Inner Work

For week of August 3, 2015

Whole-Body Sensing

(Presence Tools: 5)

Having practiced sensing parts of our body, we now turn to extending our sensation into our whole body. This is one of the major and most effective tools in the practice of presence. The quality of wholeness occupies a special place in the spiritual path. The practice of whole-body awareness, whole-body sensing, ushers us into a wholeness that encompasses much more in breadth and depth than our body.

One way into this wholeness is to build it up. Again, starting this in sitting meditation allows us to focus exclusively on this effort and establish a strong taste of it. We sense each of our limbs, then all four limbs. Then we add the sensation of our torso, though we do not try to sense individual organs, so as not to interfere with their instinctive functioning. Finally we add the sensation of our neck and head. At this point, we have a complete sensation of our entire body. We maintain that and sit in the fullness of our whole body.

With practice, we become able to go directly into whole-body sensing, without building it up piecemeal. Though when we do that, we still have the challenge of strengthening the sensation throughout our body and of maintaining our contact with all that sensation. We spread our attention through our whole body and keep it there, even as we go about our day.

This offers us a broad and effective foundation for presence. Plus, it just feels right. It feels as if we have finally come home into our body, as if sensing our whole body is the way we are meant to live. It feels like a state that we want to have as our new normal.

For this week, please practice whole-body sensing.

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