The following is a guided meditation on whole body awareness.
This meditation will be a combination of guided instruction with periods of silence that will allow you to connect directly with your own mind and body.
During this meditation,
You'll be guided through the first four steps of the 16 Steps of Breath Meditation,
Originally taught by the Buddha.
The in-breath,
The out-breath,
Expanding to include the whole body,
And ending with the experience of the whole body being infused with a calming sensation.
These first four steps provide us with a powerful resource that helps us be present to this life that is here for us.
Learning to live our lives fully embodied is one of the greatest gifts of this practice.
As we become more embodied,
The mind quiets down,
And we rest in a sense of groundedness.
And the restlessness that so many of us feel on a daily basis begins to flow into the joy of being fully present.
We bring a deepening intimacy and connection to this life right here,
Right now.
So before we begin,
Please find a comfortable seat on a cushion or a chair.
Or if it's more comfortable,
It's fine to do this meditation lying down.
But most importantly,
Find a posture that allows you to be both relaxed and fully awake.
And once you've found this posture,
You can either close your eyes or pick a spot on the floor in front of you where you can just hold a soft gaze.
Now turning your full attention to the mind,
Heart,
And body.
So let's begin by taking these first few moments to come into this seated or lying down posture.
To really notice the body being here.
If you're lying down,
Perhaps noticing how the back of the body makes contact with the surface beneath you.
Or if you're sitting,
Bringing awareness down into the feet,
Notice the feet making contact with the floor,
Or the sensation of the legs being crossed and resting on the cushion.
And feeling the buttocks making contact with the seat.
The spine upright and the shoulders relaxed.
The hands soft and the face at ease.
And just touching into this felt sense of what it means to be both alert and relaxed.
And most likely you've already experienced the breath.
But I invite you now to bring full awareness to the in breath.
Wherever it's most natural for you to connect with the body.
Perhaps it's at the tip of the nose,
The nostrils,
Or the chest and the rib cage,
Or deep within the belly.
And wherever the focus is resting,
Noticing best you can,
The very beginning of the in breath and the ending of the in breath.
Just this in breath.
Now this in breath.
And in this first step,
We're noticing all that can be known about this first half of the full breath cycle.
Please pause.
You might notice that narrowing awareness like this increases concentration.
Perhaps the mind settles a little,
Quiets or lightens.
But even if the mind is still busy,
That doesn't need to be a problem.
Just keep coming back to the in-breath.
It's going to cage you into a corner in a get going process,
As you think about your thoughts or thoughts about the subject.
And now moving into step two,
Just as you've brought awareness to the in breath,
Let's now expand to bring that same awareness to the out breath.
And just as you watch carefully the beginning and the ending of the in breath,
Bring this careful attention to the out breath.
So noticing the beginning of the in breath and the ending of the in breath,
The beginning of the out breath and the ending of the out breath.
Great that's a play on that,
Uh,
There's nothing else to do here.
Breathing.
Nothing to control.
Nothing to force.
The body breathes itself.
And resting in the opportunity to know.
If it's a short breath,
Knowing it's a short breath.
If it's a long breath,
Knowing that it's a long breath.
And through this awareness connecting mind and body,
Allowing awareness to know each breath and bringing an intimacy,
An interest in each breath.
So we'll continue now in silence for four or five minutes.
Just following the in and the out breath.
Just feeling the feeling.
Retain or bring anعة.
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And remembering that we are training the mind to be attentive,
To know when we're lost in autopilot,
Repetitive thought,
And to come back and begin again,
To put everything else down and be here with each breath,
Each moment,
Just as it is.
And as you continue to rest in this intimate contact with each breath,
Each in breath and each out breath,
We move on to the third step,
Awareness of the whole body.
So see if it's possible if you can slowly and gradually begin to move outward,
Awareness from the breath,
Expanding to include the whole torso.
And shifting down to the legs and to the feet.
And moving awareness up to the shoulders and down the arms and to the neck and the head.
Relaxing and resting into this openness,
Opening to the full body and allowing any and all sensations to be known,
Not holding on or pushing away,
Not forcing or controlling,
Just knowing this full body awareness where everything belongs here.
What's pleasant,
What's unpleasant,
And all that's neutral.
So we'll continue now with a longer period of silence,
Four or five minutes,
Just resting in this full body awareness,
Alert and relaxed.
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And as the mind and body unite through awareness,
You may have already begun feeling a sense of calm.
And if so,
See if you can touch into this sense of calm,
To really know it,
Infusing this calmness with greater care and attention.
And it's not uncommon when we're in meditation for this calmness to arise,
But for us not to really pay much attention to it.
As we shift into this fourth step of whole body awareness,
The invitation is to bring full awareness to this sense of calm,
Knowing that we're abiding in this sense of whole body awareness infused with this calmness.
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