Guided Meditation: The Sky of Awareness

In this guided meditation, I’ll be inviting you to take some time to “turn the light around”—to shine your awareness inwardly, illuminating your own inner experience.

See if you can let yourself move through this page
s
l
o
w
l
y…

Go at a nice and easy pace.

And see if you can receive my words as light cues in the background of your experience. Let most of your awareness be directed toward what’s happening right now in your own body and mind.

So…ready to begin? Good, me too!

Start just by noticing that there’s a body here.

A body that’s looking at the screen.

A body that’s
breathing,
pulsing,
existing.

Take a few moments to really let this fact sink in: There is a body here.

(You might even close your eyes for a few seconds as you feel your body from the inside.)

There is this breathing, pulsing, living body. It’s existing here and now.

See if you can tap in to the felt sense of your body. So, you’re not merely focusing on the idea of your body, but rather its felt reality.

See if you can let your awareness take the shape of your body.

I’ll say that again, nice and slowly:

Let your awareness…

take the shape…

of your body.

Take a few moments to play with that.

(Again, feel free to close your eyes if that feels right.)

Good!

Notice how your body has a whole spectrum of sensations—there might be tensions; feelings of warmth or coolness; digestive gurgles; rhythmic expansions and contractions.

You might notice some unpleasant sensations—for instance, there might be a pain or an itch; or maybe a hunger pang or a bit of nausea.

Let yourself stay open to any unpleasant sensations.

Also stay open to any pleasant sensations that might be present—maybe a nice warmth or refreshing coolness; maybe there’s the satisfaction of having just had a meal or the relief of being able to relax for a moment.

If it’s difficult to find a pleasant sensation, just see if you can at least notice a sensation that’s less unpleasant.

Take your time.

You’re doing good work!

So…you’re continuing to let your awareness take the shape of this body.

You’ve noticed unpleasant and pleasant sensations, and now you might even notice some neutral sensations—feelings you tend to overlook because they don’t stand out as being especially pleasant or unpleasant.

See if you can find an example of a neutral sensation. Where is it located in your body?

If the mind is trying to complicate things, if you’re getting wrapped up in stories, just give yourself permission to keep things simple:

There’s just this body here, breathing.

And you’re aware of its field of sensation.

Pleasant sensations. Unpleasant sensations. And neutral sensations.

This field of sensation even includes these sounds that are happening right now.

There are sounds coming from outside your body. Sounds nearby and sounds far away.

And maybe you even notice some sounds coming from inside your body!

The sounds rise and fall, come and go. They hit your ears. They get interpreted by your brain.

Just take a few moments to notice the sounds that you’re receiving right now…

Good.

And just like sounds, you’re experiencing visual sensations.

There’s this screen you’re looking at. And there’s also whatever other colors and shapes and textures that are present in your field of vision.

Take a moment to recognize that seeing is happening right now…

Don’t get caught up in what is being seen. Just become aware that seeing itself is happening.

Keep it nice and simple: There is this body, and it’s receiving these visual impressions.

Take another few seconds to play with your awareness of “seeing.”

Great work! You’re nurturing the important skill of being aware of your present-moment bodily experience.

Now, I wonder: As your awareness “lands” in your body, do you get the sense that you’re more in “protection mode” or “connection mode”?

“Protection mode” means you’re either feeling ramped up and anxious or collapsed and withdrawn. Your body’s responding as if it’s in danger.

“Connection mode” means you’re feeling safely engaged with what’s happening right now; you’re feeling relatively relaxed and resourced.

Which is more present in this moment—connection or protection?

And how do you know this? How do you know whether you’re in connection or protection? What are the clues in your body that tell you whether you feel safe or in danger?

Maybe the quality of your breath is a clue as to whether you’re in connection or protection. Or maybe it’s the degree of tension in your muscles. Or the stillness or fidgetiness of your body.

We’re just taking note of the current state of the autonomic nervous system, without judgment. Is it in connection or protection? This is a good thing to be aware of!

Great. Now, when you’re ready, let go of the “connection and protection” framework.

Take another couple moments to practice simply resting in this field of bodily sensation.

Good!

Now, so far, we’ve trained our awareness on our physical experience. Of course, in addition to these bodies, we’ve also got these wild minds!

So, see if you can let your awareness expand to include the mental “stuff” that’s happening right now—whatever it might be.

You might notice that the mind is planning or worrying or fantasizing or analyzing. Maybe it’s remembering something or figuring something out.

The mind is constantly trying to make sense of things. It’s processing experiences. It’s making associations. It’s doing things that you might prefer that it not do!

So, just like with the body, let your awareness make room for the activities of the mind.

Treat a thought just like you would a sound: It’s something that comes into your awareness and eventually dissolves away.

And just like the body’s sensations, your mental formations might be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.

Thoughts emerge, seemingly out of nowhere. Images take shape. Emotions and moods pop up. There’s all sorts of wild stuff in there!

Take another few moments to let yourself be aware of your mental activity.

Good!

So, here you are, playing in the sandbox of awareness.

You’re aware of this body. You’re aware of this mind.

Now, I want to invite you to become aware of your own awareness. It’s like a giant field, a vast canvas, an open sky. It’s expansive and receptive.

Through this sky of awareness float all sorts of things—physical sensations, moods, emotions, thoughts, memories. Some pleasant, some unpleasant, some neutral.

Just as clouds float through the sky, all of this “stuff” floats through our awareness.

When we’re relaxing into this sky of awareness, we have the opportunity to practice letting the clouds just…be.

A cloud forms and dissolves. It might be a worry, a craving, a painful ache. No problem! It’s workable. It’s just a temporary cloud.

If you get “lost” within a particular cloud—for instance, if you get immersed in a worry—you can simply notice that you’ve lost touch with the sky of awareness, and you can relax back into that sky. You can “loosen your grip” on that particular cloud.

The more your practice this skill, the more adept you become at letting go of your clouds.

So, keep playing with this: There’s the sky of awareness. And there are the clouds that emerge and dissolve.

Go at whatever pace feels right for you.

Some of the clouds floating through your awareness might be more physical, some more mental. Some clouds might be very unpleasant, and you might get wrapped up in resisting them. Other clouds might be delightful, and you might get wrapped up in enjoying them.

No problem. Keep on relaxing back into the sky of awareness.

This sky of awareness is our birthright. We each have access to it. And yet we tend to get caught up in the individual clouds. We get “hooked” on our thoughts and feelings.

So, we practice residing in the sky of awareness instead of the individual clouds. We’re not denying the clouds. We’re just relating to them more skillfully.

When we reside, first and foremost, in awareness, we give ourselves the best opportunity to heal. Residing in the sky of awareness gives us the “space” to make good choices. To not react.

Of course, sometimes we need to react. We latch on to a cloud. No problem! When the time is right, we relax back into the sky.

And we can even infuse this sky of awareness with heartfulness, with tenderness. Like the sun in the sky, this heart energy provides warmth and light to our experience.

See if you can tap into this heart quality. Let the sun shine in your sky of awareness…even if you don’t feel especially “happy” in this moment. Just play with letting the sunlight of heartfulness perfuse your inner landscape.

Good!

So, when we’re able to relax into the sky of awareness, we’re identifying more with the “container” than with the “contents” (the particular clouds—the thoughts and feelings) of the container.

In other words, we’re remembering the context of our existence. The backdrop. This “remembering” is mindfulness. We’re “keeping in mind” the sky of awareness, and remembering to not get too caught up in the clouds.

And all the while, we invite the warmth and light of the sun-heart to infuse our experience. This keeps us from getting too cold, too rigid, too lifeless. The sun-heart keeps us engaged and enthused.

So, we’re keeping the big picture. We’re staying open. And we can always zoom in on a particular cloud when it’s needed or desired. As we develop this skill, we find that we don’t get stuck in those clouds as much. We can let them go when we want.

So, one last time:

There is this breathing, pulsing, living body, with all of its sensations.

And there is this thinking mind, with all of its mental “stuff.”

And there’s also the awake, open, expansive, kind sky of awareness.

The clouds float through, forming and dissolving. The sky of awareness lets it all unfold.