Some contemplative traditions describe the mind as an expansive, heart-based awareness that extends throughout the body and beyond, and not only as something located in the brain. Mindfulness meditation can be a way to explore that kind of awareness and the sense of presence that comes with it.
In this guided meditation, led by Sean Fargo, we are invited to bring an awake and alert energy to the body as a whole. From there, we sense into the space beyond the body and explore what that expansive awareness is like.
Listen in a safe, quiet place where you can be relatively free from distraction. Practice with eyes open or closed, in a posture that balances comfort with alertness. May this meditation be of benefit to your practice.
Sponsored by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification MindfulnessExercises.com/Certification
When we are awake and aware, we are present to our experience as is. We take in everything without the tinted glasses of past experiences, stories, or judgments, as if all were fresh and brand new. By embracing a beginner’s mind, we let go of needing to fix or change things. We can allow for this moment to unfold as it is meant to, letting it surprise us. One of the wondrous, new things we may notice is the expansiveness of our own mind.
We might think of the mind as relegated to the head and brain, but in meditation, we see that it is so much more. We may experience our world with the heart and the body itself as well as the brain, and possibly with an energy that extends beyond the body. Sean describes full-body awareness, or a fully embodied presence, as one that is connected to a mind not bound by the body.
In this guided meditation, we connect to the energy of wakefulness and alertness and then play with extending this awareness beyond the body. We explore how far beyond the skin we can sense, and how far within. By following the breath, we then observe the exchange between inner and outer, perhaps arriving at a new perspective on what defines the outside and in.
With embodied presence, we are present to the expansiveness of mind and heart, and rest in the energy of being awake and alert.
Learn more about fully embodied presence, including how to practice and teach it, with the following free mindfulness resources:
- Podcast: 5 Essential Skills for Embodied Mindfulness, with Lynda Caesara and Sean Fargo
- Podcast: Modeling Mindfulness, with Sean Fargo
- Podcast: A Deeper Mindful Body Scan with Sean Fargo
- Meditation: Seven Directions Meditation, with Sean Fargo
- Meditation: Mindfulness of the Head Space, A Meditation with Sean Fargo
- Blog: Whole Body Breathing For Mindful Presence
- Blog: Six Ways to Deepen Awareness with Mindfulness Body Scans
About Sean Fargo:
Sean Fargo is a former Buddhist monk who founded Mindfulness Exercises and leads the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification.
