21-Day Dhyana Sadhana - Day 17 - The Mind, Senses, Actions and Five Elements

Day 17 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024. 

The mind is heavily conditioned towards the material and physical world. The spotlight of your attention flows through the senses, through the power of action and into the world. In meditation you are learning to suspend this outward flow and refocus on your own being, your own sense of self. 

In meditation you are guided to stabilize the body by nourishing the different nerve plexuses and then synergizing heart and mind to open up the self-awareness. 

---

---

Meditation Transcript

Let's come into our meditation. Thank you very much for listening.

Let's close our eyes, let's take a few deep breaths. Slowly in, slowly out. Let's open up our self awareness. Noticing the many dimensions of experience. Allow the body to relax, letting go of the stresses and tensions of your day.

And let's nourish the body, nourish the nervous system by breathing into the abdomen, recharging the nerve plexus there on the inhale. Push and stretch and expand the abdomen on the exhale and draw it close to your spine.

Use some muscular action to develop the muscles and to explore how the body relates to the breath. Recharge the vital power. If you feel to you can hold the breath a little on the inhale and exhale.

As you do this, ensure there's a gentle awareness at the root that it's alert and held so no energy is lost there.

Awareness of the root is critical for stabilizing the energy and building up the energy within the body.

And let's come into the chest, using your breathing to expand the chest all the way in, all the way out. The goal is emotional. Recharge that nerve plexus can become depleted from engaging with the world.

Use slow, steady breaths, completely fill, completely empty the lungs and focus on caring for your body, opening up the loving vibration to the body.

Now come into the head and the goal is to refresh the brain, to nourish the nervous system. So use your breathing.

Don't go too deep into the energy experience yet. Stay grounded with the body.

Open up your awareness to feel the body tuning into every single cell. Breathe into that headspace, but regulate the amount of air that's coming in. Make sure you don't overwhelm the space.

Recharge.

I can feel the energy building up there. So I'm going to use my exhale to push the energy down to the root to create that brow-root connection.

This is how you protect the nervous system from burning out from the energy. You need to move the energy towards the root and hold it there. The excess energy is moved into the body.

That's very good. Now open up the heart and the brow together. Come into the energy awareness with me.

Synchronize the heart and the brow. You can use a breathing action to do this. From the inhale, you go from the heart to that brow point. And on the exhale, from the brow to the heart to open up the central channel between the two.

You're seeking to balance the flow of energy that they're both in synergy, loving focus. And you hold these two in your awareness. What happens when you do?

Now, take a moment to notice your body, notice the senses.

Notice that you're holding them steady in a calm space and gently move away, going deeper into your being and they are still there waiting for you.

But move deep into the heart space. Move deep into the mind space. Gently away from the senses.

Give your attention to the I sense of I. I am. I exist. I am holding the heart. I am holding the mind.

Give your attention to that experience of identity. Did you know that "I" is empowered from the source?

It's held in the Divine. It's your connection back there.

Focus with me on that sense of self. You can use the heart or the brow wherever you feel stronger.

What is that sense of self?

Beyond the body, beyond the human senses. What is that experience of I?

Let's take a deep breath. All the way in, all the way out.

Gently guide the flow of energy down towards your gut, down towards your root.

Notice the overall condition of the body. Notice how your experience has changed just from holding yourself in that inner space, in that inner connection.

Breathe slowly and completely, reconnecting to each of the five senses, tuning into your physical body.

As we come close to the end of our meditation, I invite you to affirm in the mind:

I stay centered in the source of my being,

recognizing my identity. Beyond this body, beyond this world,

I open up to that experience.

Slowly coming back to the physical body, feeling the weight of the body resting in your seat, pulling yourself back to the body, alert and ready. And when the moment is right for you, you can gently open your eyes.

---

Reflection

1. What are the ways in which the sense pull on your mind? 
2. What are some of the ways that you get captured by doing and acting in the world? 
3. How did it feel to let go of the senses, the actions, and reserve yourself inside? 
​