A Meditation Practice

Dear Sitting Still: Last week I answered your questions about why to meditate. Today I will offer you a 'how' to meditate. This is just one possibility of many ways to meditate and bring awareness into your body.

Lie down on the floor and rest. See how deeply you can rest, offering your body to gravity over and over again. Anywhere you notice tension, breathe, wiggle, and stretch into the tension and then release to let the tension go. Imagine yourself becoming a puddle, completely supported by the earth beneath you.

Begin to notice your breath. Feel your ribs stretch with each inhalation and relax with each exhale. Stay with this awareness of your ribcage for a few minutes. Stay curious as you sense and observe the breath.

Slowly turn your attention to your upper chest. Notice how your clavicles and shoulder blades respond to your breath. How does the breath press into the arms? Notice the stretch of the inhalation, the release of exhalation. Let your curiosity and attention stay in the upper chest for a few minutes.

Turn your attention now to your lower belly and pelvis. Breathe deep in your torso. How do your hips respond to the inhalation and exhalation? What happens to the floor of the pelvis? Rest your attention in your hips and pelvis for the next few minutes. Stay curious, keep observing.

Now take your attention out to the palms of your hands. Sense where they are in space. Feel the arch of the palm. Breath all the way out into the arch of your palm. Can you feel the skin expand on the inhale and relax on the exhale? It doesn't matter whether or not the sensation is real or imagined. Connect the breath with the palms for a few minutes.

Take your attention to the souls of your feet. Sense where they are in space. Feel the arch of the foot. Breathe all the way out into the arch of your foot. Can you feel the skin expand on the inhale and relax on the exhale. Remain curious and attentive to the souls of your feet for a few minutes.

Now take your attention to the top of your head. Imagine a flower blooming there. The flower opens a little further on each inhalation and relaxes on each exhalation. Rest with this image of the breath opening the crown of the head for the next few minutes.

Rest in silence now for as long as you like. Stay curious and keep your attention in your body, open and aware.

Slowly return to the present moment, to the room, to the sounds and space around you. Deepen your breathing and stretch out into your limbs. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Gently invite yourself back.