Feeling And Being

Hey,

Welcome to another meditation with me,

The Downward Doug.

Now today's session can be done seated or lying down.

I actually suggest lying down is better,

But it's totally up to you.

It all still works.

That's just my suggestion.

Whatever position you want to be in for this meditation,

I want you to go there now.

Get relaxed,

Get comfortable,

Close the eyes.

And the only thing I'm really looking for here is that you have a nice straight spine.

So if you're lying down,

Make sure you're nice and straight lying down.

If you're sitting up,

Make sure you're sitting up nice and straight.

Start to focus on the breath.

Just enjoying this time that you've carved out for yourself.

It's truly a magical time that we can explore our own experience and learn from it.

And we can see the peace that comes from it.

As you're getting settled in there,

Just getting comfortable with where you are and how you breathe,

I'll start to explain the session for today.

See as humans,

We have this incredible ability to live in our minds.

We can use abstract thought to plan and remember and fantasize,

But also to worry and ruminate and catastrophize.

In this session,

I want you to come back home to your experience.

To focus on sensation,

Not situation.

To go from thinking and doing to feeling and being.

We can do that by savoring each breath.

No rush to start it.

No rush to finish it.

No rush to move from one to the other.

Just enjoying it.

And that's because we are in no rush.

You didn't choose this meditation because you wanted to get through something quickly.

You wanted to experience something.

You see,

Enlightenment comes to us.

We don't run to it.

So as you're breathing,

I want you to start taking notice of the area between the eyebrows,

Often known as the third eye.

You can notice this area both on the inside and the outside,

Known as this capacity to connect to something beyond just the physical.

An area that is mystically connected to awareness and transcendental activities.

As you become aware of this third eye area,

Begin breathing in and out from here.

I want you to imagine that there's a small ball of energy right between the eyebrows,

Around the size of a pinhead.

And this ball of energy is not static,

It's whirling around.

It's this almost atom-like structure.

Start to imagine that energy source now,

Like a sphere just rolling around,

Some of its energy spilling outside the lines of a perfect sphere.

And you can choose your favorite color to imagine it now.

As you're breathing into this area,

Imagining this bit of energy,

Imagine each breath now is making this ball of light a little bit bigger and a little bit brighter.

As it gets bigger and brighter,

So does your capacity to cultivate awareness and openness to your experience.

After around five breaths or so,

You would have made this ball around the size of a tennis ball.

And remember,

It's just between the eyebrows.

So you're probably getting to that stage about now.

So imagining this tennis-sized ball energy swirling around between the eyebrows.

This ball is full of awareness and openness.

And now wherever it goes,

It will illuminate what you feel.

Your exhale is going to allow it to travel down to wherever you choose.

And the inhales are going to allow it to return to the third eye.

So I want you to imagine a point at the base of your neck for me now.

On your next exhale,

You will send that energy from your third eye down to the base of your neck,

Making a pathway between the third eye and the space of your neck.

Each exhale,

That energy will travel down and illuminate this pathway,

Lighting up what you feel.

And each inhale will send this energy back up to the third eye.

Try that for me now.

Exhale,

Send that energy down,

Light up the pathway.

As you inhale,

Let that energy travel back up.

So I want you to notice as you breathe here,

How the area between your third eye and the base of your neck feels.

No judgment on why it feels like this,

Just noticing how it feels.

Each breath,

Just allow us to feel this area.

And even though it's a small distance,

Use all of the breath,

Utilizing that time to feel,

Checking in with these areas.

Now imagine a new point on the tip of each shoulder.

On the next exhale,

Imagine this ball of energy you created traveling down from the third eye to the base of the neck and then splitting to travel to each shoulder point.

As you inhale,

Same deal,

That energy travels back towards the base of the neck from the shoulders and up towards the third eye,

Lighting up a new pathway,

Just extending that awareness a little bit further now.

Feel this upside down T shape in your body.

Become aware of the head,

The neck and the shoulders.

Notice this illumination.

Imagine this pathway lit up,

Letting you see and feel these parts of your body.

We extend this energy pathway now,

Imagining a point on each elbow.

As you exhale,

You start once again at the third eye,

Let it travel down to the base of the neck,

Split to each shoulder and then travel down the arms to each elbow.

As you exhale,

You reverse it,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Neck,

Third eye.

Take your time with the breath,

No rush.

See if you can distinctly check in with each area as you arrive at each point.

Great work.

One last point is now added to the arm and this will be at the end of the index finger.

For now,

I just want you to feel this point.

Notice the end of each index finger.

Notice it pulsing from the inside,

Like a lighthouse calling to your awareness.

We're going to break down your breathing into four equal parts and this is going to allow us to feel each area distinctly.

We're going to do this together,

But we need to breathe into four equal parts on the inhale and on the exhale.

We'll also have a pause between each.

Got it?

If not,

You'll get the idea as we go through it.

So wherever you are in your breath cycle,

Inhale with me.

Quarter exhale now to the neck,

Quarter exhale to the shoulders,

Quarter exhale shoulders to elbows,

And last exhale elbows to fingers,

Pause,

Quarter inhale finger to elbow,

Quarter inhale elbow to shoulder,

Quarter inhale shoulder to neck,

Quarter inhale neck to third eye,

And again,

Pause,

Exhale third eye to neck,

Exhale neck to shoulders,

Exhale shoulders to elbows,

Last exhale elbows to fingers,

Pause,

Quarter inhale finger to elbow,

Inhale elbow to shoulders,

Quarter inhale shoulders to neck,

Quarter inhale neck to third eye,

Pause,

And now try on your own.

Just breathing in equal parts from point to conscious breaths,

Conscious sensations.

Now once you're comfortable with doing these different points,

Begin to smooth out the breath by taking out those pauses between points.

So it's one smooth inhale and exhale,

And you're just flowing through consciousness between each of those points.

Give that a try.

All right,

Good job.

Bring that awareness back to the third eye,

Cultivate that awareness and openness once again by breathing in and out through this area.

I have a new pathway for you.

In a moment we're going to travel from third eye to the base of the neck,

And then down the entire spine to the tailbone,

Then as you inhale,

It just travels back up.

Inhale fully,

And as you exhale,

Let's light up this pathway all the way down,

Base of neck,

Down the spine,

All the way to the tailbone.

When you end here,

Take a pause,

Inhale,

Travel it back up the spine,

Base of the neck,

Into the third eye.

Continue breathing in and out,

Up and down.

As you breathe in this line,

This new pathway,

Start to become aware of how the spine feels,

How the back feels,

And also start to notice how straight you're sitting or laying down.

Make any adjustments you need to make that as straight of a line as possible.

Each inhale,

As that awareness travels up the spine,

Imagine your head being pulled up a little bit higher as you grow a little bit taller.

Then as that energy travels down with the exhale,

Imagine the tailbone getting pulled a little bit further away,

Almost as if your spine has been stretched with just the breath.

Great job.

We now add two more points to this pathway,

One at the top of each thigh.

On your next exhale,

Let that energy travel down the spine to the tailbone and then to the top of each thigh.

As you inhale,

Let it travel all the way back up,

Extending our awareness now to the hips and the glutes and everything in between.

Make any adjustments to make these hips sit in the perfect place.

Notice any tension you're holding onto in the bum.

Relax and just be aware.

We extend our energy awareness even further now,

Adding a point onto each knee and with each exhale now traveling from the third eye to the neck,

Down the spine,

Tailbone,

Onto the top of each thigh and into the knees.

Imagining this pathway lighting up,

Feeling everything in its wake.

Noticing how the thighs feel,

The glutes feel,

The spine,

The back,

The abs,

The chest,

The neck and the head.

We add our last point now at the end of each big toe and before anything,

I just want you to feel some awareness in this area.

Feel your big toes from the inside.

Center all of your awareness into each big toe.

Notice how they feel today.

Once again,

We're going to break up the breath,

This time to five equal parts and this time we'll travel up from the toes to the knees,

Knees to the top of the thighs,

Top of the thighs to the tailbone,

Tailbone all the way to the base of the neck and lastly from the base of the neck to the third eye.

Ready?

I thought so.

Do that now.

Partial inhale,

Toes to knees.

Partial inhale,

Knees to top of thighs.

Partial inhale,

Thighs to tailbone.

Partial inhale all the way up the spine.

Last partial inhale to the third eye.

Pause.

Now exhale,

Third eye to base of neck.

Exhale further,

Base of neck down to tailbone.

Keep exhaling,

Tailbone to top of thighs.

Exhale top of thighs to knees.

Last exhale,

Knees to big toes.

Repeat on your own now.

Just inhaling from point to point,

Taking your time.

When you get to the third eye,

Take a slight pause and as you exhale,

Let that energy and breath travel all the way down the body.

Once again,

Using this extra time to feel each area distinctly,

Noticing it,

Checking in with it.

Feel free to take out those slight pauses at each point and just make it one smooth breath.

Just imagining this energy pulse up and down,

Up and down,

Fully aware of your body.

Each inhale making you grow taller,

Being stretched.

Each exhale drawing your feet further away.

Each inhale and exhale making you more aware,

More open,

More spacious.

Come into your last inhale now and let all that awareness come back to rest at the third eye,

Consolidating it all into one place.

Once again,

Imagine that ball of light,

Of awareness,

About the size of a tennis ball sitting between your eyebrows and with the next five breaths,

Let it be absorbed into your body until it is once again the size of a pinhead.

Keep that awareness in your body.

Notice how you feel in this moment.

Thank you for joining me and committing to feeling and being.

I hope to see you soon.