Step Into Deep Awareness Of Who You Are

Hello,

Welcome.

This is a 42 minute guided meditation to help you go deep into yourself and to release stress,

Tensions held in the body and in the mind.

So get comfortable.

Sit in a chair,

On a cushion.

You can even lie down.

But if you lie down,

Try not to fall asleep.

Good.

So try to sit with a straight back,

Hold your head up slightly.

Close your eyes.

Take a deep,

Deep inhale.

Hold the breath for a moment.

Open up the chest and shoulders,

Pull the shoulders back a little and let it go.

Again,

A deep,

Deep inhale.

Hold the breath,

Pull the shoulders back.

Imagine the air in your lungs is collecting any tensions from the body,

From the mind,

From the nervous system and let it all go.

Meditation is just about letting go.

So feel your body in contact with the ground,

With whatever you're sitting on.

Feel the touch of your clothes on your skin without analyzing,

Just observing the contact.

Feel the touch of the air on your skin that is exposed.

Listen to all the different sounds you can hear,

No matter what they are.

Notice how the sounds are constantly changing.

And just like you can never step in the same river twice,

You never hear the same sound twice.

Good.

And now listen to the bell.

Go deep into the present moment by really listening fully to the bell.

Bring your full attention to just feeling the natural breath as it comes in your nose,

In your sinuses,

Down your throat,

Into your lungs.

Feel the touch of each molecule there as it comes in and out of you naturally.

Breathe with a sense of gratitude for this breath,

This wonderful breath that keeps you alive.

Feeling it completely,

Letting go of any thoughts,

Whatever the thoughts are,

They could be of the future,

Of the past,

They could be day dreams,

They could be reactions,

They could be emotions,

Whatever they are,

Just let them float away.

The key thing is become aware when you're thinking about something.

And without frustration,

With gentleness,

With calmness,

Bring back your attention again and again as often as necessary.

Bring it back to just feeling the breath,

Feeling it completely,

Feeling it with gratitude.

Notice if there's any tension anywhere in your body and just let it go,

Relax it.

Even the smallest bit of tension in your body,

In your nervous system,

In your mind can get in the way of meditating.

So be very aware of this.

Just feel the breath completely.

Now feel the breath in a smaller area,

Feel the breath just in your nose,

As it comes Notice if more air is coming in through one nostril than the other,

Or is it equal in both nostrils?

Whatever it is,

Just observe the breath,

Feel the touch of the breath in your nose,

And feel the temperature of the breath that's coming in.

Notice how it's different from the temperature of the breath that's coming out.

Observe the speed of the breath.

Just feel it completely,

The breath that only happens in the present moment.

Going deep Observe if there are any thoughts and just let them float away.

If there are many thoughts,

And that is just the nature of the mind,

The tendency of the mind to just think constantly.

And you may become aware that when you're trying to be quiet,

When you're trying to meditate,

The mind gets even noisier.

This is a very good thing to become aware of,

Becoming aware of the nature of the mind.

Why?

Because when there are thoughts,

It's the same effect as when clouds block the sun.

The thoughts block your awareness of the present moment.

So just let them go.

Just let them float away by having no interest in them.

So don't try to make your mind quiet.

That has the opposite effect.

It's like gasoline on a fire.

It makes it worse.

Just have no interest.

Let them float away.

Feel the breath just in your nose.

Do you get it?

Are you daydreaming?

Are you thinking about your last vacation?

Are you thinking about what you need to do later today?

Let all that go.

Just feel the breath in your nose.

Breathing on to the breath.

The breath that only happens in the present moment wherever you are.

Breathing with a sense of gratitude for this breath that keeps you alive.

Now feel the breath in a smaller area.

Feel the breath in this 2mm wide ring around the entrance to your nostrils.

Focusing on a smaller area helps your concentration get sharper.

Just feel each molecule there as it comes in and out of your nose in that little tiny 2mm wide ring at the entrance to your nose.

Letting go of any thoughts that come up.

Letting go of any reactions that may come up.

Remember be gentle with yourself.

Be patient but be consistent.

And notice are there any tensions anywhere in your body?

As your concentration gets sharper you may become aware of smaller tensions held somewhere in your body.

Somewhere in your nervous system or in the mind and just let them go.

Release them.

Feel the breath completely.

Letting go of any thoughts no matter how glorious they may be or awful they may be let them go.

Let them float away by having no interest in them.

If you have trouble feeling your breath in that little tiny area then breathe in and out a few times strongly like this.

Just feel the touch of that breath in that little 2mm wide ring around the entrance to the nostrils.

Keep it very simple,

Very direct,

Very universal.

Are you thinking about something?

It's okay but bring back your attention.

Feel the breath in that little space at the entrance to your nose.

Breathe with a sense of gratitude for this incredible breath that has kept you alive since the moment you were born.

This breath that you have done automatically hundreds and hundreds of millions of times.

This time not breathing automatically,

This time breathing with full awareness,

This time having your awareness,

Your attention anchored in the present moment by focusing on the breath.

Find the balance between too little effort and too much effort.

Very good.

Now let's move into the next part of our meditation.

Bring your full attention to your toes.

Feel all of your toes at once,

The tips of your toes,

All of them on both feet.

And move a circle of awareness like a little MRI scan.

Move it up both of your feet towards both of your ankles,

Feeling every part of both of your feet.

So that means the skin on top of your feet,

Underneath your feet,

On the sides of them,

Even the skin between your toes.

That's it.

Very good.

Now move the circle of awareness up both legs,

From your ankles towards both knees.

Good.

And now move the awareness,

The circle of awareness,

Towards both of your hips,

Feeling every square millimeter of skin on the surface of your upper legs,

In front and back on the sides of them.

And for a moment,

Notice your posture.

Is your back bent?

Is your head pointing downward?

Straighten out your back.

Point your head slightly upward.

Good.

Now bring the circle of awareness,

Moving it up the front part of your torso.

Moving from the bottom of your torso towards the top of your chest,

Top of the shoulders.

That's it.

And now bring your full attention to your butt area.

And move the awareness,

Like a band of awareness,

Across both of your butt cheeks,

Up your lower back,

All the way up towards the top of your shoulders.

If you have any discomfort in any other part of the body,

Ignore it.

Just stay focused on feeling your whole back area,

Moving the band of awareness upward,

Throughout your entire back.

And finally getting up to the shoulders.

Stay on the shoulders,

Melting away any tensions held in the shoulders.

Good.

Now bring your full attention to your fingertips,

All of your fingertips.

Feel your fingertips completely.

And now move the circle of awareness up all of your fingers towards both of your wrists,

On both arms.

Feeling every square millimeter of skin on both hands.

Now move the circle of awareness up both of your lower arms,

From your wrists towards both of your elbows.

Again,

If there's any discomfort in any part of the body,

Just ignore it for now.

It will be fine.

Don't worry about it.

Now move the circle of awareness from both elbows up towards both shoulders,

Feeling every bit of skin in your upper arms.

The circle of awareness moving up towards both of your shoulders.

Letting go of any thoughts that come up,

Letting go of any reactions,

Letting go of any daydreams.

Stay with feeling the physical sensations that are only happening right here,

Right now.

Sensations only happen in the present moment.

So stay with them completely.

Now come up onto the shoulders again,

Feel the shoulders completely,

Completely letting go and relaxing them.

Now bring your full awareness to the bottom of the front of your neck.

And move the awareness,

Feeling the whole front of the neck.

Moving that awareness,

The band of awareness,

Underneath your chin and move the band of awareness up from your chin up through your whole face,

Including your ears,

Feeling every square millimeter of your face.

Staying completely focused in that area.

That's it.

Now bring your full attention to the bottom of the back of your neck and move the band of awareness up the back of your neck,

Up the back of your head.

And once you get to the top of the back of the head,

Move the band of awareness towards the top of your forehead.

That's it.

Now feel a circle at the very top of your head.

The circle is about three centimeters wide.

Feel every bit of skin in that circle at the very top of your head.

Very good.

And now let's reverse the direction of the body scan.

So move the band of awareness from the top of the forehead towards the back of the top of the head,

Down towards the bottom of the back of your neck,

Letting go of any thoughts that may come up,

Letting go of any reactions,

Any daydreams.

Stay with feeling the sensations of every part of your body as we cover every part bit by bit,

Part by part.

And now bring your attention,

Your full attention to the top of your forehead and move it down your whole face,

Feeling every square millimeter of your face,

Including your ears,

And moving it down towards the bottom of the front of your neck.

Good.

And keep moving that band of awareness now down the front of your torso,

Across the entire top of your chest,

Across the entire mid part of your chest,

Mid part of your torso,

Down towards the bottom of your torso.

Find the right speed.

So don't go too fast.

You might miss many areas.

Don't go too slow.

You might get stuck.

Find the right speed.

Now bring your full awareness to the back from the lowest part of the neck and move it down across your entire back area towards your butt,

Feeling every square millimeter of your back,

Your entire back area as you move the band of awareness gradually at a good speed down towards your butt cheeks.

Again letting go of any thoughts that may come up.

If anything has come up,

Let it go.

That's it.

Very good.

Now bring your full attention to your right shoulder and move a circle of awareness down your right arm.

This time we're going to feel each arm individually to go a little bit deeper,

Moving the circle of awareness down towards your right fingertips.

Good,

Good.

That's it.

And now bring your full awareness to your left shoulder and move the circle of awareness down towards your left fingertips.

Find the right speed,

Not too slow,

Not too fast.

Now bring your full attention to your right hip and we'll do each leg individually this time.

Move the circle of awareness down your right leg towards your right toes,

Feeling every square millimeter of skin on your right leg.

Moving down your right lower leg towards your right ankle,

Right toe tips.

That's it.

Good.

And now bring your full attention to your left hip and move the circle of awareness down your left hip towards your left toes.

Coming down past your left knee towards your left ankle and left toes.

That's it.

Very good.

So feel the aliveness of your body,

This incredible body that you have,

A gift from Mother Nature,

Over 50 trillion cells working harmoniously,

Working automatically.

And observe again,

Make sure that your back is straight.

Make sure that your head is slightly looking upward even though your eyes are closed.

Good.

And now we slip into the final part of this meditation where you feel your beingness,

Your existence,

The aliveness of your body.

You know that you exist.

Stay with that.

Feel your center.

Feel your essence.

All these words are pointing at the same thing.

So now you're not trying to achieve anything.

You're just feeling your deepest,

Most natural self.

And whenever thoughts come up,

You become aware of them and you just let them float away.

You do this by having no interest in the thoughts,

By becoming aware that they're there and then just letting them go.

Having no interest in any thoughts,

Any plans,

Any memories,

Any daydreams,

Any reactions that come up.

Just let them all float away.

Just feel your beingness completely right here right now.

So,

Remember you're not trying to achieve anything.

Let go of that mental habit of wanting to achieve something.

Let it go.

Just feel your natural inner aliveness,

Your beingness.

Knowing what a sacred space it is when you make time and space to sit in stillness,

To feel your inner aliveness,

To feel what you share with all of nature,

With all of life,

With all of existence everywhere.

Letting go of any thoughts,

Any daydreams,

Any reactions that may come up.

Letting go.

Letting go.

Letting go.

Are there any thoughts of any kind?

If there are,

It's okay.

Remember,

That's just the habit of the mind.

If you react with frustration,

Then that's gasoline on a fire.

If you try to make your mind quiet,

That's even more gasoline on a fire.

Just observe what's going on.

Feel your inner aliveness.

Feel the part of you that has always been you,

Unchanging since the moment you were born,

Even though your body's changed so much through the years.

Feel the part of you that will be you,

Unchanging for the rest of your life.

If there's any discomfort in the body,

Let it go.

It's there,

Accept it.

You'll be fine after the meditation.

Just stay with your awareness of your beingness.

And you can ask yourself the key question,

The question that acts like a doorway into your deeper consciousness.

The question is,

Who am I?

Who am I?

But let go of any answers that come to you in response to that question.

Those answers come from your intellect,

From your ego,

From your mind.

When words are so limited,

No words could possibly describe who you really are,

Especially when you get that sense that you're connected to all of existence,

Absolutely everywhere.

Just let go of everything else.

Feel your essence,

Feel your deepest,

Most natural self beyond thoughts.

And grow … Take a nice deep inhale.

Hold the breath when you're full,

Pull the shoulders back and let it go.

One more time,

A deep,

Deep inhale.

Reach up with both arms towards the sky.

Hold the breath,

Stretch out a little bit.

And as you exhale,

Give yourself a loving self hug.

With a sense of gratitude that you survived a 42 minute long meditation.

Good job.

Good job.

A wonderful gift to give to yourself.

Have a wonderful day.

Have a wonderful night.

Take care.

Thanks for everything.

Goodbye.