One day in a meditation class, my teacher said at the end, “Feel your aliveness.” And I felt my blood pulsing in my fingers and toes and thighs and back and top of my head. I felt my breathing in my nose and my chest and my belly. Marvel at all the aliveness there is to experience! All you have to do is sit quietly enough, and it’s there. And it made me think – my monkey mind pinging around, that’s me feeling the aliveness of my mind. And what a terrific thing that is – thinking things, feeling feelings, solving problems – what a magnificent good fortune it is to have such an active mind. It’s not a bad thing at all. It’s not something to avoid, it’s something to delight in, like an overexcited toddler that is a whirling dervish, but is also so cute, and feeling excitement in a way that adults never are. I’m lucky to have this mind. This overactive mind. It just needs a nap sometimes. Even when it insists it doesn’t want to rest, that’s when it needs to rest the most.
I posted this meditation a few months ago, but it’s one of my favorites. And incredibly, I got feedback that some of you liked it too. I hope it connects you with what a gift it is to be alive, with your healthy heart and lungs swirling that lovely oxygen around your body, and your miraculous human brain that can appreciate it and think about it. I’m glad I’m alive. I’m glad you’re alive too.
Thanks for making this one. I redo it from time to time. Unfortunately, the aspects of my body that I’m most aware of are the parts that aren’t working well: the little knee injury, the shoulder pains, the little toothaches that come and go. This meditation brings my attention back to all of the things that are working well but that I’ve been overlooking.
It can be really gratifying to think about all the things that ARE working. There are too many to name! Our bodies do so much for us, it’s great to appreciate the things we never have to notice.