Steal these Meditations!

“Imagination lays the tracks for reality to follow,” says trickster Caroline Casey. How superb. This Monday, we use our imaginations to shape our caring.

Let’s do … nothing. But stay aware. Let’s watch self and world happen: sounds lead to thoughts, memories lead to emotions, the process of just trying to exist leads to a million tiny urges to check out, lash out, upgrade, freak out, divert, isolate, give up etc etc. The simpler we are in our positioning, the more of life – and it’s complexities and intensities – we’re able to appreciate. And that’s interesting too.

For this meditation, not only will we practice acceptance – yes, this here right now is your actual life – we will also explore the possibility that your mind is completely bonkers and out of sync with reality. We will explore this in a fun way, that is, making good-natured fun of the mind.

For this meditation, we explore two sides of being human: the caregiver, who manages conditions based on what you need in the moment, and the warrior, who trains to be OK regardless of conditions in the moment. Let’s explore!

This meditation is inspired by an old dog friend named Socrates, who completely embodied dignity. We’re invited to channel our own inspirations for qualities we’d like to cultivate, becoming them in the space of our imagination.

When I feel I’m losing my centre, I step back to ground. Presence is ground, awareness is ground. Ground of my Being, and very likely the  ground of yours too. It’s Waking Up month at the CEC. For me, today, waking up is our human capacity to live in, and from, ground. Let’s explore.

In this meditation, we make powerful resolutions to improve ourselves, from new dietary and exercise regimens, to important practice protocols and virtuous personal intentions, to say nothing of ….er… and … uh … That sounds like a lot of work. Fuck it. Let’s flop out in the middle of our lives and ride out the clock exactly as we are.

One of my son Eden’s more endearing habits is thanking every random object and creature he passes by. In this meditation, we channel our inner two year old, and Pepper our Practice with apreciation. Then, for the grand finale, we’ll appreciate ourselves, by gathering any remaining self-consciousness into our loving arms, and slow-dancing the night away.

There is a profound space between our unchanging awareness – what some contemplatives call our “True Self” – and our ever-changing thoughts and feelings and body sensations. In this meditation, we use our imaginations to open up that space.

For deep rest, we’re allowed to recruit all of our resources, our imagination as well as our attention. This lovely rhythmic practice can be done lying down or sitting. It’s a luxurious boundary-dissolving plunge into the Mother Sea. Maybe you fall asleep, maybe you slip into a waking dream, maybe you stay utterly present inside a wakeful stillness and tranquility.