Meditation - Returning Home To The Heart

This is a recording from the insight timer live sessions which we have been having regularly every week for the past few years now. The initial relaxation of the bodily tensions follows by breath observation and gradually leads us into the inner center, the Heart space to experience inner peace and rest in oneness with one Self.

Transcript

So,

If you just find a comfortable position,

We can relax,

Close your eyes and relax your whole body.

Try to sit with straight back,

That will help our concentration,

Our alertness.

And we begin with chanting.

Let us chant mantra OM three times.

Take a deeper inhalation.

Feel your whole body,

From the toes to the top of your head.

And be aware of your being,

Your presence here,

Where you are just now.

Your physical and mental presence in your room,

Where you are sitting.

Leaving behind all the wide range of activities that we as humans get involved in,

Physical activities,

Mental activities.

For a few minutes,

To pause and allow for the time to,

First of all,

Reconnect with our physical body.

So while sitting,

Peacefully,

Bring attention to your face,

Without moving any of the muscles.

If there is a tension in your eyebrows or in your eyes,

You may release it consciously.

Or your cheeks,

Or maybe your jaws.

The whole muscles,

The face muscles.

By relaxing our face,

It can be like putting off a mask.

Even with different environments,

Different groups of people,

We tend to wear different masks.

The mask of a personality.

And it can be quite stressful,

Tiring,

Not to be yourself.

And also to perceive others through this mask,

Of conditioning,

Expectations,

Likes,

Dislikes,

Opinions,

Preferences,

And so and so.

Now just by relaxing your face,

This all can fade away.

And it can bring a lot of relaxation,

Inner relaxation.

And sometimes without trying,

Automatically,

The shoulders and the neck area also become more relaxed.

Some burden we have put off our shoulders.

This is a time we don't need to show any of our skills,

To compete with each other,

To excel in something.

Even let go of any desire to fix something,

If there is the inner feeling of that something is not quite right,

Let that go too.

No need to agree or disagree.

No need to analyze anything.

Just relax.

Feel now your collarbones and the chest and the whole back area,

The whole trunk of the body relaxing.

Here we may take one deeper breath in,

And with long exhalation just relax the whole trunk of the body.

And just giving your attention now to the legs.

Whatever position of your legs is now,

Either you're sitting on the chair,

Or a cross-legged position,

In any posture,

Legs,

By giving them your attention,

Can relax the muscles.

And you can sense as if suddenly your legs become more alive.

From hips to the toes,

Your legs,

Your feet,

The energy,

The warmth.

So the whole body,

The whole body is sitting peacefully.

Then we don't need to try not to move the body.

The urge to change the posture simply vanished,

Because the body is comfortable enough.

And you can then expand your attention to the whole body,

So from your toes to the head,

You feel the whole body sitting,

Motionless,

Peaceful body.

And within the body,

Now we can direct the attention to the movement of the breath,

The natural inhalations,

Exhalations.

And yes,

Of course,

We can,

If we want to,

Change the natural flow of the breath.

But let us not to do that at the moment,

Let your body breathe.

Just like in the night,

When we let go of control,

And the body continues to breathe,

Here we just remain aware,

Rather than going to sleep.

Whilst breathing in,

Feel the body is expanding slightly.

And whilst breathing out,

The body,

The trunk of the body is contracting.

And between each breath,

Notice a short pause,

After the exhalation,

Before the inhalation starts again,

It might be a second or two of no breath.

Any thoughts appear,

Of course they do,

And you simply stay present with the breath,

Exercising here our free will,

Our freedom to choose,

Either go with the thoughts,

Or stay with the breath.

And it may feel,

Initially,

As a bit of an effort to choose the breath,

Maybe the habit of thinking is stronger sometimes,

But this kind of effort,

Very soon,

Turns into something that feels more natural,

And it is immediately rewarded by a relief,

A feeling of relief.

And this may even go into physical body,

That we experience in the realm of the physical body,

A relaxation,

A relief,

A releasing of the accumulated tensions,

Stress in the body,

And especially the second part of our breath tends to have this ability to help us to relax,

That is the exhalation,

Quietening,

Relaxing,

And sinking deeper,

Step by step,

Step by step,

Into our inner peace,

With every exhalation,

Distancing from the world of forms,

Actions,

Responsibilities,

The whole personal life remains up in the attic,

And we are making,

Through this long ladder,

One step down with each exhalation,

To relax into our living room,

Into a comfortable,

Peaceful space in the heart,

Here no reasoning can come with us,

No rationalization,

The whole world of polarities and dualities,

They remain up in the attic of our house,

And here only the resonance,

The nada of the Self remains,

And that is SO HAM,

So with inhalation,

Mentally you may repeat HAM exhalation,

I AM,

THAT I AM,

Which remains after peeling off all the layers that covering it up,

The self-inquiry meditation,

SO HAM.

For a moment,

For a minute or two,

Continue with this mantra,

Repeating mentally in the place of your heart,

SO inhalation,

HAM exhalation,

Relax,

Release,

Let go,

From this inner space of the heart,

Expand your awareness,

Once again,

To the whole trunk of the body,

Your arms,

Hands,

Fingers,

The legs,

Feet,

Toes,

And the head and face,

The whole body,

From your toes to the head,

Feel the whole body and your being,

In this room where you are sitting,

One deeper inhalation,

Exhalation,

Externalizing your mind,

Keep your eyes closed,

And we will chant OM again,

Three times,

Deep inhalation,

OM,

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Hands,

Warm palms on your face,

And share this prana,

This energy with your face muscles,

With your eyelids,

Your nose,

And open your eyes,

Remove your hands,

And if you have space in front of you,

You can a little bit bend forward,

So you can relax your neck,

Your back muscles,

And feel the blood circulation towards your face,

And at the same time if you would like to,

You can express gratitude to the Divine Self,

That we could have spent this time in oneness,

In the inner world,

To make steps towards the discovery of oneself,

And then slowly,

With the help of your hands,

Come up again.

Very good.

Reviews

This was a lovely meditation and I fell right into a deep sleep afterwards. Thank you

This is beautiful
Thank you
You are a safe and steady guide
Love and blessings to you Swami Madhuram

Thank you

Reconnecting 🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻

Wonderful, thank you🙏