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Guided Meditation: Harmonizing Body and Mind

Good morning, everyone, and good day. I marvel at what we're doing here in these mornings with our electronic meeting, and that we should somehow have this connection over great geographical distances. To be breathing at the same time, practicing mindfulness at the same time, and each of us being here in our own unique place. To be here in this broad, global way as well, and to have this dual "hereness"—it seems pretty profound that we are somehow simultaneously present for our immediate experience, while having this wondrous and very significant connection to this "here" which is broad, wide, and encompassing the globe. So, thank you.

The "here" of mindfulness practice has a lot to do with being mindful of the body, being here in this body. If all you did was just recognize that you're here in this body—that this is the body, this is the experience of the body—over and over again, mindfulness would grow and develop in all kinds of ways. It doesn't have to be complicated or sophisticated; just that simple recognition of being here in this body.

In a sense, the task of mindfulness is to bring the mind into harmony with the body. The body is always in the present moment. The mind is often not; it's thinking about the past, about the future, about fantasy, not really connected to what's here and now. If we want the body and mind to be in harmony, to work together—which is really the best way of operating in this life—then it's the task of inviting and welcoming the mind into the body. Accompanying the body, allowing the body to accompany the mind, and having these two operating in the same place at the same time.

The principle seems quite simple. The actuality is that the mind has a mind of its own and has strong things it wants to do. When that's the case, it's possible to bring the body to the mind. This means really feeling—physically feeling—the physicality of a distracted mind, of a preoccupied mind, of a psycho-emotional system that is fueled by emotions. Feel what's happening that keeps you from the body, that keeps you from being present. Feel it in the body. Welcome it into the body. Invite it into the body. Invite the body into what you're feeling. It's constantly coming back and creating this intimacy between the mind and the body, so we really become more and more grounded in this body.

Taking, assuming, entering into a bodily posture that supports you both in being present, but also supports you in entering more fully into mindfulness of the body. It is almost as if you can be aware from your body, through your body. All the nerve endings that exist throughout the body are where awareness begins.

Sometimes we think awareness begins in the mind, but awareness begins in the nerve endings. What is it to relax into all the nerve endings throughout the body, and allow the awareness to arise there?

Gently close the eyes. To make this connection to the body fuller, to invite ourselves into the body, you might take a few long, slow, deep breaths. Feel the increase of bodily sensations as you breathe in deeply, maybe throughout the torso. Sometimes with deep inhalations, you can feel the lifting of the chest and the shoulders. If the belly is relaxed, you can also feel the pushing down into the sitting bones. Notice this combination of lifting and settling, moving up and moving down on the inhale, and then relaxing and coming back to the center with the exhale.

Let your breathing return to normal. Allow all your muscles that are not used to hold you upright to release; let all the extra muscles fall away from their bones. If you are physically sitting upright, you can think of your spine as a post from which all the muscles of the torso hang. Whatever is not used to hold the post upright, let it hang from that post.

The muscles of the shoulders—there's no need to hold them up or tight. As you exhale, relax the shoulders. As you exhale, let the back ribs also relax and fall away, relaxing away from the spine. Maybe on the exhale, there can be a subtle releasing and relaxing in the small of the back.

As you exhale, soften the belly. Maybe the belly doesn't have to work during the exhale, letting the diaphragm do all the work—which is mostly the work of releasing. The diaphragm releases itself.

Soften the muscles of the face, relaxing the face. Sometimes, if you carefully feel the face, you can feel it's tired. The muscles are tired from all the work of expressing ourselves. Release and relax the muscles of the face.

Then, release the tensions in your brain—the tightness and pressure associated with thinking, if it's there. On the exhale, relax the thinking mind, quieting your thoughts.

Maybe, as the home for the meditation, you can drop into your body to wherever you feel you're breathing as you meditate. Wherever it is, be aware of it as physical sensations of the body. The task is to let the mind, the attention, the presence of the mind, be connected to this body breathing. Appreciate the opportunity to have the mind accompany the body, and the body accompany the mind. For them to be working together with the same focus.

When you notice you've lost that connection to the body because you've drifted off in thought, re-establish this intimacy, this connection to the body. This is the place to be, one breath at a time.

If you have even the slightest anxiety about the meditation, maybe it's helpful to know that this practice is trustable. Trust it. It'll work itself out and help you find a way. There's no need to try to "do it right," especially if you allow yourself just to feel it in your body. Whatever is here, let the body be the home for the here and now. Let the body show itself to you; there is nothing you need to search for.

As we come to the end of the sitting, perhaps for a few moments, can you allow yourself to be even more fully centered in your body? Perhaps feeling how your weight is supported by something—the chair, your cushion, the bed. Feeling the stability of that support. How that stable support affirms that your body is here and now.

Staying rooted in your body here, without leaning forward or leaning back, without getting pulled into the world of thoughts too far, bring into your hearts the world around you. The people in the circles around you, your neighborhoods, communities, places of work, towns, countrysides, countries, continents, and the whole globe. You, rooted here in this time and place, aware and open to this wide world of living beings, and you are one of them. In the awareness of this wide circle of beings, sit here rooted and grounded with an open heart.

For these last minutes, dedicate the benefits of the practice we've done. Be open to the possibility that this dedication can be for all beings, for the welfare and happiness of others. Might this be your wish: that in some way, known or unknown, your meditation and the way you live your life can be such that it leaves the world in a better place.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. And may all beings be free.

Thank you.

Dharmette: Mindfulness of the Body (1 of 4) Posture

Here we are. Ah, no sound? Thank you, everyone, for letting me know. I jumped ahead before all the buttons were pushed.

For this week, what I'd like to do is to talk about mindfulness of the body, to make that the theme. And maybe it can be your theme as you go through the week.

Mindfulness of the body is one of the foundational, basic practices for mindfulness. It is the first exercise in the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta)^[1], the most basic teachings from the Buddha on mindfulness practice. In that discourse, there are six exercises associated with mindfulness of the body. Here in the 7:00 a.m. sittings, we've done the first one, which is the first tetrad of Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing)^[2]. We did that in January, so I won't do it now this week. Instead, we'll do the remaining five.

I'd like to think that these remaining five are built on the foundation of that first exercise. Because we have focused so much on mindfulness of breathing in the 7:00 a.m. sittings, we'll take that as already established, and then we'll go on to the other exercises.

Mindfulness of the body is such a wonderful practice; it provides so much. One of the important things it does, which I'll emphasize today, is that it acts as a protection. It's a way of being protected as you go through your life. When you're grounded in your body, you're much more able to pick up a wider range of what's happening around you. The body is kind of like an antenna that picks up signals through all the different forms of perception that the body is capable of, including inward perception. We perceive the emotional reactions and responses we have. We're able to pick up what's going on and how we're responding.

We notice when we feel there's danger, when there's something to be concerned about—not only externally, but also internally. We can sense when we're in danger of losing our ethics, when we're in danger of losing our peace, or when we're in danger of acting on something we would later regret, acting on greed, hatred, or delusion.

The body is a repository of so much evidence for what's shifting and changing in us. Sometimes it provides the early warning sign. Sometimes it's the body that gives us an indication of what's going on before the mind even knows, because the body is more attuned to our subconscious. The mind sometimes is not so attuned to it, maybe because we're preoccupied with other things, rushing ahead.

So many times in my life, because I have a habit of checking in with my body, I notice that I'm rushing, or I notice that I'm tense, pulling back, or holding myself back from a situation. I wouldn't have noticed that in the mind because I was thinking about things, or wanting things to be a certain way, or reacting and living in that reactivity. But because of the habit of connecting to my body, I feel and sense what's going on better in the subconscious, catching the early beginnings of things. It keeps me safe. It keeps me from getting lost in that world of reactivity. The body is a great protector for us; mindfulness of the body acts as a protector if we stay connected.

The second exercise of mindfulness of the body in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is mindfulness of posture. It doesn't take a lot of refined attention to the body to be aware of posture. There are many people who are not so connected to their bodies, and there are a lot of reasons for that—maybe we'll talk more about that as we go along. But maybe, at least, we can recognize the posture that we're in.

The bar for this posture mindfulness is pretty low. I'll read it to you so you can really believe me how low the bar is. The Buddha says: "Again, when walking, a practitioner knows, I am walking. When standing, one knows, I am standing. When sitting, one knows, I am sitting. When lying down, one knows, I am lying down."

That seems like a pretty low bar. It's pretty obvious, I hope, that when you are standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, you know that you're doing that. But don't underestimate the tremendous value of knowing this—really knowing it. Not just knowing it casually in passing, but having a clear recognition: "I'm standing now," "I'm sitting now," "I'm walking," or "I'm lying down."

It begins to create space in the mind for more present-moment awareness. It interrupts the mindstream when we're sometimes on automatic pilot, thinking and wanting. It interrupts the preoccupation with emotions, or emotionally based rumination that we get lost in. It's kind of like taking a sacred pause: "Oh, this is what I'm doing." And then maybe taking time to feel this: "I'm standing. Here I am."

It's a chance for the body to regroup, to be organized, to get connected, to get grounded. "Here I'm sitting." Before I start speaking right away, let me get grounded in my seat. If you're about to speak at a meeting or someplace, maybe take a moment to feel yourself sitting there in preparation. That way, you're not so completely caught in what has to be said, and you're more receptive to the environment as well. The more grounded we are here in the body, the more body awareness is available for what's going on around us.

Certainly, mindfulness of posture can be more refined. When we're standing, are we leaning forward? Are we pulled back? Are we collapsed in some way? When we're sitting, it's the same thing. Are we sagging into the back of the couch, removing ourselves from the conversation we're having with someone else? Or are we sitting upright, available and present, so there's more of us able to meet the person we're talking to, or be present for the act of speaking, or whatever we're doing?

Sometimes, if we collapse in a chair, it might feel relaxing, but there is often a loss of attentiveness, presence, and involvement with what we're doing. If we can sit or stand in a posture that is balanced and upright, then we're available to more information about what's happening to us. There's a greater range. We notice if we lean forward, we notice if we're pulling back, and we notice if we're collapsing. If we're always collapsed, there may be less variation possible. It's kind of like being in the midpoint: we can feel the pendulum moving this way and that way. But if we're stuck on one end of the pendulum, we don't have that refined sensitivity to what's going on.

When we're walking, how are we walking? What does it say about our mood, our emotional state? We can notice what's happening in all these different places. When we're sitting, walking, or standing, are we doing so in a way that's physically healthy for us? Is it the posture that puts the body most at ease, with the least amount of tension being held to maintain the posture? It's a fascinating world, this emphasis on posture.

The Buddha emphasized it. You can keep it at a very low bar, just to know your posture as you go through the day. Or, you can be more refined about it and notice the details of your posture. You might notice how maybe you've lost a balanced posture, and what that tells you about yourself. How is it that coming back into a balanced posture protects you and keeps you more balanced, so you can do what you need to do in a better way?

The virtue of this exercise is how incredibly simple it is. When walking, know you're walking. When standing, know you're standing. When sitting, know you're sitting. And when you're lying down, know you're lying down. But this knowing is to really know it. See what space is created, what clarity arises, and what information then becomes available to you. Don't just know it in passing; really, in a sense, stop and truly know it, over and over again throughout the day.

So, if you're inclined, for this next 24 hours, why don't you try to make a practice of mindfulness of posture? Make a study of it. Study yourself through your posture. Study the mindfulness that arises with posture, and how different postures support greater presence and mindfulness, or a lesser amount of it. Just make a study of it.

If you have the occasion, you might talk to other people about their experience of posture and awareness of posture in their lives. You might get into some fascinating conversations. There are certain professions where posture is a key to how they manage well.

May the day be a wonderful day of discovery and appreciation of this body of ours. Thank you.