Posture Meditation For Mind-Body Connection

In this practice,

We are going to focus on the posture of the body.

The reason that we will focus the whole practice just on the posture of the body is that the posture of the body has a significant importance for our concentration and awareness.

We have to understand that the body and mind are the same.

There are different aspects of the same thing.

Anything that manifests in the body is manifesting in the mind,

And anything that manifests in the mind manifests in the body,

In one way or another.

In yoga,

We have the instruction,

A very specific instruction of asana.

Asana means posture.

The posture should be steady and comfortable.

We need to bring these oppositions together.

We want to feel comfortable and at ease on one hand,

But on the other hand,

Vigilant and strong,

Steady in our posture.

This brings unification of opposites,

And we are able to bring equilibrium of energy and awareness.

We can bring equilibrium of the body and mind.

This way,

We can have so much more awareness.

When we are in an uncomfortable position,

Our mind will feel uncomfortable as well.

So when we are in a comfortable position,

But yet strong and alert with our mind,

Then our mind is open,

Our energy is open,

And we can really enjoy the unification of body and mind.

In this practice,

We are going to focus in details on each and every part of the body so that we can be in the optimal position for ourselves,

And therefore in the optimal state of mind.

We are going to use this meditation as a meditation by itself for a long period of time,

But we also incorporate the insights and the immediate experience from this meditation in other meditations.

So now,

Let's go into the practice.

Choose a comfortable position.

Have a moment of arriving,

Arriving into this present moment,

Into your body,

Into the immediate experience of being here and now.

Just for a moment,

See what is your dominant experience.

That you have some body sensations,

Maybe an area of the body that feels tense or painful.

Maybe the dominant experience right now is a mental experience,

Some thought,

Images,

Memories.

Maybe there is some emotion present in your body-mind right now.

Whatever it is,

Just allow it to be for a moment,

And be aware of it.

Then we move from whatever the dominant experience that we have right now to the posture of our body.

Just have a general look on the body.

And when I say look,

I mean actually experience.

So there is no one that is looking at our own body.

There is no faculty that is doing that right now.

We actually feel the body itself,

How it feels to have a body.

Then we bring the attention to the seat that we are sitting on.

It might be a chair or a cushion on the floor.

Just see if this seat is appropriate to your needs right now.

Pay attention to the seat.

It might be the chair or the cushion that you sit on.

Is it high enough or is it too low?

Is it comfortable to sit on?

If needed,

Adjust the seat and bring all the attention to the seat itself.

Feel how grounding it is.

To really pay attention to the meeting points between the body and the chair,

Or the body and the cushion,

The body and the floor.

And for a moment,

Explore gravity in the lower part of the body.

Really feel the connection with the earth itself,

With the ground.

It really requires us to take an elevator all the way from the mind,

Down,

Down,

Down,

To the legs,

To the buttocks.

Feeling the connection to our own body and to the ground.

Now,

Pay attention to your sitting bones.

See that you are not too forward,

Sitting too much forward on the sitting bones,

And not too backward.

So that you are actually at the center of the sitting bone.

When our torso is a bit slightly forward,

The weight is on the front of the sitting bones.

And when the torso is leaning back,

We are actually sitting on the back of the sitting bone.

I would like you please to find the middle of the sitting bones,

The center of the sitting bones,

Of each one of them.

Take a moment to do any adjustment,

But really,

It's even more an energetic adjustment and a state of awareness.

When you find the center of the sitting bone,

Meditate on it.

Be completely aware of it.

But even more,

Allow yourself to be it,

To be the sitting bone.

Notice,

When you are correctly on the sitting bone,

How the posture feels even more comfortable,

How we are even more grounded.

And for a moment,

How the breath manifests in the body.

Keep the awareness of the sitting bone.

Bring the awareness to your hands,

The palms of the hands,

The fingers.

Position the hands in the best location for you.

It might be on the center of the thigh bones.

Relax the fingers completely.

Allow the palms of the hands to be relaxed,

The wrists to be soft.

Notice the effect of the relaxed hands on the shoulders,

On the chest,

And on the breath.

Pay attention to your lower back.

The lower back should have its natural curve.

Again,

It's more of an energetic adjustment.

We need to find the exact natural curve of the spine,

The lower spine.

So,

Not overarching it,

And yet not rounding it.

So bring all the awareness there,

To the lower spine.

Actually feel the vertebrae of the spine.

Bring your mind into it.

Make it completely soft,

But energized at the same time.

This will support the whole spine,

All the way up to the crown of the head.

Notice that when you do this,

Your breath becomes so much more free,

And has such a soothing effect.

On the lower belly,

And the lower back.

Your breath becomes like a healing device.

Holding the lower back,

Still feeling the sitting bones,

And the groundedness of our posture.

Relaxing the hands even more,

And the fingers,

And relaxing the shoulders.

There is a very big difference between relaxing the shoulders,

And moving the shoulders.

Allow the shoulders to relax.

Let go of any tension there.

The shoulders just relaxing away from the ears.

We tend to hold a lot of tension in our shoulders,

And to shrug them up involuntarily.

So relax completely.

Let go.

Let's go back to the breathing along the spine.

When we relax the shoulders,

Feel grounded,

Holding our lower back.

There is a greater connection to the spine itself,

And to the breath along the spine.

Start paying attention to all the vertebrae in the body.

All the vertebrae along the spine.

And how there is a natural movement with inhalation and exhalation.

Pay attention.

With inhalation and exhalation.

The spine is moving.

Very subtle movement.

Tap into that.

When our shoulders relax so much,

We can take the chin slightly in.

By doing that,

The side of the neck is reaching up towards the crown of the head.

Chin slightly in.

And it's an energetic movement,

Rather than anything else.

Feel how the breath of the spine becomes more liberated.

Then the crown of the head is reaching up as if it's pulled by a string.

So on one hand,

We are deeply connected to the ground,

To the seat,

To the sitting bones.

On the other hand,

The other end of the body,

The crown of the head is reaching up.

And the whole spine becomes really long by being deeply connected to the ground,

And extremely connected to the sky.

Pay attention to your breath in this state of the body.

When we are in this posture,

With all the subtle adjustments,

There is an energy coming up.

It comes up all the way from the bottom of the spine up to the crown of the head.

Allow yourself to connect to this energy,

To be this energy for a moment.

Open your mouth slightly.

Relax the lips.

Relax the tongue.

Separate your teeth from one another.

Relax the jaw.

Allow the breath to enter the body through both the mouth and the nostrils.

With this adjustment,

Feel even more how the energy is rising up to the crown.

Relax the eyes completely.

Relax the space in between the eyebrows.

Relax the eyebrows as well.

Internally look with your eyes to the spine,

And to the movement of energy that comes up along the spine to the crown.

Make any adjustment that you need right now in order to feel even more the movement of energy up the spine.

See if there is any holding in the body,

If there is any place that you need to release and relax.

And see with each and every subtle adjustment and relaxation how the energy is expressed even more.

In the optimal sitting position,

There is a free movement of energy.

Enjoy that.

Explore that for as long as you wish.