Developing A Relationship With Your Body

In this meditation we will be using mindfulness to become more present with, and aware of, the body. We will create the space and the time to develop a relationship, and felt communication, with our body and our subconsciousness.

Transcript

The title is Messages from the Body. I'm reading a book about Jung, The psychologist, I guess he was, Written by a philosopher, Bernardo Kastrup, He's an idealist. An idealist doesn't think that the world's made up of two things, Body and mind, Matter and spirit, But of just one thing, And that one thing isn't physical, Because that would be a materialist, But that one thing is consciousness or awareness or experience, And everything is an aspect or an expression of consciousness. Everything we can ever experience is just that, An experience within our awareness, Within our consciousness, And so that includes the body, And everything that we experience as being external and physical and material, That's just a type of experience. So experience the solidity of this table in front of me, That's an experience of solidity. So it's still just an experience. The idea of this philosopher, Bernardo Kastrup, Is that life and the body and the brain is what a little bit of consciousness looks like. So when we see another body, Another person, We're seeing a disassociated bit of the consciousness that is everything, And the body is what that looks like, And so the body represents that consciousness of that person and he sees the brain, So like what we would consider the mind and our thoughts and the brain as being what that self-reflective part of ourselves looks like, How that shows itself to others and to ourselves, So that's the meta-cognitive aspect of ourselves, That just means that you're aware that you're aware of something. So I think, But I'm also aware that I'm thinking, I'm experiencing and I'm aware that I'm experiencing. And what many people call the subconscious is that which is still consciousness, But is not something that we're meta-cognitively aware of, So we're not aware that we're aware of it, That we're not self-reflective about it, And he associates that with the rest of the body. So the body is like, Is what our subconscious looks like. The body is the subconscious. Everything has a form and appearance, A way we experience it. So then I came across this idea of, I think it's called focusing, And it was about going into the body, Being aware of the body and getting messages from the body. So it wouldn't have to be a verbal message, But it could be a feeling, An intuition, An image, Just a sense, This idea of a communication of some sort between your self-reflective self, Your mind, Your awareness, And bringing that together with the philosophy with your body as being like your subconscious. Like interpreting your dreams can be a way for your self-reflective personality to learn more about yourself, Deep aspects of yourself through the subconscious expression in your dreams and symbolic dreams, Then using an awareness of the body in that same way. I'll do a short commentary, Just guiding us all into the present moment and that idea of holding things within our awareness, And then I'll leave a little longer than normal, So maybe 10 minutes rather than five minutes, Just for you to just be aware of what you notice and see if you do get any messages in the broadest possible sense of that word. So any sort of communication between your awareness and your body could just be a feeling. If you just feel relaxed, For example, Which is probably my most common experience after being present and mindful for a while, Then that is a communication from the body to my awareness. I become aware of that feeling of relaxation, Which is in the body, For just being open and not having expectations. So just starting in a natural way, Having that intention of really connecting to where you are, So noticing what you can see, Just spotting some colors, Some patterns, Or maybe one object, And just allowing yourself to be visually present and connected with where you are. And then also listening to all the sounds you can hear. And then just being aware of that feeling of the sounds you can hear. Noticing any background continuous sounds, As well as the more obvious occasional sounds. Noticing any distant sounds. See if you can get a sense of your awareness and just having a nice big wide open space within which all sounds, However loud or quiet, Near or far, Can just come and go within your awareness. And then becoming aware of the body, Allowing your body to be within this space of your awareness. Maybe just running through some of the things we can be aware of in the body, The feeling points of contact, Feeling any areas of pressure, Feeling the temperature of the body, Noting any areas of tension or discomfort, Being aware of the posture of your body, Allow the body to adjust if it wants to. Get a sense of the physical presence and location of your body. Feeling the weight of the body, Feeling the energy, Near-lifeness of the body. Keeping the body in the spotlight, The foreground, The center of the body, Keeping the awareness nice and open and spacious, The sounds, Thoughts, Feelings, The space around you, Still there within your awareness, Just in the background. And we're here in the present moment with ourselves, With our awareness, With the body, And holding the whole body in the spotlight, The whole body in the spotlight, The whole body in the spotlight, The whole body in the spotlight, And holding the whole body gently and lightly in the center of our open, Spacious awareness, And without expectation, Without any effort, Being open and welcoming of any communication from the body in any form, From physical sensation, Feeling the sense and emotion, The thought and image, And insight and inspiration. And our only effort or attention is to be present with the body, And to rest and relax into the present moment with the body, And keep the awareness nice and open and light. So, Other than just an occasional reminder to be open and receptive in the present moment, Let's have 10, 12 minutes of just being open and present with the body, With just this gentle feeling of receptiveness and being open to any communication, Feeling or insight. Knowing it will take time for the body to settle down, Take time for the mind to settle, Having complete patience, No sense of rush or trying to get anywhere, Just allowing yourself to gently, Slowly settle into being present with the body, And allowing your awareness to be open and spacious and receptive. . . . . If you notice you've wandered along a particular train of thought, Then just notice what those thoughts are. That's a useful point of awareness and of interest. And notice you can only be thinking in the present moment, And that those thoughts are happening within your awareness, And right here and now as you're thinking, Is your body also here in your awareness? Allowing the thoughts to continue to flow freely, Also noticing how the body is feeling, Allowing yourself to relax into and with the body, Being receptive to any feeling or sensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A couple more minutes allowing yourself to be present, Being in the moment, Aware of the body, Aware of everything else around the body, Allowing your awareness to be light and open. Whatever you sense or feel in the body right now is exactly what your body wants to communicate to you. . . . . I'm thinking of this in terms of establishing a relationship between yourself, Your awareness and your body. And we're giving time to just be in each other's presence and to listen to each other and get a sense of each other and become familiar with how it feels to be in each other's company. How does it feel to be holding your body in your awareness? . . . . . . . .