MIDL 33/36: Insight Meditation: Mindfulness Of Touching

In this meditation, Stephen Procter will guide you in the insight meditation skill of observing the autonomous (anatta) nature of the process of touching and how to relax the effort of attention that supports it. As insight develops your mind will weaken its identification with what you experience as touch and thereby more easily let go of tendencies of your mind to be attracted and averse towards what is touched in daily life. Support articles and instructions for this guided meditation can be found in the Free Online MIDL Insight Meditation Course by checking Stephens Procter's teacher profile.

Transcript

During this mindfulness training we'll investigate the fifth sense door of touching.

To do this we use a lying meditation posture.

It is helpful to lay on a yoga mat or blanket.

For support you can place a pillow under your head and roll a blanket up underneath your knees to protect your lower back.

Pause the recording at this place and we'll start when you get back.

Now start out by taking your lying meditation posture.

Inclusing your eyes over lightly.

Start to be aware of what it feels like just to be here.

Pause the recording at this place and we'll start when you get back.

Becoming aware of any sounds around you.

Allowing the change within the sound to hold your attention.

Now slowly bringing awareness into your body.

Becoming aware of any warmth or coolness within your body.

Holding them gently in mind.

Also becoming aware of the touch of your hands.

And the pressure of your body as it rests on the floor.

Just aware of your whole body just laying here.

Pause the recording at this place and we'll start when you get back.

Now start out by taking your lying meditation posture.

Bring your awareness back into your body.

Pause the recording at this place and we'll start when you get back.

Now bring awareness to your head.

Start to be aware of the place where your head touches the pillow or the floor.

Bringing awareness to this place of touch.

Notice how your body responds when the world touches you.

Maybe you experience a feeling of softness,

Of hardness or of pressure.

Just keeping these points of touch in mind.

Just gently hold this experience of touch in mind.

And using a few softening breaths,

Soften relaxing to that point.

Now I'd like you to bring your awareness to the front of your face.

Notice any tightness or tension in your forehead.

This tension is how our body responds when we're experiencing stress.

Now using some slow softening breaths out through your nose,

Soften relaxing to this tension,

As your breath comes in,

Slowly open your eyelids.

As your breath goes out,

Slowly close them again.

Keep slowly opening and closing your eyelids.

What is your experience of your eyelids opening and closing?

Notice the different sensations that arise when your eyelids fully close.

Notice what it feels like when they open again.

Keep slowly opening and closing your eyelids with each out-breath.

Start to slow down your out-breath.

Allow the closing of your eyes to also slow down and relax.

Gently breathing in,

The eyes open.

Breathing out,

The eyes relax.

Now bring your awareness to the side of your temples.

And each time your breath goes out and your eyelids close,

Allow the side of your temples to relax.

Now next time your eyelids close,

Allow them to fully close and stay closed.

One more time with the out-breath,

Just relax any tension you feel in the side of your temples.

Allowing your head to become heavier.

Becoming aware of the sense of touch of your head on the pillow or the floor.

Relaxing on each out-breath.

Soften,

Relax into that heaviness,

Into that pressure.

Relaxing on each out-breath.

Slowly move your awareness down to the tip of your nose.

Aware of the sensations that arise within your nose as the air touches you.

Relaxing on each out-breath.

Aware of that gentle breath as it comes in and as it goes out of your nose.

Can you notice different sensations as the breath comes in compared to when it goes out?

Mindfully be aware of the changing sensations of the in and the out-breath.

Breath.

Start to notice that you don't actually experience breathing.

You experience the sensations that arise when the air touches you.

Allow yourself to mentally and physically fall,

To sink,

To slide down with each out-breath.

Breath.

Relax and soften into the pressure of the floor,

Your body becoming heavier,

More relaxed,

More still.

Relaxing on each out-breath.

Now mindfully move your awareness down to the touch of your lips.

Notice the different sensations where your lips touch each other.

Maybe you experience softness and pressure,

Maybe warmth,

Dryness or wetness.

Notice how the touch of your lips becomes stronger,

More clear.

Now mindfully bring your awareness down to the pressure of your shoulders as they touch the floor.

What sensations arise due to the floor touching you?

Allowing the floor to take the full weight of your body.

Just completely give up all effort in your body.

Now if both your arms aren't touching the floor,

Bring them lightly by your side,

Placing them with palms facing down.

And start to become mindfully aware of the feeling of your arms laying by your side.

Notice how the awareness of the touch becomes stronger,

Becomes more clear when you continuously hold awareness on them.

Slowly cycle your awareness through the points where your fingers touch the floor,

Through the fingers.

Notice as you cycle through these points of touch they become more clear to you.

Now just feel both your arms and hands touching the floor.

Notice how that awareness of the touch is now more clear.

You may also be able to feel the heaviness of your head,

The touch of your eyelids and lips,

The pressing of your shoulders and the heaviness and touch of your arms and hands.

You may also be able to experience the air touching your arms and your hands.

See this touch is warm or cool.

You may also feel the air touching other places in your body,

Such as around your face,

Your neck.

Notice the dance of the touch of the air on your skin.

Start to open your awareness to how your body is listening to the world through this sense of touch.

Take a deeper breath sound.

Becoming aware of every point where you can feel the touch of the world.

Notice at that point of touch you can feel sensation.

You can only know the room around you through this touch.

Just different sensations.

Such as pressure,

Hardness and softness,

Coolness and warmth,

Movement.

Now widen your awareness and start to be aware of any sound around you.

Allow the sounds to touch you.

Ф Allow the sounds to pass right through you.

Allow the sounds to pass right through you.

Notice how transparent your body actually is.

Notice how transparent your body actually is.

Now I'd like you to gently open your eyes and start to be aware of the feeling as you slowly open your eyes.

Notice how the world appears to you through sight.

How the world touches your eyes.

Notice how the borders around your body start to reappear.

Keep tuning into this touch of the world.

The touch on your skin.

The touch of your body on the floor.

The touch of your clothes.

The touch of the air.

The touch of each breath.

Noticing how your body listens to the world,

Carry this into everyday life.

Thank you for spending this time meditating with me.

Take care of yourself and have a wonderful day.

And goodbye.

Reviews

You’ve opened my senses like never before, it’s even overwhelming how all of our senses are working all the time and simultaneously, you never really stop sensing the world around you.

Thanks again for all your teachings, MIDL 36 has been quite a journey ❤️

Thankyou Stephen for this series, your gentle guidance and this very helpful practice 🙏

Excellent meditation. Thanks

Thank you sir 💚 I will return because I felt asleep halfway, it was so relaxing haha. Will return when im more awake in the afternoon

More exercise for the awareness muscles! Fantastic, thank you!

Such a beautiful deep practice. Perhaps one of my favourites of yours. I particularly liked the distinction between the mind touching us, and the world touching us. Thank you

A wonderful deep meditation. Over the last few months following this course, I’ve noticed that my body, limbs and face tense when I’ve wandered off into thought, and I’ve learnt to use this as a notification that my mind has drifted. I realise that by listening to my body through the day, I can become more aware of the thoughts that I’m having, and become more able to choose how I respond to them.

Wow!
Amazing! So clear! Reopening my eyes at the end made me consciously realize the reappearing of the edges of my body. This keeps getting better and I'm experiencing more mindfulness during my day as well. Thank you so much!

Very relaxing and long like I like

Excellent continuation of the series. Thanks Stephen

Very wise guided meditation, it highlights the importance of being aware of how the external world and the mind touches and affects the body. Thank you 🌹

I am always fascinated by babies and their total immersion in their senses, touching, tasting, seeing, smelling with such presence, because the world and everything in it is so new to them. As we grow, our senses are still functioning, still gathering information, but it becomes less of a conscious thing, much like breathing. Our breathing becomes more shallow, our senses become dull, we are busy doing life, busy thinking, overwhelmed & on auto-pilot. I love Coming to My Senses, because they are all still there, still functioning, and all it takes is a few moments to relax, breath, and re-connect. This week, in addition to this meditation, I've been taking a few moments throughout the day to be aware of my breath and body, to experience touch, texture, pressure, warmth, coolness, and other sensations as anchors to be more present in the moment, to more fully experience and savor each moment. Thanks, as always, Stephen.

I’ve learned so much from this meditation. Thanks so very much Steven Procter.❤️🙏

I felt like an explorer discovering a new continent on my planet. Me - body and mind. Thank-you. You are an amazing compass Stephen, and I mean that in the broadest sense possible 🙏

I’m grateful for this meditation series and for your expertise and inspiration in creating it Stephen. I’m also grateful to be in the presence of all others meditating. Thank you.

Wonderful feeling of touching te world. Thank you.

Wonderfull meditation Stephen. The 1st time I did it, I reqlized that I relax too much and felt as sleep. But now, I did it fully and followed u constantly, itis impressive all the sensation and feelings I arrived to have. I like a lot your final ecplanation, and clearly the observation of the difference between the touch sense generetad by the mind and the outside world , is a practice to do during the day, I will try. Thanks again Stephen for your kind dedication to us, be well, be happy, be safe. 🙏🏻

Long and therefore quite challenging practise, but there is big reward in the end, in the form of great wisdom. Recommended.

I have never done a laying meditation that was so long and it was enlightening. I put a blanket over me as my floor was a bit chilly but the coldness actually helped me focus on the feeling of touch. Was rather interesting getting off the floor after laying so still for so long. 😋 Thank you for another good lesson.