Meditation in Action Using Conscious Movement

CONSCIOUS MOVEMENT is both a preparation for sitting meditation, and also a form of meditation in itself. Conscious movement is the bridge that helps us to integrate the silence of meditative awareness with the movement of daily life.

Conscious movement helps us bring openess, awareness, and spaciousness into our bodies, and thereby helps us get in touch with pleasure and ease, and maintain health and balance.

(A.) Preparation for Conscious Movement: Refining Perception

To perfect conscious movement we need to tune into to our subtle sensations. We tend to live everyday life in a hurry and to only experience sensations when they are at their loudest, and not savoring them.

Think about eating a really tasty desert. You savor each bite. When you are done you enjoy the aftertaste of the flavors in your mouth. If it is a sweet desert, you may decide to finish with coffee and allow the flavors of the coffee to mingle with the aftertaste of the desert.

In these exercises you will want to feel the "aftertaste" of sensations in your body, and to stay with that aftertaste for a period of time.

Imagine someone sounding a gong or a chime. There is the initial sound or vibration, and then gradually it gets softer and softer. Imagine listening more and more intently as the sound gets dimmer and dimmer. Imagine you focus on it so strongly that you can still sense the vibration even when the sound has almost totally faded out.

That is the attitude you want to take when doing these exercises.

(B.) First Conscious Movement Exercise

(1.) Rub your palms together briskly for 20 seconds or more.

(2.) Stop, and hold your hands in front of you, palms either facing each other or turned up.

(3.) Notice the sensations in your palms and fingers. You will feel some tingling, warmth, or other lively sensation in your hands.

(4.) Keep you attention on your palms and stay with this feeling for as long as you can. (Close your eyes for a few moments if necessary, to focus on the sensations, then open your eyes and keep your focus.)

(5.) The sensations will begin to fade after awhile. Don't let your attention stray. Keep your attention on the subtle sensations in your fingers and palms.

(6.) Even after the sensations have faded away, keep your attention on your palms and fingers for awhile, as though the sensations were still there.

If you practice this exercise periodically, eventually you will be able to bring your attention to your palms at will, and feel warmth or sensation there immediately. This ability to bring presence and awareness to your hands will prove helpful in many ways. Not only is it a good meditative exercise, but it will help you to communicate loving energy to others through touch.

Development of the capacity to feel warmth and energy in your palms can also help you with self-healing. After you have developed the ability to be present in your palms, if you have a headache or other pain in your body, you can put palms in that spot and communicate caring, healing energy to yourself.

(C.) Second Conscious Movement Exercise

(1.) Rub your palms together briskly and activate a sense of warmth and energy in your palms.

(2.) Hold one hand over the top of your head, palm down. Lightly touch the top of your hair with your palm.

(3.) With the top of your head, sense the warmth and presence of your palm. Close your eyes for a few moments if necessary, to focus on this, then open your eyes and keep your focus.

(4.) Don't rest the palm on the crown of the head. Let it hover slightly above. Imagine that there is a magnetic attraction between your palm and the top of your head -- like two lovers who want to touch, but are unable to. Feel the presence of your palm with the top of your head.

(5.) Slowly and gradually lift the palm away from the top of the head. Keep your focus on the top of your head and notice any continued sensations of warmth or other pleasant sensations there. Close your eyes if necessary to focus.

(6.) Stay with the sensations on the crown of your head as they gradually fade.

(7.) Experiment with taking your attention away from the top of your head momentarily and then bringing it back. Can you instantly regain the sense of presence on the top of your head?

As with your hands, you can train yourself over time to immediately establish presence on the crown of your head. The ability to do this can help you with your clarity and mood.

LIKE THIS? WANT MORE? For more conscious movement exercises go to http://leominstermeditation.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/using-conscious-movement-to-train-awareness/

Also, check out www.subtle-energy-exchange.com

These and other exercises are taught at our weekly meditation sessions in Central Massachusetts. For a schedule, go to http://leominstermeditation.com