Namaskar and welcome to this guided meditation on sharpening the focus of awareness or presencesness wherein we will be employing the use of our breath,
Body,
Sound,
And voice.
Awareness,
Presencesness,
Or also known as mindfulness,
Points to our capacity to consciously reside in the present moment and not get lost in our monkey mind as the buddhas accurately call it.
This moves us from impulsive reaction to conscious action.
Now let's get started,
Get seated comfortably,
Spine erect,
And perhaps slightly supported.
Chin tilted slightly upward.
Gently close your eyes.
And now take a deep,
Deep breath in and out.
And just breathe,
Breathe normally.
Become aware of your breath.
Don't change it.
Just bring awareness to it.
Notice if it is shallow,
Fast,
Or slow.
Don't judge,
Just feel it.
These characteristics reflect your inner state,
So take notice.
Slow down the breath,
Breathe in slower,
And breathe out slower.
Take control.
Start to breathe for four seconds in and four seconds out.
Mentally count to stay focused.
If you find yourself lost in a thought,
That's okay.
Don't judge,
Just come back to the breath.
Take full breaths.
Breathe into your belly and into your chest.
Your breath is an anchor to the present moment.
Please remember that.
Now breathe,
Just breathe.
And now take a deep breath in and out.
Your deep breaths are now effortlessness.
They provide you with more vitality,
More prana.
Now shift your focus to the physical body.
Start with where your feet come in contact with the floor.
Feel that pressure.
Rest your awareness there.
We will scan the body starting from the feet and ultimately moving to the top of your head.
Notice how your feet feel.
Are they relaxed or tense?
Don't judge,
Just notice.
If you do detect tension,
Breathe into it and melt it away with your out breath.
Remember this as you move along the body.
Notice your calves.
How do they feel?
Notice your thighs,
Your hips,
Your lower back,
Upper back,
Shoulders.
Left arm.
Right arm.
Now your chest.
Your heart.
Perhaps you can notice it beating.
Can you listen closer?
Now gently move your focus to your neck.
Your throat.
And move it up your jaw and relax it if it's tense.
And lastly,
Move it to the middle point between your eyes,
What yogis call the third eye.
And tilt your head up slightly.
We will keep our focus here for a few moments.
We will now bring our attention to sound.
Notice the sounds in your environment.
Please do so without judgment or labels.
I invite you to bring awareness to your left ear.
Feel it.
Breathe into it.
Now shift your awareness to the right ear.
Feel it.
Breathe into it.
Now both ears.
Feel them.
Breathe into them.
And simply allow your environmental sounds come to your ears.
Don't reach out to the sounds.
Let them come to your eardrums.
And just be aware of these sounds.
Don't judge.
Don't label.
Just rest your awareness there.
Your voice is a magnificent instrument with many capabilities to include self-healing.
Please return to the breath.
Relax the jaw.
Relax your shoulders and slow the breath down like before.
And just breathe.
Modern Yogis and our modern science agree that this material existence is fundamentally vibration.
An ancient symbol called Aum points to this fact.
Aum broken down as A-U-M.
In other words,
A-U-M.
And we will chant each letter separately then altogether.
Remember to focus on the vibration within your oral cavity that produces these sounds.
Starting with A and only A.
Take a deep breath in,
Belly,
Chest.
Did you feel the vibration in the back of your oral cavity?
Now and only A.
Breath in.
This time,
Where did you feel the vibration?
Was it in the middle of your oral cavity?
Now and only.
Breath in,
Belly,
Chest.
Did you feel the vibration in the front of your mouth?
Perhaps even your nose?
Now put them all together.
Keep the tongue relaxed.
Take a deep breath.
Aum.
Did you feel the vibrations moving from the back to the tip of your oral cavity?
Focus on these vibrations.
Again,
Less so the sound they produce.
Breathe fully.
One more time.
Aum.
Wow,
Amazing,
Isn't it?
Now return to your normal breath and breathe.
Smile and be grateful to yourself for setting aside time,
Precious time for this inner work.
And gently open your eyes.
Allow me to leave you with this quote.
I cannot add more days to my life,
But more life to my days.
Thank you.
Namaste.
