Picture: Dynamism of the Human Body by Umberto Boccioni
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Intro
I’m excited to introduce a brand-new project that synthesizes my passions for writing and helping people on a practical level. This series is something almost unprecedented on Sunshower. In fact, here’s an extract from my short story Going To The Big Something Out Of Skye which represents the prototype of this new series:
“Sit back, relax. I want you to feel your body; I want you to feel the vital energy that activates your limbs. The energy in your toes, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, and pelvis. In your belly, torso – breasts if you happen to have a couple – shoulders. In your fingers, hands, arms, and shoulders. In your neck, feel your neck. Ultimately, the head is full of thoughts, worries, desires, fears, and ambitions. Get rid of those, please. It’s easy: just be aware of the electromagnetic energy in your head and in your whole body. Now feel your chest, feel your heart-centre and relate to it as the core of your being. Close your eyes for a while. Now that you’re reading again, try to maintain your awareness of that subtle electric sensation in your whole body as long as you can.
Now you’re ready to read this…”
This little intro – kind of unusual for a short story – is meant to set the mood for your reading experience. In this project, I’ll provide similar content, with a small difference. These reading meditations are meant to set the mood for your daily life experience. You just need to sit back, relax, and let your imagination do its thing. These meditations are a great fit for a bus ride, coffee time or tea time, queueing at the post office, waiting for a train – you catch my drift. They’re suitable for all those moments in which you could indulge in unconsciously scrolling your social media feed or reading articles you’re not really interested in. Nothing wrong with these, but you may want to consider the option of devoting these lapses of time to your own well-being, which in turn will positively influence other people around you. So, you could see it as an all-time-good tiny practice of self-love. For a deeper practice, though, I advise you to find a relatively quiet spot, cut off the blue lights (night mode) of your electronic device – or even print the free PDF below! – and have your neck supported or straight along the line of your spine. Are you ready to start?
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Exploring the Body
From 10 to 30 minutes
Let’s start off with some deep breathing. Breathe in as much air as you can take. Slowly release it, feeling your body relax deeply. Let’s repeat it once again. Breathe in… and out. Let’s do it a third time: slowly breathe in; slowly breathe out. With each breath, feel more and more relaxed. If you need it or feel like doing it, you can repeat it up to a maximum of five breaths.
Better. Now, you might not be familiar with the following practice, but there’s no hurry; you have all the time to repeat it and feel more comfortable with it. What you’re going to do is focus on your body internally, literally exploring it. We’re going to feel the whole structure of the body bit by bit. For best results, as you read through the meditation, concentrate on each part of your body for as long as you can – then move to the next. Alternatively, you can follow my words at the pace you prefer, depending on how long you can practice.
Let’s start by bringing your awareness to your left foot without looking at it. Feel the muscles, the bones, the nerves, the blood flowing in your veins. Now, let’s focus on the toes of your left foot. In the same fashion, feel the sole, the heel, the instep. Move up to the left ankle and linger there for a moment. Let’s focus on the left shin, gently, without judging the sensations you feel there. Anytime you feel pain or other unpleasant sensations during this meditation, just be aware of them – there’s no need to change them. From the shin, let’s move to the knee. Up to the thigh, and give yourself the chance to feel its large muscles and the skin enveloping them. Now you can feel the whole leg relaxed, alive, as previous tensions gradually disappear. Therefore, possibly at a similar pace, we can move to the right foot. Feel your toes, sole, and instep. Up to the right ankle. Focus, now, on the right shin, deeply. Right knee. Then, the right thigh. Deepen your perception there. Ultimately, feel this sense of aliveness, of expansive relaxation, in both legs.
Now, we can move to the upper body. Starting with your left hand. Feel the electromagnetic energy of your nerves. If you cannot perceive it very clearly at the beginning, it doesn’t matter; in time you will deepen your sensitivity. Bring your awareness to your left fingertips and scan the length of your fingers to the palm. Feel the left palm. On to the left wrist. Your left forearm. Your elbow. Your bicep and tricep. And up to the left shoulder. Feel the entire arm relax. Imagine the energy you feel expanding out of the limits of your physical arm. In the same fashion, move to the right fingertips, through your fingers, and to the right palm. Feel your right wrist. Right forearm. Right elbow; bicep and tricep. Ultimately, feel your right shoulder. Now both your arms and legs are relaxed. You can feel the field of energy inside them and a little beyond. Let your awareness rest on your four limbs for a while.
Thus, we will mentally scan your torso. Starting off from both glutes. Moving on to the front, we feel the sexual region, relaxing it. We slowly move up to the lower intestine and abdomen. Let’s feel the whole belly, including the organs. Move up to the ribcage muscles, pectoral muscles, or breasts. Now, let’s go back down to the lower back area. Relax it deeply, and move your awareness slowly up through your middle – doucement – and upper back. Feel the whole torso relax and expand.
Now, it’s the neck’s turn. Bring your attention to your neck. Scan it, starting from the base, up to the junction with your cranium. Slowly, repeat this process a couple of times with your eyes closed. Then, imagine the field of energy in your neck expanding outside the limits of the physical neck like a cloud of steam. Gently release any tension in the area.
We can now move our conscious perception to the head. Feel your jaw release without letting it fall completely. Your chin; your cheeks. Feel your tongue relax. Your mouth, teeth, and gums. Feel your nose, eyes, and sockets. Your ears. Eyebrows and forehead, from the bottom to the top. Be aware of your physical brain and relax it. Feel the scalp. The whole head is now energized yet relaxed.
Now that you’re aware of your entire body, you can direct your focus to the parts that need it the most. If you feel any pain or tension, be aware of it and kindly observe it as it is. If you can, maintain your focus on the relaxed parts as well. This process will be more effective with your eyes closed.
Take a deep breath in.
And out.
Close your eyes for a moment.
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Herons
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Tips for best results:
The golden rule for any sort of wellbeing practice is repetita iuvant: repetition helps. Therefore, I would suggest you repeat the meditation a few times so as to understand its content better and facilitate the process.
Some readers may find it helpful to close their eyes initially to facilitate visualization and imagination, for example, at the end of each sentence, or for as long a segment of text as they are able to hold in their mind. You can then calmly reopen your eyes and proceed with the rest of the text.
Even though this meditation can be read anywhere and anytime, you may find it helpful to read it in a relatively calm space, holding a relatively comfortable position – sitting, lying down, or standing in a long queue – at a time when you know it’s unlikely you will be disturbed or interrupted.
Finally, there is no perfect way to do it; experiment with it, trust your intuition.
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Find the free PDF version of the meditation below: