Amelia Lichtenberg 8/2/21 Amelia Lichtenberg 8/2/21

Guided Meditation: Finding Your Edges

This week’s meditation is about finding our edges. I use imagery of cliffs and precipices a lot in my personal practice. I find both the symbolic meanings of edges/cliffs and the somatic reactions I experience to the concept to be invigorating and relevant in a lot of my work regarding deepening the relationship to the self and building the internal landscape view.

Please allow 20-30 minutes for practice and 20-30 minutes for integration.

Please note that I am not a licensed therapist and my meditation practices are meant to assist you at your own discretion. None of my content is meant to be a replacement for a professional therapeutic practice. Be aware of your capacity before beginning any guided meditation practice, and please establish any support networks or practices to help with integration in the event that this guided meditation activates a heightened response.

First, start by finding a comfortable-yet-alert position sitting upright with your feet crossed or planted on the ground. Start with a few deep breaths, counting to 5 with each in-breath, holding for 5, and exhaling for another count of 5. Repeat this two more times.

Begin with a brief body scan meditation. Use this time to drop in and set the intention for this meditation practice.

After the body scan, as you breathe in stillness, notice any sensations which arise in the body. Acknowledge any passing sensations with kindness and allowance. They are welcome here.

Start from the very core of your being, and allow yourself to feel this essence radiate throughout your body. Imagine the inside of your vessel as a vast and eternal landscape. Take note of any imagery, sounds, feelings, or sensations which arise during this visualization.
This landscape is representative of your inner world and all its workings. As it takes form, begin to walk through the landscape and notice anything that sticks out to you. Perhaps a certain person in your life, or an emotion crosses your path. Maybe you walk by a particular pattern which has been present for you recently. Take some time to explore these different elements in your landscape before settling on one to focus this practice. Make sure the element is something prominent in your life, like a significant relationship or a recurring pattern/feeling, where there is a point of tension or disagreement, but not something that is too overwhelming like a severe mental health crisis or abusive dynamic.
As you choose which element in your landscape you wish to focus this practice on, bring it and all that surrounds it to the center of your landscape — bring it right next to you. Take a moment to sit in stillness with this element, and notice how you begin to react. Try to remain as still and as present as possible.
- Do you find yourself wanting to flinch or change positions?
- Does your breathing change?
- What thoughts and emotions does this element bring up?
As you remain still, notice what continues to come through. Allow what is being revealed to you to guide your further conversation with this element.
- If you are focusing on a person, bring to mind the particular aspect of your relationship that is causing tension or disagreement.
- If you are focusing on an emotion or a pattern in your life, try to travel toward the root cause of that feeling/pattern.
As you explore the vastness of the space within this particular element and its tension, notice the areas which ignite resistance. These are your edges.
When you find an edge, take time to sit on the precipice. Allow yourself to feel into the edge, even if it is uncomfortable. Do not push yourself too far, only push yourself just slightly past your comfort zone. Take note of the following:
- Why is this edge here? Is there a specific cause for it, and if so what is the reason for that cause?
  - If the element is a person, ask yourself if this edge reflects a boundary. Why does this edge present itself with this person/within this relationship?
  - For a pattern/emotion, ask yourself why you feel resistance to this feeling? This may bring up a thought or belief embedded in your subconscious about this particular pattern or emotion.
  - Does this edge serve a function? If so, what is its purpose?
  - Does it have an origin? Where did this edge first arise?
- Explore leaning into the edge a little more by pushing the boundary of that edge slightly further than it currently is. Notice if pushing that edge ignites a nourishing or invigorating feeling, or if it ignites a feeling of dread or anxiety. Uses these markers as a compass for whether to continue pursuing expanding this edge or retaining its closeness.
  - Either response is okay. Some of our edges are exactly where they need to be, and there is no work we need to do on them at the moment. Just knowing this can make a huge difference when reflecting or communicating these outside of the meditation space.
- Take a little more time to explore the distance and purpose of this edge, and see if these change as you play with the relationship between these two aspects.
When you are ready, begin bringing yourself back into the safe center of your landscape, allowing the element to drift wherever it naturally wants to.
Take a moment to bask in the safety of your landscape. You are surrounded by ground to walk on, and your edges are safely where you’ve kept them.
Bring yourself back into your Earthly body, slowly. When you are ready, open your eyes and take a moment to write down any downloads, revelations, or significant experiences during your practice.
You can always come back to this meditation for different people, circumstances, and patterns. I suggest taking opportunities to find edges within your own relationship to yourself as well as the other external elements discussed.
— written by Amelia Lichtenberg

Amelia Lichtenberg 7/19/21 Amelia Lichtenberg 7/19/21

A Guided Meditation for Tapping into the Nervous System & Bodily Awareness

In this meditation we will focus on cultivating bodily presence and awareness through sitting in a mindful awareness of our nervous system. Please allow at least 20-30 minutes for best practices.

Have a journal, voice recorder, or some way to externalize your reflections close by. Journaling is not necessary for this practice, but it does deepen the work.

Find a comfortable sitting position to begin. Start by slowing down your breathing. On this next in-breath, try to elongate the breath and count to 5 slowly. Pause for a moment before exhaling. On the out-breath, elongate the breath to the same length as the in-breath, using a slow count of 5. Do this 5-7 more times until you find a rhythm.

“Portal to a Mycellial Dimension” (2019)

Keeping the breath in mind, begin to perform a body scan. Starting from the top of your head, moving through the face, toward the neck, check for any areas where you are holding tension. Release the tension in these areas. A helpful way to do this is to draw the tension in with the in-breath, and let it release on the out-breath. Continue your body scan down your shoulders, arms, upper and lower back, pelvic area… all the way down to your toes, releasing any tension you find.

Take a few breaths in this new, relaxed body. When you are ready, starting from the spine, focus your bodily awareness your nervous system. Feel the different branches of this system extending throughout your body, from your spine to your arms, legs, head, gut… everywhere. How does this feel? Do you notice any alertness in any of these branches? Can you feel the electrical current running through the various nerves? Sit, with elongated breaths, in bodily awareness of your nervous system for a few minutes. Take this time to calm any activated parts and hold compassionate awareness for the sensations this brings up.

After a few minutes, begin to extend your awareness outward even more. From the inside of your skin to the outside. Where the outside of the skin meets the air. Allow your body awareness to expand outwardly and encompass the larger space you are in. How does this feel? Are there any walls, and if so, what do they feel like? How far out can you expand your body/space awareness?

Spend about 5-7 minutes in this expanded space of awareness. Observe with mindful compassion any thoughts or sensations that arise and write them down later. When you are ready, begin to recede your expansion, returning back within your body. How does it feel to be back inside of your body? Are there any changes?

Slowly begin bringing yourself back by bringing awareness back to the nervous system, and to your spinal chord. When you are ready, open your eyes and jot down any observations or experiences you had.

— written by Emily Lichtenberg

Amelia Lichtenberg 7/7/21 Amelia Lichtenberg 7/7/21

Guided Practice: Body Scans

This is a guided exercise for releasing tension throughout the body. I find body scans to be extremely helpful in re-centering the mind/body/spirit during Mindfulness practice, and I prefer to begin all of my meditation and journaling exercises with a body scan practice.

The Body Scan

Starting from the top of your head, moving through the face, toward the neck, check for any areas where you are holding tension. A great place to start is the center of the forehead. Release the tension in these areas. A helpful way to do this is to draw the tension in with the in-breath, and let it release on the out-breath. I use counts of 3 or 5 for my breath cycles.

Continue your body scan down your shoulders, your upper and lower arms, and into your hands and fingers. Allow yourself to feel into these parts of your body, seeing how much tension you can gather and release in these parts. See how much space you can create from within these parts of the body.

Continue this practice into your upper and mid-back. Focus on your chest and your navel, and release any tension within these areas. Sometimes taking a few extra moments to sit with a specific area is necessary. Sometimes things awaken when we focus on areas we hold tension. It is okay to allow whatever is alive to be present with you. Welcome it with loving-kindness and a soft heart.

Feel into your lower back and your pelvic region. Notice where your body makes contact with the surface you are sitting on. Feel into this sense of groundedness and allow the tension from these areas to sink into the Earth. Shift your focus to your legs, knees, ankles and feet. Allow yourself to feel into these parts of your body.

Take a moment to sit in the experience of being completely within your body, free of tension and stress. After taking a few moments here, allow yourself to come back to intentional awareness. Now you may continue with your meditation practice, or you may choose to end your practice here for now.

This meditation practice is inspired by the work of Tara Brach. Visit her website for her guided mediations and talks.

— written by Emily Lichtenberg