Landing in the Body (S1E8)
This 33-minute meditation with proceeding talk was part of the Morning Instructions given at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center retreat Journey Into Refuge. The meditation explores grounding in the body and eventually opening up to the sense doors. The talk touches on using our practice to transform our bodies into a refuge so that we can be home wherever we are.
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Transcript
Once you've settled into your practice posture, whether it’s seated, standing, or even laying down, take a few moments to look around the room. At first it could be quite casually, just noticing where our eyes land. Notice how you may notice objects. You could even mentally note what the objects are like cushion, bell, chair. Now a little bit more systematically, turn your head side to side and go as far as your neck will allow, not forcing it, and then the other side, taking your time. Notice any feelings that might arise with say a stretch in the neck or your eyes landing on something that you perceive as pleasant or unpleasant.
You could also look up and down all the while remembering that you have a body sitting here or laying here, breathing. For some of us it can be helpful to know where the doors and windows are so that could be supportive for you. You might even take a look behind you, if that eases your nerves. Just remind yourself "yes the door is still there", or identifying which windows have the blinds up so that if you might want to rely on sight during your practice, you know where you could access trees through the eye door for example.
And then coming back forward, eyes turned downward, not necessarily closed. Take a moment to feel what's in the body now. How did practicing with sight even for just a few moments impact the body, your internal landscape? If you do want to practice with your eyes closed, you can close the eyes now and keep them downward with that soft gaze.
As you settle and arrive here, tune into how the body is resting. At first that might be just simply knowing you're sitting if you're seated or knowing that you're reclined, if you're lying down, or standing .You may notice qualities like hardness and softness, heaviness or lightness, or pressing down and all lifting away.
As you do this, keep your attention like a light touch not needing to furrow your brow and concentrate really hard. une into the body pressing down into the ground, into your support. Sense how you're being supported by the ground and earth that it's gently pressing up holding your body supporting you in becoming curious. Imagine your inner landscape is like that of a snow globe. And that when you arrive to this meditation, that snow globe gets shaken up because of maybe your job or any other stressors.
Without judgment but with curiosity, how much settling is available to you right now? How much do those flakes in the snow globe settle? And although complete settling might seem pleasant, it's not necessarily the goal nor accessible to all of us. So we're opening up with curiousity: what is available to me right now? Or what is here right now?
If you haven't already invite the quality of kindness to accompany you on this journey or in this practice, we're planting the seed for it to arise, it may or may not show up but intending to be kind, and when you're ready, you can turn your attention as a way to gather it around an anchor.
You may notice or get really curious about the qualities of the breath: is it long? Is it short? Is it smooth or choppy? It's very possible that when we turn our attention to the breath, it feels like the breath gets shy, suddenly we shallow away only in the chest, or it's hard to notice the breath. If that's what's happening for you right now then maybe the breath isn't the doorway into your mindfulness right now.
So instead, you might choose a different anchor, like a part of your body, perhaps just the hands or just the feet, noticing all of the sensations that come through and how they make it stronger or weaker, less intense, more intense.
Or yet again you might choose to follow sound. Using sound as your anchor and noticing how does it impact your body or how does it manifest in the body as sensations.
So choosing one of these anchors and gathering your heart and mind around it, staying close to it like you would perhaps a good friend. Gentle touch. A simple knowing.
I'm most likely late in letting you know that the mind will wander. And when it does, - which is a totally normal occurrence. There's nothing wrong with a wandering mind. - before replacing your attention on to your anchor or yanking it back. I've heard Sharon Salzberg call that moment "The magic moment", that moment of noticing. In that moment, notice, if possible, how you speak to yourself. How you speak to the mind that has wandered. There are an infinite number of ways that you can speak to yourself and as best you can, can it align with kindness?
Being kind to the mind that has wandered and gently replacing or redirecting your attention again and again and again and again to your anchor. Invite your body, your mind to relax, just in case it tensed up. You can do that by simply doing a broad body scan relaxing many parts that got tense or silently telling yourself "may this body relax". May I relax.
And if it feels supportive, relax your effort. Begin to loosen your grip, you have one on your anchor. So that now your other senses are also open, or more open than just a moment ago, and that when a smell or a sensation or a thought arises, they're no longer distractions that are taking you off the path. They're now included as part of the path. So you may be noticing or following your breath, then a thought arises or sensation, you might do a gentle touch, acknowledging it, maybe even spending a couple of moments, being curious, allow how is this thought or sensation arising right now in my body?
And then when it's no longer compelling returning to your original anchor. Practicing in this way can really become like a dance, or you're dancing between the senses. All the while staying anchored in the body or perhaps like wild grass strictly blowing in the wind, moving from an anchor to one of the senses and back again. All the while mindfulness as your companion.
If you’d like to, you can gently blink closed eyes open for the last minute or so of this practice. ,At first keep your gaze downward and practice this dance between sensing your body sitting or laying here and whatever your eyes are landing on right now. You may lift your gaze a little higher and practice seeing while also being mindful of your body and try to tune into the subtle but very distinct difference between looking and seeing.
I'll ring the bell three times in just a moment. As best you can take in the sound of the bell as a whole body experience.
