Meditating In the Body, Not Out of It | Embodiment Practice #5

Episode: Practice #5 — Embodied MeditationMeditating In the Body, Not Out of It | Embodiment Practice #5In this episode, we explore the fifth of the 11 Embodiment Practices: bringing your consciousness fully into your body, holding focus there, and entering a meditative state through the body rather than by leaving it behind.Western spirituality has often taught us to treat the body as an obstacle — the vessel of suffering we meditate our way out of. This practice offers a different orientation: grounding more fully and skillfully into the body as the very place awakening happens.We also dig into how this aligns with — and diverges from — Patanjali's dharana/dhyana/samadhi sequence from the Yoga Sutras, and where classical readings of absorption part ways with an embodied approach.In this episode:Why "meditation" is a state, and how Practice #5 is the practice of arriving at that state in the bodyThe dis-embodying tendency in Western spiritual culture, and what it costs usHow dharana, dhyana, and samadhi inform this practice — and where this practice takes a different pathWhat it means to let absorption happen into the body rather than out of itTimestamps:1:16 The Embodied Path - An emerging spiritual system for the modern, Western practitioner8:00 Introducing Practice #5 - Meditation, and conscious connection to your whole body18:50 Meditation - a deeper dive into traditional usage in the Yoga Sutras24:00 What we accept and reject when it comes to long-standing traditions32:30  Experiencing a meditative state55:48  Guided body-based meditation practiceConnect to the greater pictureI created The Embodied Path as a modern spiritual system which attempts to guide us modern, Western beings into a more skillful experience of reality. Weaving together the teachings of the ages, it is each of our tasks to cultivate a spiritual practice that is aligned for the beings that we are. The Embodied Path is centered on a 4-step path (Grounding, Centering, Alignment, Discernment) as we do our best to navigate the chaos of reality and find truth and meaning. The goal? That we are able to lift ourselves out of this hellish reality that mankind has made on Earth as we get to know the joy, wonder, beauty, and magic that already exists here. This is not about meditating our way out of the suffering of existence. This is not about building a rocket ship to another planet (because we destroyed this one). This is about living life as was meant to be lived on this most beautiful, nourishing, wonderful Planet Earth as these miraculous human beings that we are.Learn more about The Embodied Path at ForestBody.comSupport the showDeepen into our community! Go to forestbody.com to sign up for our Newsletter so that you receive all offerings and are in the loop on exactly what is happening. Join me in Earth Embodiment Circle! The newest addition to the many ways you can join me in practice and in community. Learn more here.Deepen into practice in Membership - The Forest: A Library of Guided Meditations and Embodiment Practice. Learn more here.Read my Earth Embodiment Ebook! We Are The Forest: Walking an Embodied Path of Collective Healing: Read it hereDeepen your grounding: Practice Earth Embodiment with my free Deep Roots MeditationFind writings and deepen into guided practice on Substack or on The Mountain Mystic BlogFollow my trailrunning and mountain adventures: @katiethemountainmysticMusic: "The Beat of Nature" from Pixabay