Day 4: Energy Flow

So here we are, day four, meditation number four. We're going to follow a similar pattern of focusing on the body and alignment, and then the deeper layers of check-in. And then when we make it to day five, I'm going to shift technique. So for today, more of the same, with a little more space even between my instructions so that you can really absorb the techniques and take yourself into those quiet spaces. So let's begin by getting comfortable, take plenty of lift, take more lift if you're noticing more physical challenges, especially in your lower body.

Keep adding lift as you go. There's no such thing as too much height when it comes to meditation. And then place your hands, sit tall, and close your eyes. And then I'm going to say a little less this time and leave you a little more on your own in terms of the instructions. So I want you to start again at your feet, observing, relaxing, sensing.

If anything is not comfortable, readjust yourself. And slowly move up your legs. So in the lower body, we're moving from the feet into the lower legs. And wherever our attention goes, we're relaxing and grounding. So pace yourself very slowly up through the shins and calves, over and across the knees.

And into your upper legs, your thighs, thigh bones. And spend a few moments there. And then into the alignment of your pelvis, sitting bones centered or front side, top of the sacrum, moving a little bit in to create the curvature of your lower back. I'm just generally aware of the pelvic bowl, making it centered and the contents relaxed. It should be very familiar now.

Start your kind of self-guided journey up the spine. So your mind is going up and if in the lower body it was relaxing as your mind covered the territory, now it's gently lifting. Lining all the natural curves, creating an inner lift. And remember energetically, it's the shashumna, that main naughty channel. So just at your own slow pace, move upwards.

If you catch pockets of tension or misalignment, readjust and let go. Moving from the mid back into the upper back, eventually to the shoulder girdle, aligning, balancing collar bones and shoulder blades, aligning the neck, lifting until you reach the base of the skull, eventually to the crown of the head. Once again, this lifted quality up and beyond crown of the head, crown chakra. And if lifting through the backside was creating more height and alignment, moving down the front side is about softening and relaxing, letting go of physical tension, physical gripping. So from the top of your head, start to go down the front and very slowly, wherever your mind touches, you relax.

So you're learning where your habits of tension are, habits of misalignment, and how to sit properly without added gripping, to really literally be comfortable in your own skin. Keep moving down, cross the face, softening the throat. Down through the chest, cross the chest. And the torso and the ribs, all the way to the belly, the navel center. And returning to your base, once again, feeling that descending energy, that grounding of the lower body, sitting bones, thighs, and feet.

And we turn even further inward, first check in is emotional. The more you do this, the more comfortable you become with the emotions that arise. Working with them, good, bad, easy, hard. Letting yourself be with what is there. Now, mental state, becoming more self-aware, what's the quality of your attention like today?

Is the mind clear, is the mind steady, is it scattered, is it busy, noticing, whatever it is, noticing? Now, aware of energy. Observing pranic flow, where is the energy flowing, how is the energy flowing? Where is it not flowing? Where is the energy flowing, where is the energy flowing?

Now, moving attention onto the breathing. Serving flow of natural breath, if there's any urge to change your breath, resist that urge and just let the breath flow. Start with the obvious, just inhale, exhale, letting your attention rest on that rhythm. And then maybe you pay a little more attention to the spaces between the breaths, such a slight little fraction of a moment, but between inhale, exhale, and exhale, and inhale. And some days it's easier and some days it's more challenging.

Whatever you're experiencing today, keep coming back. Maybe your mind is jumping forward, maybe you're stuck on something that happened yesterday. Your only task right now is to watch the breath. As many times as you have to realign, you come back. This drop into about five minutes now of just pure silence, no instruction from me, pure technique.

There you go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now just a very brief check-in emotionally. And energetically. And spiritually. And then completing the practice, palms together at your heart. Namaste.

And thank you for our fourth meditation session together. I'm wondering how it's going for you, not only your time seated, but also what you're observing is happening out in your real life, in your day to day living. Are you more present? Are you more self-aware? Are you calmer?

How is the meditation translating? Let me know. Thank you.