1. Set aside at least 25 minutes of free time.
Make sure you are in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed and get into a comfortable sitting position.

2. Remind yourself, meditation is your natural state.
There is no need to control your mind, your breath or any other details.

3. Guide your awareness to your physical body.
Begin to notice where your awareness is drawn to. Let awareness be free rather than forcing it to any particular place. Are there any sensations particularly prevalent in your inner body? Let awareness settle with an attitude of openness, curiosity, a willingness to allow it to be as it is. When thoughts come up, allow them to be as they are and guide awareness back to the body. Notice how sensations change and how awareness will naturally be drawn elsewhere according to an innate guidance. Let awareness follow this. This step may last awhile as you work your way down through various layers of the body. Again, trust the body’s wisdom as it guides you. Awareness will dissolve the energy patterns in the body and the mind will begin to become less dominant. I find this step a key component to quieting the mind.

4. Notice what is noticing.
In other words, you are aware of thoughts and sensations and sounds, etc., but as you allow these to be as they are can you notice the presence that is noticing? This presence is not somewhere in your body, nor can it be defined in any way. It is spacious, free, unchanging and unaffected by details. Sort of like the vast infinite sky that surrounds and encompasses everything.

5. Abide in the presence.
Rest as awareness. When you find yourself contracting on thoughts or sensations or emotions, allow these to be as they are. Leave them alone and suspend entertaining them in any way. This will unhook awareness from the object and allow you to experience more presence.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to get into meditation.
Contract on an object . . . allow it to be as it is . . . rest as awareness . . . contract on an object . . . allow it to be as it is . . . rest as awareness.

7. Over time, you will catch awareness faster.
You will enjoy deeper presence for longer periods of time.

8. Ask yourself if you are trying to control your experience in any way.
Are you avoiding particular thoughts, sensation or emotions?

9. 25 minutes in the ideal minimum amount of time to practice.
It often takes a good 15 or 20 minutes to unhook from the persistent draw of the mind. If you shorten your practice on a regular basis you will rarely get the opportunity to bathe in the sweetness of presence.

Remember that meditation is an ongoing practice. Enjoy the journey!

Image via Take Back Your Health Conference

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Meditation is an opportunity to listen to the body in order to understand its needs and to develop the trust needed to deepen the sacred relationship between body and soul.

Soften your belly

As you soften, notice how the breath automatically wants to flow into that soft place… Notice the sensations in your abdomen as your breath deepens… Feel the pressure building in your abdominal cavity around your organs, like a hug from the inside… Feel the floor of the pelvis reaching up to meet the breath… And as the breath touches the floor of the pelvis it gently rebounds off and rises up toward the low ribs… Feel the ribs expanding front and back and side to side… Feel the breath meeting the kidneys and adrenals at the level of the lower back ribs… Allow the breath to naturally flow up from the bottom ribs to the top ribs, from the bottom of the lungs to the top of the lungs, brushing by the heart, gently lifting the collar bones up and down like two little boats on still water…The jaw is parallel to the ground… allow the tongue to rest on the floor of the mouth like a content sleeping puppy in a basket. Nothing to do…nothing to say… the ears are over the shoulders, the eyes are floating in their sockets.

Notice any sensation in the face and in the noticing, see how it naturally begins to unwind itself.

Now set awareness free within the body, moment by moment. The mind will clamour for attention. Just allow the mind to be as it is, as always not trying to stop it or manipulate it in anyway, not judging it; choosing instead to turn the antennae of your attention toward the physical body through moment -by- moment awareness.

We are all aware of pleasant sensations as well as sensations that feel like tension, sensations that we might label as unpleasant. All sensations have the right to exist, yet because we’ve been conditioned to seek pleasure exclusively we reject certain sensations and messages which of course only adds more tension to the system. What would it be like to be with sensation and to listen with equal acceptance to all sensation? Notice a shift towards spaciousness and freedom in your inner experience.

The longer you rest in stillness, the deeper you sink into the world of sensation; you may encounter new sensations or sensations that have been buried for quire awhile. Remind yourself to just listen and feel, to trust that whatever sensation is arising is simply the way that the body and the energy body communicates and expresses from its truth in this moment even though that doesn’t match our idealized version of it.

Learn to Listen

Simply listen without needing to explain any of the sensations, without needing to fix them, without creating a story. Listening does not involve any type of mental activity. On a subtle level, when it comes to the body and its communication with us through sensation, we are constantly categorizing sensations as desirable /undesirable, comfortable / uncomfortable. Listen to what is in fact here right now, rather than through the lens of what you want to hear. Let yourself open to the whole gamut of sensations in the body.

Also notice that if I ask you to bring your awareness to your right hand, you become aware of certain sensations in your hand. And if I ask you to bring your awareness to your left foot, you can turn your attention there and you become aware of various sensations there. Sensations are constantly changing depending on where you are focused. But what is the one thing that isn’t changing? Notice that what noticed your right hand has the same presence that noticed your left foot. This presence is not a thing; it’s more akin to spaciousness. Anchor yourself in awareness itself as you allow the physical body to be as it is. Listening can only happen in the present moment.

If the mind becomes particularly active you can be one hundred percent sure that it’s avoiding a sensation that has been blocked for awhile. See if you can trust enough to notice that thinking is happening and then gently turn your awareness back to the body, giving whatever arises the space to exist as long as it needs.

If we are to create a healthy relationship with our bodies, it will start with listening, just as any good relationship does. Listening is pure openness, very simple.

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A deeply satisfying way to enjoy meditation off the cushion is in intuitive dance. Imagine taking a few minutes to check into your body, noticing its current state, turning on some inspiring music, and then beginning to move in a way that follows and supports the flow of energy that is already there. How do your arms move when they’re not being told what to do? How do your hips move when the mind is out of the equation? How does your spine flow when you let go of control? What happens when you decide to move from a place of listening to the body rather than telling it what to do? Where does the body take you?

Read more about music as medicine

With movement as a metaphor for life, intuitive dance can free us from the confines of a life controlled by limited beliefs into the freedom of the unknown and inspiring possibilities waiting to be discovered. Most movement forms nowadays are structured and linear. We follow what the instructor tells us to do. While this can be enjoyable and beneficial in many ways, it makes sense to also allow ourselves to use movement as an exploration. After all, an authentic life is not a follow-the-leader type of a thing. There is great wisdom in complementing the masculine structure and discipline of most exercise forms with the feminine creativity and sensitivity of intuitive movement.

If you were to put on music and give a three-year-old space to move, she would display uninhibited, flowing, pulsing, chaotic, joyful dance. Somewhere along the line most of us lose this capacity as we begin to act in ways that are meant for outside approval rather than a sense of inner freedom – and this way of being plays out in our work, our relationships, our choices and our leisure time. Where there was once spontaneity is now a constant measuring against some external gauge of how we are supposed to act and feel, which tends to be restrictive and rigid. Meditative movement generated from deep within the body can begin to loosen these shackles and create greater freedom and joy not only in our dance but in our lives as a whole.

Emotionally, intuitive meditative movement invites us to feel deeply what is showing up in the moment and to move from that place. Before I begin my movement practice each morning, I take a moment to connect to any emotional energy that is present in my body and then let myself be drawn inwards to allow the energy itself to lead the dance. I find it a very effective and satisfying way to allow emotions to unwind themselves and to give me access to the clearer place beneath them.

Intuitive movement is very supportive of physical health and fitness. It lubricates the joints; accesses many more and deeper muscle fibers than linear movement; increases strength, endurance and flexibility; encourages lymphatic flow; challenges the cardiovascular system; oxygenates the cells; and enhances body awareness and appreciation. It can be done anywhere, anytime, and by anyone from the level of health that they’re currently at.

Read more about healthy lifestyle changes to make now

Because intuitive movement invites us to let go of moving from a choreographed mental place (and instead emphasizes spontaneity and authenticity), over time we develop the capacity through our movement practice to let go of our reliance on conditioned beliefs as a place to live from and begin to trust the deeper guidance of the soul, which speaks through the body. Thus there is a merging of body and soul that carries forth into our lives and helps us to create a life that is fluid, free and expressive of our true nature.

Image: Lulu Lovering

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As we go through our lives with its periods of ease and its times of challenge, the heart will naturally feel light and open at times or heavy and tight at other times. When the heart is feeling uncomfortable, it’s a signal from our soul to bring awareness to the heart as it is doing its best to move through and release old energies (related to beliefs and held emotions) so that we can progress towards our true nature. Uncomfortable feelings don’t mean something is ‘wrong’ – the sensations are simply related to where the energy is at in this moment. We learn to trust the inherent intelligence of the energy system and help it with our willingness to listen. Rather than turn away from discomfort in the heart, we are being asked to bring it presence, acceptance and curiosity. The system is always releasing energy for our greatest good. 

The following is a meditation for opening the heart to bring it into balance. It uses the often referred to metaphor of the energy centers being like lotus flowers blossoming, although any flower that is meaningful for you will make this meditation effective.

Open Heart Meditation

Take a moment to soften your belly and allow the breath to naturally deepen…

Feel your body responding to the breath and simply bring your awareness to the sensations related to the breath and to the physical body in general…

Now, bring your awareness to your heart centre…

There you will find a beautiful flower… see it there… let it show itself in its own time, in its own way … if you don’t see it, just know that it is there. See its freshness and aliveness, its velvety petals … enjoy its beauty…

As you inhale, notice that you are beginning to smell the unique fragrance of the flower of your heart. The more you enjoy the fragrance the more it blossoms and its essence begins to diffuse through your entire being. Bring yourself back to a time in the past when you have inhaled the fragrance of a flower and how that makes you feel. See the molecules of fragrance filling your entire being… filling you with its sweetness ….your head, arms, chest, belly, pelvis, legs and feet. See it diffusing beyond the edges of your body even…. Smell and enjoy…

As the flower fully blossoms you notice that there is a beautiful jewel nestled amongst the petals. See it there, shining brightly, radiating in all directions… up, down, front, back, side to side…. Each time you exhale, see the light of the jewel penetrating more deeply into your being, finding every dark and hidden nook and cranny… illuminating and healing…. Let the light radiate beyond the edges of your being….

Inhale … take in the fragrance… enjoy…

Exhale …radiate light … enjoy…

Do this several more times, taking particular care to send the flower’s perfume and the jewel’s light to areas of your body that are in need of healing right now….

Good.

Now, dive into the jewel as deeply as you can and find the flame that is the source of light… see this eternal flame burning brightly … one fire, one spirit….

Connect to the flame and feed it with the following phrases… let these words be fuel for the flame that lights the jewel in the flower of your heart….

May I be happy. (say and feel this, three times)

May I be healthy. (say and feel this, three times)

May I experience loving-kindness. (say and feel this, three times)

May I enjoy the gifts of my talents and abilities. (say and feel this, three times)

May I accept what is. (say and feel this, three times)

Continue to sit in stillness for several breaths, witnessing and allowing (without engaging) any thoughts, emotions and sensations. Rest as awareness itself, noticing particularly any sensations in your heart and trusting the energy to dance its way through your system … notice and allow …

Good.

Now go into your day knowing that you always have access to your deepest heart through this image of the flame in the jewel in the flower of your heart.

Inhale, smell and enjoy…

Exhale, radiate and enjoy …

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Here are a few of the principles we explored:

• Everything is made of energy.
• Energy’s natural state is to be free and to transition to a higher and higher vibration as it reaches towards its true nature, which is spirit.
• The human energy field is infused with an intelligence that draws to it, through the law of attraction, circumstances that point directly to frozen energy patterns so that we can bring awareness to them.
• Pure awareness is the greatest solvent for blocked energy.

Simply rest as awareness….If your moment was a landscape, the thoughts, the sensations, the sounds, the emotions, would be the objects in the landscape: trees, rocks, birds, animals.

Awareness is the space around the objects. It is the vastness that connects everything, like the sky. The sky doesn’t pick and choose what it allows in its space – and the same goes for awareness. Open your awareness to everything, every aspect of yourself, every thought, every emotion. Open your awareness to every aspect of your circumstances, honestly. Bring everything into the folds of your awareness without picking and choosing.

When you let go of control in this way, you transform your own life from one that is being controlled by an idealized conditioned view to the life that really wants to express itself through you, the most beautiful and the most blessed life – the highest vibration.

Even though there is a profound letting go of control, it is through this letting go that our most powerful actions, choices and decisions come from. This is because they are coming from an authentic place, a wise place, and a loving place: a place that remembers who you are, why you’re here, and what this is really all about.

You’ll know when you are not in your heart, when you’re not living from the highest vibration of the soul, when you are living in judgment. All energy blocks are anchored by judgment – somehow believing that this thought, these circumstances, this person, these emotions, are not right, do not belong. Therefore, by working to let go of judgment, and softening to allow things to be as they are, there’s a huge freeing up of the energy body, a sinking into the heart which is where the soul speaks from. Each time we are still, there is a penetration through the layers of illusion, the layers of personality, the layers of falsely created self.

Remember that this place is always here – there is no need to go searching for it and no need to create it. All it takes is a little bit of slowing down, a little bit of stillness, and a willingness to look at what is arising with a kind eye, a loving eye, an accepting eye, a welcoming eye.

And the magic is that what you are able to do for yourself, you are automatically able to do for others.

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The big ‘T’ Truth is ultimately what we are looking for as seekers. Our teachers can point to the direction of the Truth, but ultimately it is something we need to experience for ourselves. We’re told that what is True is, we are already perfect, whole and complete beings, and that it is not only possible but completely natural to live balanced, healthy, fulfilled and joyful lives. How do we experience this Truth for ourselves?

Most of us experience life through the conditioned self, which has been created over the course of our lives by deeply ingrained survival instincts. We create patterns of being that keep us safe. We adopt the values of those around us to feel like we belong, and we act in ways that will give us approval from our parents, teachers and friends, even if that means disregarding more natural and heart-centered tendencies. Often, certain aspects of our True nature are ignored or rejected by the world around us; so we begin to hide them beneath a mask that ensures acceptance, society-defined success and emotional safety. So over time we give up what is True for our most evolved life and begin to operate from the patterns that make up our personal survival complex, which is often called the ego or the conditioned self.

True nature is alive in each one of us, but it is sitting in the back seat while the conditioned self drives our lives for most of us. In our spiritual pursuits, we often by-pass our True nature instead of looking directly at egotistical patterns to dissolve them. As a result, we create a new conditioned spiritualized self, which can be even more seducing, illusory and numbing.

Conditioned patterns are best dissolved through direct seeing. This is what is meant by seeing what’s ‘true’ in order to get to the ‘Truth’. When we sit in meditation, we allow ourselves to see what’s really here now, whether they’re thoughts, emotions, or sensations in the body, rather than trying to create a spiritual experience or the perfect meditation. For one, it doesn’t’ work and for another True meditation is beyond the ability of the mind to construct. Meditation is the domain of spirit which is a constantly unfolding mystery. It is already here and accessible and therefore doesn’t need to be created. Why try to construct something that is already fully formed? Any efforts to manipulate ourselves into the meditative state generally take us farther away from it.

When sitting in meditation, be aware of sounds, thoughts, emotions and sensations that make up the foreground of this moment. This is the small ‘t’ truth: the details of our lives that are constantly changing. By opening our awareness to all of this rather than by-passing it to manipulate ourselves into meditation, we come to realize that the presence that is noticing details is True nature itself. We see what is arising with openness, when we let go of control. This is what I like to call intimate indifference. Intimate indifference arises from willing to deeply see everything: the smart and the crazy thoughts, the pleasurable and challenging sensations, the comfortable and disturbing emotions, but remaining unaffected because we are identifying with something more real and True. There is a presence beyond the details of this moment that isn’t affected by the current personal story. We have a choice as to what we identify with, the conditioned self and our story, or True nature which powers the evolved life.

A meditation practice is a safe environment, free of the usual distractions, where we can experience our ability to steep ourselves in what’s true this moment in order to be open to what’s really True always and all-ways.

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The word ‘healing’ comes from a root that means ‘to make whole’. Meditation is the foundation of any physical healing plan because in meditation we are resting our awareness in the silence and stillness that is already whole, regardless of the physical state.

So often when people have symptoms of a disease, the automatic response is to believe that the body has done something wrong and that we need to use every means possible to remove the problem – including drugs and surgery. Of course this is a choice that each individual makes for themselves and there is nothing inherently wrong with any choice, as they are also part of all that is. However, in deep healing, if we truly want to become whole we need to become whole with everything in our life, including the things we might want to separate from, like illness and disease. What would it be like to turn towards the symptoms and discomfort and to simply listen without assuming that something is wrong? When it comes to our incredible bodies there is never anything ‘wrong’. However when we think something is wrong, we begin to struggle with it, to battle and try to fix it. This only creates more tension and dis-ease and often prevents us from seeing the simple but more effective actions we might take to heal. Healing is available to us every moment of every day but we are too distracted to see it.

The body is always doing the best it can, given its circumstances and biography. When we truly listen, the body begins to guide us towards choices that support it in its healing. What body wouldn’t want to heal? What soul wouldn’t want to live in a healthy body, so that it has all the energy and vitality it needs to know the joy of manifesting clearly through the physical body?

The greatest barrier to healing is not the body at all. It is the beliefs that we would need to question and release in order to heal. It’s the emotions we would have to feel, the inner work we would have to do, and the changes to our lives we would have to make. God forbid, we would have to let go of control! To meet all of these things can be scary to the ego, which has been carefully constructed through conditioning to protect itself from perceived threats. For the soul though – it is the only way.

In meditation we can bring our physical symptoms, our worry and our fear to the cushion. Let everything land as you settle and notice that beyond your current circumstances what you really are is already complete and perfect. To get to that level of experience we need to allow the system to sink through thought, emotion and sensation into a deeper reality – that of spirit. From this place we are informed and guided through the mystery of our unique healing journey. We also find the inspiration to carry through with the lifestyle changes that are needed for deep healing. So much energy and lifeforce is freed up when we stop struggling with our bodies and instead trust its guidance and innate ability to heal from within.

Enjoy!

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