I have recently been blending techniques of meditation and those of body awareness into a single meditation that I call a somatic meditation. What I am going to share with you is a way to use the concentrated awareness of meditation to more deeply sense the physical body. Observation of the physical and emotional states of the body becomes easier, and patterns of behavior and impulses can be felt using this process. Some of these may be noticed immediately but it’s more likely that gradually, over time, as with physical training, you will begin to become more familiar, day-to-day, with these previously unconscious patterns. There is more to this of course: certain illnesses and dys-regulations and stress and trauma symptoms respond well to a process such as this that allows them slowly to be reintegrated into the everyday experience of the body. For now here is a basic meditation that begins to form a more conscious mind and body communication. Some of this sounds like your normal guided meditation, but be patient, because it ends differently than you might expect.
The meditation
- Start by sitting comfortably and just let yourself begin to settle into your seat
- Feel the energy and activation of the past few moments as it dissipates and flows out of you.
- Scan your body starting with your head — let the remaining pockets of tension soften – Jaw – neck and shoulders – spine relaxes – arms – hands – chest – abdomen – pelvis – thighs – knees – ankles – ball mounds of the toes – toes
- Wait. let the body continue to slow down, staying conscious of the settling process in the body.
- When that seems to level off – gradually become aware of your breath
- Stay present with each in-breath and each out-breath
- As your awareness deepens and drifts beyond the breath, concentrate this expanded awareness back on the breath. Stay here at least five minutes.
- Next, while still attending to the breath, slowly begin to become aware of your body. You are now starting to practice a duel awareness (of breath and body) – think of your breath awareness as if it were the awareness itself and from there begin to notice what else gets your attention. You may start by noticing the effect of your breath in the body – how it creates expansion in the in-breath and relaxation on the out-breath. And then gradually bring in awareness of more of the body, letting the sensations of your inside physiology enter your awareness as you also stay with the breath.
- Then become aware of the whole body, from the inside, still anchored in the breath
- As you sit with the sense of the whole body, continue to let the information from your body flow, uninhibited, into consciousness. You are now in a curious, non-judgemental state of observation.
- After a few moments allow yourself to feel the relationship of the body to the outside, sensing with your skin your contact with your seat and the room.
- complete the transition back to “normal” by allowing your sense of hearing, and last, sight to help you re-engage with the room
- All this time you are still anchored in the awareness of the breath – which remains even when you are fully returned from the practice.
- Just before you move away from breath awareness make a bridge back into what you recall as the deepest part of the meditation. Notice what it is like to make this transition. Stay here for just a moment before crossing back over the bridge.