.
And get a sense that the awareness can circulate within the body without being fixated.
And if you find that you're pulled into one particular area where you tend to stay,
If you have a discomfort there or a strong sensation,
Then let the awareness circulate within that smaller area.
Move around in little ways.
And just feel the body.
Two arms.
Really make contact with them.
Two legs.
The head.
The torso.
The face.
All connected,
An integrated volume of feeling space.
And keep your awareness circulating within that space,
Experiencing with precision and awareness any and all sensations that arise.
The sensations may be of physical origin,
Or they may be caused by the functioning of your body.
If you have an illness,
Or if you're hungry or tired,
That will cause sensations.
Or the sensations may be associated with emotions.
If you're irritated and impatient,
There will be tensions,
Pressures throughout the body.
Open up to them.
Observe them.
Let them be.
And keep your awareness circulating and moving within that space.
The body hold on to the clients'.
But as soon as you find you've been pulled away into one of the other senses,
Gently return to the feeling body and observe how the other senses have impact there.
Experiment with resolving each moment at the primordial level of pure feeling by bringing the qualities of alertness and allowingness to the flow of feeling.
And just for a little while,
Let go of thinking as a coping mechanism.
Now,
As you do this,
It might happen that you're not aware of the other senses.
That you have uncomfortable sensations,
That your body feels very solid,
Congealed,
Unpleasant,
And that's perfectly okay.
It doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong.
By experiencing that discomfort,
That solidity with precision and acceptance,
Letting the awareness move through it,
Deep blockages will percolate to the surface and work their way out.
On the other hand,
As you do this,
You may get a sense of fluidity.
The feeling space of the body may begin to become undulatory,
Wave-like.
Sensations will sometimes expand and contract.
Your body may feel like an amoeba,
Elastic,
Melting,
Like the flow,
The streaming of protoplasm.
The feelings have a life of their own,
They're living creatures.
Give them the time and space to dance their dance,
To live their life.
Sometimes you may get a sense that there's vibration,
Effervescence,
Bubbling,
Fluid movement.
And everything becomes non-solid,
And the borders between inside and outside begin to dissolve.
If that should happen,
Go with it.
This is what is called insight into impermanence.
And let those qualities of expansion,
Contraction,
Circulation,
Vibration,
Effervescence,
Let those qualities massage you,
Let them soften you,
Let them do the meditation for you,
Let them nurture you and take you into deeper and deeper states.
This is what is called insight into impermanence.
Thank you.
But if it should happen that at this time there is no such experience of fluidity or impermanence,
That's fine too.
Just experience the feelings as they are.
And keep letting your awareness move within the feeling space.
And wherever the awareness touches,
Open up to the sensation.
Be it pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral,
Or indescribable.
Feel it through.
And then be ready to move on to the next pattern.
Time after time,
The awareness may be pulled away,
Into the thinking process particularly.
Without judgment,
Gently return to the defined object of meditation which for now is the feeling process.
And keep pouring the qualities of precision and acceptance into the body sensations.
The perception of your body is the channel,
The conduit,
Pointing the direction into the feeling core of your being.
And by suffusing the feeling core of your being with the qualities of precise awareness and equanimity,
Non-interference,
Acceptance.
This breaks up the blockages that are acquired in early infancy,
The blockages around the feeling process.
Try as best you can to let go of the habit of fighting with discomfort.
Try as best you can to let go of the habit of clenching and holding around pleasure.
And let the pleasant and unpleasant states of the body return to being part of the effortless flow of nature.
Expanding,
Contracting,
Circulating and vibrating.
Now,
If as the result of this meditation,
There has been any sense of settling,
Peacefulness,
Then try to stay with that.
Try to preserve that.
If there's been any clarity or insight into a new accepting relationship to your body experience,
Note that.
Appreciate that.
If you have more of a sense of fluidity,
Lightness,
Flow,
See if you can allow that movement to continue as a massage of your being.
And as we move through the transition from formal,
Eyes closed practice to whatever activity happens afterwards,
Continue as much as possible with the momentum of this meditation that we have just concluded.
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