I Am Presence: A Meditation To Rest In Your Divinity

Welcome,

Beloved,

To your practice of presence.

Sit or lie in any position that your body feels called to in this moment.

Close your eyes and begin to focus inward.

Letting the outer world quiet and soften.

Deepening connection to your inner landscape.

Feel your breath.

Gently gently rising and expanding with the inhale,

Effortlessly falling with the exhale.

As you continue to settle and rest deeper,

I invite you to consider the following question.

Who are you?

Are you your mind,

Your body,

Your ego,

Your heart,

Your soul?

As the language implies,

These are all objects of your possession.

So again,

Who are you?

In truth,

You are all of these things and none of them.

You are undefinable,

Immeasurable,

Pure essence.

Divinity embodied.

The Sanskrit phrase,

Tatvam Asi,

Meaning thou art that,

Is a powerful mantra to return to in learning to understand yourself as pure essence.

Thou art that.

You are that.

You are.

I am.

I am.

This is the space from which to approach this practice.

The silent observer,

The witness,

Pure consciousness,

Beingness,

The I am presence.

This essence is what we call Shiva in tantric philosophy,

The ever-present space that moves through all manifest form or energy,

Which we call Shakti.

The sacred dance of Shiva and Shakti,

Consciousness and form,

Is what we call life.

So in this meditation,

We are practicing presence by embodying the space holder and simply watching our experience,

Our sensations,

Our emotions without resistance.

If there is resistance,

We watch it.

Nothing is good,

Bad,

Right,

Wrong.

Everything is allowed.

This curiously,

Playfully observing energy.

Shiva witnessing Shakti.

Begin now.

Awareness of yourself as Shiva,

As consciousness.

Knowing your mind and body.

What thoughts,

Images,

Emotions,

Sensations are flowing through you now in response to the words and ideas that you are receiving.

Watch as if your experience is a movie flowing effortlessly across a screen.

Just watching yourself exist.

Become even more aware of your breath.

Notice the inhale.

Feel it as it rises from the bottom and gradually ascends to the top.

And watch the descent of the exhale from fullness to emptiness.

Notice the touch of air as it passes through your nostrils.

Observe the subtle shift in temperature from the in-breath to the out-breath.

Lower on the inhale,

Slightly warmer on the exhale.

Watch the movement of your belly.

Observe the pattern created by your inhales and exhales and the subtle spaces in between.

Notice how every single micro-moment of the breath is unique and separate,

Yet an intrinsic and inseparable part of the whole of respiration.

You are with your breath as if it is the absolute most fascinating,

Exquisite thing you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Nothing else is more important in this moment.

In this moment you are one with your breath.

You are one with your breath.

Remaining in connection with your breath,

Begin to expand your awareness throughout the body,

Beginning with your chest region.

Scan this area and gently notice what's here.

Begin to speak aloud or quietly in your mind what you are noticing in your chest.

Notice the words,

I am noticing a sensation of fill in the blank,

In fill in the blank.

For instance,

I am noticing a sensation of tightness in the left side of my chest.

I am noticing an emotion of sadness in the center of my heart.

I am noticing a tingling sensation in my right breast.

The idea is to be totally non-identified and non-attached.

You are not seeking good sensations and you are not avoiding bad sensations.

You are not labeling,

Judging,

Praising,

Or shaming yourself for any experience one way or another.

All simply is and you are curiously,

Playfully enjoying the full spectrum of sensation and emotion.

So take a moment to really notice your chest and speak these observational phrases to yourself.

I am noticing a sensation of blank in blank.

Continuing to breathe with all that you are sensing.

Do not worry if you don't have the exact words to describe each sensation.

This is simply about tuning in and becoming deeply aware and present with whatever is.

Let the language be intuitive and playful.

Good.

Now take a deep breath to honor all that you have noticed in your chest.

All that has been revealed to you through presence.

Say thank you to your body for communicating with you and thank yourself for choosing to listen.

Let's move to the belly.

Name idea.

I am noticing a sensation of emptiness in the center of my stomach.

I am noticing a sparkling sensation to the left of my navel.

Take a moment of full presence here,

Speaking what you notice as it arises.

Remembering to breathe.

Notice if the voice of judgment arises.

You may realize a tendency to push away or shame feelings that you consider uncomfortable.

Notice yourself judging.

Can you make space for a wider variety of sensation?

Can you expand your container of acceptability?

Also,

When discomfort arises,

Maybe there is a message here,

Something your body needs.

Can you listen and serve with love without shaming?

For instance,

If you notice a painful sensation,

How do you respond?

Do you immediately think something is wrong?

Do you get angry at yourself for this or that reason?

Do you blame yourself or others or outside situations for your pain?

Do you feel afraid?

Do you feel a victim of your experience?

These are all things to curiously notice.

And can you instead start to approach that pain from the light of your Shiva consciousness?

Can you smile to it?

Can you welcome it?

Can you thank it?

Can you breathe into it and allow the energy to expand?

Can you listen deeply into it and see if it has a message for you?

Can you lovingly offer it anything it may need without being attached to an outcome?

If pain wants to stay for a while,

Can you love it as long as it's here?

Simply challenge your mental patterns,

Open to presence.

And with this awareness,

Take another few moments observing your belly region.

Thank you.

Let your awareness focus a bit deeper down into the pelvis and notice what arises here.

What sensations do you feel?

Maybe you even notice memories or thoughts or emotions that come up.

And if you do,

What do those memories or emotions feel like on a somatic level?

For instance,

Fear might feel like fluttering or tension.

Play with expressing both.

I am noticing a fluttering sensation in my tailbone that I am interpreting as fear.

As I bring awareness to my pelvis,

I notice a sensation of dullness and I notice a memory of a lost loved one come into my field.

How masterful can you be at noticing rather than identifying?

I am noticing a sensation of sadness rather than I am sad.

This allows you to maintain awareness of yourself as presence,

Presence,

Shiva,

Witnessing experience,

Strong in your connection with the eternal essence unchanged by any life circumstances.

I am noticing a sensation of sadness rather than I am sad.

And do you notice how everything is eventually passes?

Energy constantly moving and shifting,

Flowing along the river of existence,

Arising and passing,

Arising and passing.

Beautiful.

Moving now to the legs and feet,

What are you noticing?

How sharply can you fine tune your awareness?

Can you pick up on even the tiniest,

Subtlest,

Micro sensations?

Noticing the wondrous landscape of your body temple,

So much going on beneath the surface,

Like a deep ocean with mysterious unexplored territory awaiting the light of your consciousness.

Play.

Breathe.

I am noticing.

I am noticing.

I am seeing.

I am seeing.

Now letting your awareness glide upwards through the legs,

Pelvis,

Belly and chest and extending now into the region of your shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Allow your awareness to swirl through this area,

Picking up on all that you can observe.

I am noticing a prickling feeling in my left thumb.

I am noticing an expansive energy in my right bicep.

I am noticing.

I am noticing.

Continuing to breathe as you observe and notice by breathing into sensations do they shift.

Perfect.

And now moving awareness into your neck,

Head and face.

What arises for you in these spaces?

Viewing all through the loving lens of your infinitely expansive,

All-inclusive,

Non-biased Shiva consciousness.

I am noticing.

I am noticing.

Take a few more breaths to tune into the flowing sensations in your neck,

Head and face.

Now for the next couple of minutes,

Let your awareness freely dance throughout your entire body.

Continue your practice of breathing,

Noticing,

Allowing.

You can let go of the verbal expression of your observations,

Though maintain this energy of curiosity,

Non-judgment,

Exploration and love for all that is moving within you.

Drop fully into the ocean of presence.

As you rest in the simple joy of being,

If you like,

You can offer yourself the mantra,

I am that.

I am.

Tatvam asi.

Tatvam asi.

I am that.

I am.

I am that.

I am that.

Take a few deep breaths to ground and integrate this beautiful practice of being with yourself just as you are.

Take a deep and nourishing inhale through the nose and exhale out the mouth with a cleansing audible sigh.

Give thanks.

Knowing this sacred space of presence is your true nature and you may step into your enlightened self anytime you choose.

Blessings to your remembrance of all that you are.

Tatvam asi.

Namaste.

I am that.

I am that.