Joshin Kokuho Meditation Get yourself into a comfortable position.
You can,
If you wish,
Sit cross-legged on the floor in a full or half lotus if that is comfortable,
Or you can use a meditation stool.
It is also perfectly fine to sit on a chair if this works best for you.
The important thing is to make sure that you are comfortable and stable in your posture.
A stable posture encourages a stable mind.
You may,
If you wish,
Bring your hands together to form a gassho mudra for a few moments and fix your gaze on the floor in front of you.
Take your awareness into your hands,
Into gassho.
Reflect on why we hold this mudra.
What are you feeling when sat with your hands together in front of you as if praying?
Now just take two or three slightly deeper breaths than normal and allow any tension in your body to go.
Spend a few moments going over your body,
Releasing any tension that you may find on each out-breath.
Consciously be aware of any tension leaving your body as you breathe out.
Bring your awareness to your hara and notice the way your belly rises and falls with each in and out-breath for a few moments.
Now bring your hands down into your lap,
Palms facing up,
Right hand resting on top of the left,
Thumbs connecting.
This is dhyana mudra,
Which helps to deepen your concentration and bring about tranquility of mind and a state of inner peace.
If you prefer,
You can simply allow your hands to rest comfortably on your knees.
Now close your eyes.
If you wish,
You can connect the tongue to the palate just behind the upper teeth.
This creates an energy circuit through the body called the microcosmic orbit.
Now bring your awareness to your breath,
Breathing in and out through the nose.
Breathe in slightly deeper than normal,
Allowing your diaphragm to pull in the air and allowing the belly to expand outwards.
Be careful not to breathe too deeply and hyperventilate.
Keep your awareness on your breath for a few moments.
Be aware of the sensation of the breath at the nose and notice where else you feel it in your body.
Do you notice it just at the nostrils or in the throat,
The chest or further down in the belly?
There is no correct way to feel it.
Just be aware of where you notice the breath most strongly.
Notice how the diaphragm relaxes on each out breath and expands again on each in breath.
If at any time your mind wanders,
Just acknowledge this and bring it back to the focus of the meditation.
It may wander many times and this is OK.
Every time you notice that it has wandered is a moment of success.
You are being aware.
As you breathe out,
Try to use your stomach as if it were a pump driving out any unwanted air from the lungs and then draw in another long,
Deep breath right down into the stomach.
Notice how this feels.
Just keep this breathing up for a few moments,
Noticing the sensations of air against the nostrils,
The rising and falling of the belly as your diaphragm moves.
Whatever sensations are present,
Just allow them to be,
Noticing them without judgment.
Now have the intention of connecting to Reiki energy,
Using the breath as a vehicle to bring it into the body.
Visualize and have a strong sense that you are breathing in Reiki.
Bring it all the way down into your Hara.
Feel the energy accumulating at your Hara.
Maintain your focus here as you continue to breathe in and out for a few moments.
Notice any sensations of energy at the Hara inside your belly.
If you do not notice anything,
This is perfectly OK.
Just be present with whatever is.
Do not try to force or imagine something that is not real for you.
Just acknowledge whatever you feel or do not feel at the Hara.
Now visualize that the energy from your Hara is expanding throughout your whole body.
See it rising upwards through your torso,
Into your head and down your arms and into your hands and your fingers.
See it also spreading down into your hips,
Your thighs,
Your knees,
Your lower legs and ankles and down into your feet and out to each of your toes.
Feel and get a sense of your whole body filled with this energy radiating out from your core,
From your Hara.
Do you feel any sensations anywhere or are there any emotions arising?
Just notice them and acknowledge their presence.
There is no need to do anything with them.
Now see the energy radiating outwards from your body to the world beyond.
See yourself sat at the center of this expanding field of energy that is sweeping outwards and affecting everything in its path.
Stay with this process for as long as you wish.
Really get a sense of the energy from your Hara spreading outwards and washing over everything and everyone in its path going on to infinity.
Do you feel anything?
Do you sense any tingling anywhere in your body?
Any feelings of warmth or perhaps cold?
What about your emotions?
Just notice what is there without doing anything with it.
Broaden out your perspective and have a gentle awareness of whatever arises for you.
If you don't feel anything,
If nothing arises,
Just be aware of that.
Whatever you are feeling or whatever you are not feeling is perfectly fine and the way it is meant to be for this moment in time.
Let us now gently bring this meditation to a close.
Bring your awareness back into your body and just be present with it for a few moments.
Notice how your body feels.
Notice any sensations of energy in the Hara or anywhere else in the body.
Raise your hands back into Gassho Mudra.
And bring your awareness to your hands.
Two things coming together as one.
This is the point of Gassho.
Duality giving way to oneness.
Breathe into this Mudra for a few moments.
Then open your eyes and reconnect with your surroundings.
Take a few moments just to reflect on your experience of this meditation and then slowly move your body.
You may now get up and resume your normal daily activities.
