Hello my friends and welcome,
Today we are simply being with the body,
First of all take a moment to let your body be settled in the seat,
You might be sitting on the floor,
You might be sitting on a chair,
If you're sitting on a cushion on the floor make sure that you're hips are elevated enough so that they are higher than the knees,
And if you're sitting on a chair make sure that you're sitting on the sit bones rather than the tailbone,
The important thing is that we're not slouching,
The important thing is that we are supporting an upright position with the spine,
And this upright position supports a clear and relaxed mind,
It allows the front of the body to be open for the breath to come and go naturally,
So let the body settle,
Let the breath settle,
The keywords for this meditation are settling,
Slowing and stabilizing,
The first point of position in the body is the lower half of the body,
Bring your awareness down to the toes,
To the feet,
The ankles,
The shins,
Calf muscles,
Knees,
Thighs,
To the hips,
And feel the weight of the lower half of the body,
The pelvic bones,
Down to the sit bones,
And let the weight of the lower half of the body carry you down towards the earth,
Let it be heavy and stable,
From here bring the attention to the lower part of the back,
And lean back just a centimeter,
Just a quarter of an inch,
And as you lean back then lift and lengthen the whole spine towards the crown of the head,
Let the spine be long and let the ribcage relax,
Point three is to carefully tilt the sternum,
The center of the chest upwards,
Opening the space of the heart,
And as you do this,
Be clear with the space behind the heart between the shoulder blades,
And relax the shoulders at the bone,
The shoulders down to the elbows,
Elbows down to the wrists,
And the wrists through the fingers,
You can have any position that's comfortable with the hands,
Whether in the lap or on the legs,
I like to place one hand on top of the other in the lap,
Palm in palm,
A gesture called the mudra of tranquility,
But if we're just following the relaxation of the bone from the shoulders to the elbows to the wrists,
Then that is sufficient for the hands to rest just where they are,
Point five is to tilt the chin in just half a centimeter and let the back of the neck be long,
Lifting up from the occipital point,
This point is to notice the balance of the head on top of the neck,
To notice if your chin moves forward too much or tilting down too much,
Pulling the head in and letting the ears rest over the shoulders,
The next point,
Take the tip of the tongue to the upper palate of the mouth right behind the front teeth,
As you do this,
Relax the base of the tongue,
The root of the tongue,
Let it be soft and let the upper palate of the mouth be broad open,
The tip of the tongue to the upper palate and the teeth are slightly parted,
If you're not familiar with this,
It can be a strange point,
It's one that I've always found helpful,
The tip of the tongue to the upper palate of the mouth behind the front teeth,
It allows the jaw to be relaxed so that we can continue breathing naturally through the nose,
So relax the jaw and breathe through the nose,
Point seven is to soften the gaze of the eyes,
The corners of the eyes,
The back of the eyes,
You can choose to have your eyelids closed,
Slightly parted or open,
Either way is fine,
Whatever you're comfortable with,
I like to have my eyelids relaxed,
More or less closed for most meditation sessions,
But here the attention is on the relaxation of the eye,
It's found that when the mind moves,
There are also small micro movements in the eyes and also in the tongue,
Here if we steady the place,
The position of the tongue in the position of the eyes,
Allowing them to rest in steadiness,
Stability,
Then we contribute to the clarity of the mind,
Relax the gaze of the eyes,
The eighth point is an overall awareness of the body,
Be very present with the body as a whole,
The body as a whole as one sensation,
And notice if you were following,
Moving through these eight points of position,
Then settling happens very naturally,
This slowing down happens organically,
And this stability deepens all by itself,
Then the task is to notice the way that stillness arrives,
Or should I say the way that stillness is uncovered or revealed,
So when these eight points fall in line,
Our position becomes steady and stable,
And then stillness is recognized throughout the whole body,
It's very important that we don't force ourself into a position of stillness,
Or for stillness to be thought of as rigid,
Stillness is not,
It's not too tight,
It's not forced,
It's not rigid,
Stillness is a type of relaxation,
Stillness is a type of contentment,
Stillness is a type of letting go,
The task is to notice from a place of stillness how everything moves,
But if we haven't found the place of stillness,
Then we are still moving with everything,
Wondering where stillness is,
Stillness is a quality of receptivity,
Of resting mind and body into deep allowing of all that is in this moment,
If you rest the mind,
If you rest the body,
Stillness is naturally evident,
Naturally revealed,
And even if you just remember one point of this eight points of position for meditative stillness,
If you just remember one point and come back to it,
It can revitalize and refresh the entirety of the meditation session,
It can bring the awareness back online,
It is a way that we can have remembrance in the body,
It's a way that we can fall into alignment with stillness,
And that allows us to have a broader awareness and a deeper presence,
In these eight points what we are looking for is simplicity,
So if any one of them is complicated,
You don't have to do it,
You can create your own list,
These eight points that I offer as the foundation for stillness in the body and mind,
They shape the architecture of an inner position that is stable,
Tranquil and clear,
It is an embodied clarity,
When the body is stable,
Tranquil and clear there is an alertness of mind,
Attentive,
Aware,
That is not dull or distracted,
It is the mind of wakefulness,
Of lucidity,
Of vividness,
When we find stillness,
I like to think of it as an aroma or a fragrance,
Stillness when relaxed into,
It opens towards us,
We realize that it's always been there,
Yet when it opens towards us it shares this aroma or fragrance,
The fragrance of stillness is stability,
Tranquility and clarity,
These are the aroma of stillness.
The last thing for our session today is a well-known Zen gatha,
That is attributed to Zen Master Dogen,
It says,
Body like mountain,
Heart like ocean,
Mind like sky,
Mind like sky,
You might want to remember this three-line phrase,
In order to remember this inner positioning,
This inner stillness,
Mind like sky,
Slow,
Stable,
Grounded,
Immovable,
Unshakable,
Heart like the ocean,
Broad,
Shoreless,
Open,
Vast,
Tranquil,
Mind like the sky,
Clear,
Pure,
Infinite,
Spacious,
Clarity.
We spent a whole session on the eight points of position,
As I said,
If you just remember one or two,
It is enough,
And this inner settling into stillness is the first part,
In the next meditations it can happen more instantaneously,
More effortlessly,
And we won't waste so much time settling into the body,
But this meditation,
You can come back to it as much as you want,
To go from one point to the next,
To settle into inner stillness.
We will end today's meditation here.
Thank you.
