31-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 9

All right,

What's up everybody?

Cool,

Good to see you all.

So day nine of our practice,

Beautiful accomplishment.

We're gonna continue,

We have two more days of this third technique.

And so this technique is sort of a hybrid of two traditional techniques that I've never really seen sort of clustered together.

And so the first technique is breath retention.

And so we're simply holding our breaths to collect carbon dioxide that is obviously very uncomfortable at first.

We're not used to those sensations of asphyxiation or suffocation,

But the value of collecting carbon dioxide in our blood is that it forces our minds to internalize.

And so I just want you to acknowledge that and maybe reflect on yesterday's class.

It 100% pulled your mind in.

It magnetically drew you away from the world,

Away from your environment,

Away from your life,

And into the physicality of your being.

And the only obstacle there was this perception of distress.

And so a big part of meditation is that most of our distress and our suffering and our anger and our pain,

And you can sort of envision this as sort of the hell dimensions of life.

Meditators believe they aren't the reality.

They're only perceptions.

And that when we really learn to exist outside of our minds,

We see the way mystics and the mystic poets of humanity express.

We see that life is actually perfect.

And it's only in our ignorance that we really can't put the pieces of the puzzle together.

So we perceive it as something less than perfect.

And so this is the idea of divinity.

So again,

By holding our breaths,

We force our minds to internalize and we get this chance to interact with that,

That projection of error or that projection of pain or that projection of suffering.

And then the second technique was chanting.

So as we exhaled,

We hummed,

Whether it was an om,

Again,

Something like om,

Very,

Very simple,

Or just a hum collapsing the mouth into an M and mm.

And so this makes the vibratory experience of our bodies,

Which exists in the breath holding,

The CO2 buildup,

A little bit more visceral.

The resonance of a human voice compared to the bubbling of CO2 is more tangible and easier to lock onto.

That vibration,

The key detail you wanna pay attention to,

Especially when you're humming,

Is that it feels good.

It's subtly euphoric.

And so again,

Pulling ourselves back into the idea of,

It is only our perceptions of the world that tell us life in all moments isn't perfect.

Meditation,

And meditation is an experience of bliss.

And when we learn to feel that vibration,

Which most people overlook,

It's happening in my body right now as I speak in my throat and in the top of my chest,

That vibration is very similar to a massage.

The experience of existing physically,

The experience of having a body,

Of being of flesh and bone,

Which is momentary,

That experience at its core is euphoric.

And so when you think of the Buddha meditating,

Right?

Cross-legged,

Under a tree,

Eyes closed,

Sitting there,

Maybe a halo or something,

Most people look into that image,

That archetype,

And think he's experiencing some sort of mental epiphany,

An epiphany of truth and encounter with God,

The discovery of what suffering is and how to overcome it.

But the reality is very different.

When powerful meditators sit there for hour after hour after hour on end,

They're experiencing physical bliss,

And that physical bliss allows their mind to sort of blossom and this is the Lotus metaphor.

It allows their mind to blossom from that soil,

From that foundation into the epiphanies of goodness and virtue and love and compassion.

And so a nice way to sort of understand your practice is if you are tolerating pain and tolerating discomfort,

And I'm getting quite a few questions about that and how to interact with that,

Which I'll speak to in a moment,

I just want you to appreciate that the experience of that pain,

You know,

It's literally,

It's just your body's tight,

It's uncomfortable,

But mentally,

It's because we're still operating from a narrow field of perception.

Our minds aren't sort of open to the truth of life as being perfect,

Which takes time to really swallow.

But that proves to you,

Especially now that you know this idea that meditation is physical bliss,

It proves to you that you're at the beginning of this process and all of us,

Including me,

Are at the beginning of this process.

Meditation is like a seven decade long journey.

It's the journey of a lifetime and most of the masters and most of the reputable teachers are elderly because it takes that much time to reprogram our nerves and reprogram our brains.

And so pain is sort of the distinguishing variable that tells us how far along we are or are not.

So it's all about physical bliss,

But learning how to feel the joy and pleasure of humming or singing is a stepping stone into that direction.

Cool,

And so that's it.

In regards to like these questions,

I have sort of like a universal answer,

Whether it's about swallowing spit,

Whether it's about readjusting your posture,

Whether it's about like what to do with your thoughts and what thoughts are good,

What thoughts are not good.

The general rule is this.

Meditation is about developing sentience and consciousness and moving away from impulsivity.

So if any of your reactions are impulsive and sort of like sparked out of fear and sort of like instinctual,

The way maybe a dog or a wild animal might snap at you,

That is a problem.

But if you're sitting there and you're contemplating that you want to straighten your spine or you want to swallow the saliva that's built up in your mouth and you're sort of mindfully considering it and then make that choice consciously,

Then that is perfectly okay.

And so this is a really practical way of approaching the questions that might arise in your practice.

But at the same time,

There is sort of this like fanatic dimension of meditation.

And in that,

I just want to sort of highlight it.

The best response,

If you want to sort of lean into the image of a Buddha or the image of a Hindu mystic,

The best response is non-reactivity.

That no matter what,

I have to stop sort of falling into the drama of my ideas of what is right or what is wrong,

What is best or what is lesser.

And I just have to sit and tolerate what is arising,

Physically or mentally or emotionally.

And that reflects itself in deep,

Deep stillness of the mind and of the body.

But what we find is we can't really occupy that stillness.

We are compelled to respond in some way.

And so again,

Falling back into that first answer,

If you are compelled to respond,

Just take a second and think about it,

Make it mindful and then respond.

And that again,

You know,

Nothing was lost,

Nothing was taking away from your time in practice.

Okay,

Cool everyone.

So day nine,

Let's get into this.

We're gonna work some breath retention and some humming.

I'm gonna coach you through the process for the first couple rounds.

And then you're gonna coast into it on your own.

Alrighty,

So comfortable,

Semi-comfortable,

Seated position.

Tilt those hips forward,

Feel the spine lengthen,

Drag your shoulder blades down.

And as always,

Full extension of the arms.

Spread your fingers wide,

Very wide today.

And so we're gonna do a little bit of a little bit of a Tilt those hips forward,

Feel the spine lengthen,

Drag your shoulder blades down.

And as always,

Full extension of the arms.

Spread your fingers wide,

Very wide today.

And so try to create as much space as you can between each finger.

And then we're gonna do a little bit of a Tilt as much space as you can between each finger.

And then feel the skin of your palm.

Then think about the head of a drum.

So drums are tuned to tighten the skin so that the drum itself can hold a more enchanting resonance.

But that has to do with the tension of the skin.

And so this applies to the hand as well.

You can spread your fingers a little wider,

And then focus on the feeling of your palms.

What you should feel is something like tingling,

Something like buzzing.

And that might be blood flowing through the capillaries and veins in the skin.

It might be electricity pulsing through the nerves inside the hand.

There's a lot of nerve density in the hands.

It might also be air pressure and temperature on the surface.

But regardless of what it is,

The feeling,

Buzzing and vibration.

And what I'd like you to notice is it feels good.

And so let's just spend a couple moments here.

The point of meditation is to occupy a superposition within ourselves.

A position that permits the full embrace of life as divine,

As supremely good.

Which means we have to reframe our definitions of what is bad and what we tend to reject and push away.

And that's not easy.

And so the way to this superposition,

The way to this superposition is by following the more subtle experiences of our own bodies.

Because all meditators across the board inform future generations,

Future practitioners,

That what we are looking for is within and it is subtle.

It's hidden.

And so this buzzing,

Tingling sensation that sort of feels good if you take the time to appreciate it,

That is the trail.

This sensation is called suk-shma.

And when the Buddha was sitting in his moment of enlightenment his entire body was vibrating with this sensation as yours is in every single moment of your life.

But in that moment of liberation the Buddha was fully committed,

Fully focused on the gift of physical existence.

And this transformed the mind.

And this opened that superposition.

So just think about that while you feel the tingling in your palms.

So the crazy idea is that this actually takes you somewhere.

And the rational thought is this is meaningless.

It's just my hand.

It's just my hand.

And that is the error.

Now bring a random finger to each thumb.

And again,

Imagine you are gently holding a single grain of sand between your finger and your thumb.

And at that point of contact,

Again,

The nerve density on our fingers and our fingertips is very,

Very strong.

And so you should be able to feel that point of contact with increased sensitivity.

That point of contact should be pronounced in the matrix of sensation that is your body.

So just focus on your thumbs,

Touching your fingers.

Vibratory.

Tingling,

Buzzing.

And somewhat euphoric.

So the mind is quick to forget.

Feeling my fingers touching my thumbs,

Honing in to this buzzing,

Tingling,

Semi-euphoric sensation.

As a meditator,

You have to really trust that this takes me somewhere.

That if life is a maze of roads,

Of journeys,

Those roads aren't only physical.

And they aren't only external.

There are paths within us.

There are paths that are intangible,

Quiet,

And secret.

And this is one of them.

Okay,

Now seven directions of your breath.

And to exercise your relationship with intuition,

Let me ask you,

Do you think it's better to breathe quickly or slowly right now?

Now start to count the natural length of your inhale.

And this is the exercise.

That natural length of your inhale that natural length of the inhale,

Whether it's a five count,

A seven count,

Or a 15 count,

Whatever it is,

Inhale for that baseline count.

Then hold your breath for that same count.

As you exhale,

Hum or sing the om for double the baseline.

And then hold your breath again with nothing in your lungs for the baseline.

And so if you inhale for five,

Hold for five,

Chant or hum for 10,

And again hold your breath for five.

Focus on the vibration and resonance of your voice as you chant or hum.

Notice it feels good.

And as CO2 builds up in your body throughout the entire process,

Look past the distress,

Past the fear of suffocation,

The discomfort of suffocation,

And try to pick up on a similar vibratory quality.

And even if it's not euphoric,

It is enlivening.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is about sensitivity,

Physical sensitivity.

What we assume is people that hear about meditation is that the rumors of peace,

Tranquility,

Of confidence,

Of compassion,

We assume that it's mental.

But what we learn in,

As we've discussed numerous times is the path to the mind is the body.

And the trail to this superposition is the sensation of the body.

And so,

Become more mindful of your process.

Inhale,

Hold,

Chant or sing or hum as you exhale,

Then again,

Hold.

And despite the discomfort that might arise mentally,

Hone in to the sensation.

It is enlivening and stimulating and enriching.

The hum or the chant especially,

Try to pick up on its euphoric quality.

Now if you can,

Increase your count by one or two.

And notice that while the technique itself empowers your relationship with sensation in the body,

Performing the technique,

Especially if you're pushing yourself,

Empowers your relationship with the mind.

And so simultaneously,

You learn to stand more upright within both.

You learn to reap the benefits of both.

Now run through this technique one more time on your own.

Inhale,

Hold,

Chant or hum,

Exhale,

Hold.

And then after that,

Just breathe normally through the nose,

Hold your stillness,

Hold your posture,

And appreciate these seven directions.

Now,

If you can,

Increase your count by one or two,

And increase your count by one or two.

You you you you and connecting to your own intuition what do you think would be of greater service to you now a faster or a slower breath and as you take these breaths again now breathing normally appreciate the vibratory and euphoric experience of your body as it is and in that appreciate this is the fundamental pleasure of existence to exist itself is joyous physically and when the feet of our psyche are rooted in the soil of this euphoria the mind sprouts or blooms as something like a lotus thoughts are sweeter courage and confidence is brighter you feeling this sensation is a sign that you are organizing your nerves you now take three very slow breaths here again stillness posture in seven directions feeling through it all the vibratory nature of the body the pleasure of existing and on top of that sense that you are inside yourself acknowledge how the body feels like a shell that the world itself something like a cocoon you appreciate perhaps a sense of nostalgia that manifests as you acknowledge this internal space if you can feel this space something within something inside this is self not identity not ego but self and the yogis believe that self is the event horizon of soul and that while we all have our own purpose our own dreams to fulfill as we live through these bodies the universal purpose of all human beings is to discover for themselves soul to bring your hands to heart center relax your shoulder blades down your spine and take a second to savor the sincerity that oozes out of this hobby the inexplicable sense of fulfillment that comes from doing nothing now lift your thumb knuckles to your third eye center your forehead and again this can be strange even embarrassing but it's a symbolic gesture your awareness your ability to sense yourself as an individual to contemplate yourself and to change yourself literally comes from the tissue behind your forehead and so you're honoring that piece of matter that has somehow evolved to provide you the experience you know as your life now build your focus by feeling your thumb knuckles distinctly and simultaneously feel the ability but also the weakness of your focus this is something to build let's take one more inhale one more exhale only feeling now hold your breath release your wrists back to your knees strong posture again holding the breath collecting co2 the mind is pulled into the body and with your next inhale open your eyes and just repeat I'm no longer meditating from the inside now I'm externalized from focused now I'm distracted neither is right or wrong but understanding the experience of both is what provides a more balanced balanced relationship to our lives