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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate



Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 8,775
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
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Feeling your inner body
#7552505 - 10/23/07 07:50 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I'm trying to condense something Eckhart Tolle talks about because I feel it is invaluable and I hope it will help someone or a few people out. I will be using entire phrases, sentences, and concepts which are not my own, but Eckhart Tolle's. Forgive me.
The practice is very simple: feel your inner body.
The way to begin learning to feel your inner body is to sit in a chair, or in a meditation position, or in the corpse position flat on your back (I prefer this one but it's hard to stay alert, and also it's a disadvantage cause you can't practice it anywhere you are). Feel your inner energy field. Flood your body with consciousness: feel the aliveness in every cell.
If you cannot feel your entire inner energy field at first, or if it is overwhelming, nauseating, or just kind of dull, start with your toes and work your way up, feeling the sensation of aliveness. Or, start with your breath, breathing slowly and deeply from the abdomen up, and exhaling in a similar fashion, through your nose.
The sensation that should emerge is a sense of great inner spaciousness. Most of the time during my day I feel physical discomfort in my organs and I have trouble keeping awareness of the entire inner energy field, particularly from the waist down. But more and more it becomes possible to remain connected with your inner body, which gives you a sense of spaciousness and calm when dealing with situations that arise. The sensation of anger might arise, or wanting be somewhere else, or boredom, but there will be a gentle space around it so that it does not consume your consciousness. Eventual you learn to disidentify from the emotions and become grounded in your essential beinghood.
Just try it out. Sit in a chair, with your back straight but not rigid, and feel your body's consciousness. If you have eaten too much or have eaten unhealthy food, or if you have been in a state of emotional or physical stress, you may find it uncomfortable and want to go back to distract yourself with external stimuli. But try to just sit still, be present, and observe the arisal of thoughts and emotions, instead of identifying with them, for at least 15 minutes.
Anyway, this was a bit long winded. But the practice is good! Check out The Power of Now, A New Earth, or Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle for more transformative practices of this nature.
-------------------- “Strengthened by contemplation and study, I will not fear my passions like a coward. My body I will give to pleasures, to diversions that I’ve dreamed of, to the most daring erotic desires, to the lustful impulses of my blood, without any fear at all, for whenever I will— and I will have the will, strengthened as I’ll be with contemplation and study— at the crucial moments I’ll recover my spirit as was before: ascetic.”
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AlteredAgain
Visual Alchemist



Registered: 04/27/06
Posts: 11,181
Loc: Solar Circuit
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Re: Feeling your inner body [Re: Lion]
#7556165 - 10/24/07 05:47 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I tried it right away. 
The first few minutes were difficult. I could really feel the resistance of my mind trying to hold onto a need for doing. Breathing required effort, areas of anxiety could be felt in my abdomen and lower chest, and a state of relaxation seemed far far away.
So I did what you said and started pointing my awareness directly at my toes. I chose to imagine myself getting ready to walk into a warm pool of water.
First the toes went in, then my feet, then my ankles, then the knees..
All very slowly because I could only go as deep into the water as I was ready to accept.
The waist came next, then my lower belly, up my chest, to my neck, until finally my whole head went "underwater".
At this moment I suddenly noticed that all nervousness and anxiety simply disappeared. My breathing was deep and unblocked. Thoughts and feelings were clear. There was no more need to do anything.
A quick and useful technique for centering.
Thanks Bug.
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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate



Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 8,775
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
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Re: Feeling your inner body [Re: AlteredAgain]
#7556520 - 10/24/07 07:09 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
I could really feel the resistance of my mind trying to hold onto a need for doing.
"Oh soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own beauty. You have seen your golden wings. Of anything less, why do you worry? You are in truth the soul, of the soul, of the soul." ~Rumi
Thank you for replying and sharing the alteration you made to the technique and the result. Very cool.
-------------------- “Strengthened by contemplation and study, I will not fear my passions like a coward. My body I will give to pleasures, to diversions that I’ve dreamed of, to the most daring erotic desires, to the lustful impulses of my blood, without any fear at all, for whenever I will— and I will have the will, strengthened as I’ll be with contemplation and study— at the crucial moments I’ll recover my spirit as was before: ascetic.”
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ChiefGreenLeaf

Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 1,596
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Re: Feeling your inner body [Re: AlteredAgain]
#7556526 - 10/24/07 07:10 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sounds like a good meditation supplement, Ill def give it a try.
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