Practice iRest to explore body sensations, count your breath, and rest in the joy of spacious awareness.

English

We cover three resolutions in this iRest practice: body sensing (annamaya), breath sensing (pranamaya) and joy (anandamaya)
iRest is an evidenced based meditation practice to bring you closer to your unchanging essence.
Find a comfortable position where you won’t be bothered and enjoy!

IRest For Three Resolutions: Body And Breath Sensing, Joy

Begin your practice of iRest in a comfortable position arranging your body so that you feel completely supported for going into a deep state of rest and self-inquiry. Allow your legs to be apart, arms away from your body, and palms turned upwards with support under the back of your head so that your chin remains below the level of your forehead. Support your back by placing a blanket under your knees, and if helpful, place an eye bag over your eyes. If you could be 5 or 10% more comfortable, make any adjustments to bring ease and well-being throughout your body and mind. During iRest, welcome every experience as a messenger that's inviting you to explore sensation, emotion, and thought, or the recognition of being spacious awareness, welcoming and responding to each messenger that arrives in your guest house of awareness with curiosity and openness. Bring attention to your senses, allowing each perception to come to you, sounds around and within your body, the touch of air on your skin, sensations where your body touches the surfaces that are providing support, sensations within your body, sensing the vibrant aliveness or vital life force of the body just as it is. Consider your intention for your practice today, perhaps to remain alert and attentive, or to inquire into a sensation, emotion, or belief that you wish to work on today, or to abide as joy, being, or awareness. Fully welcoming and affirming your intention for today's practice with your entire body and mind. Now consider your intention for your practice today, or your heart's deepest desire, wish, or mission. The feeling of life living through you as a deep longing, perhaps for health, healing, or awakening. A spontaneous desire that you wish to manifest more than anything else during your lifetime that gives you a sense of purpose and meaning. Affirming and experiencing the felt sense of your heartfelt desire as true in this moment. As you're ready, set your heartfelt desire aside, welcoming how it may affirm itself throughout your practice and in your daily life. Bring attention to your inner resource. Resting back into and experiencing the felt sense of unchanging being or feelings of well-being in your body. A safe haven or refuge that makes you feel secure and at ease. Welcoming the felt sense of being and well-being as spacious, open, timeless, perfect, familiar, unchanging, yet fresh, and always present. If helpful, invite in people or images, a wise man or woman, power animal, object or place in nature. Images that nourish feelings of being secure, peaceful, and at ease. And the felt sense of being and well-being throughout your body. Know that you can return to your inner resource at any time, day or night, and throughout your practice of I rest. Whenever you need to feel totally secure and at ease. Now allowing my words to be your words as you rotate attention through your body. Sensing your jaw, lips, teeth, gums, ceiling of the mouth, floor of the mouth. Inner walls, right and left, tongue, back of the throat, the entire jaw and mouth as sensation. Allowing thoughts like helium balloons to float up and away without becoming involved with them. Instead, welcoming sensations just as they are. Sensation of the left ear, right ear, both ears at the same time as sensation. Left nostril, right nostril. The flow of air and sensation inside the nostrils. Left eye, eyebrow, temple, cheekbone. The left eye as sensation. Right eye, eyebrow, temple, cheekbone. The right eye as sensation. Both eyes at the same time as a field of radiant sensation. Without analyzing, instead sensing your way. Forehead, crown, back of the head and neck. Sensations within the neck. Left shoulder, left upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, left hand and fingers. The entire left palm, arm and shoulder as radiant or vibrating sensation. Right shoulder, right upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, right hand and fingers. The entire right palm, arm and shoulder as radiant sensation. Give up analyzing, letting go of thoughts. Thoughts drifting away like balloons sailing away into the sky above. Welcoming both arms as radiant sensation. Upper chest and back. Mid chest and back. Belly and low back. Ceiling of the torso. Floor of the torso. The entire torso, a sphere of radiant sensation. Letting go of thinking. The entire torso alive as sensation, radiating inwardly and outwardly in all directions. Left leg, left hip, left thigh. Foreleg and calf. Ankle. Left foot and toes. The entire left foot and leg as vibrant sensation. Alert. Alert. Attentive. Sensing now the right leg, right hip, right thigh, knee, foreleg and calf. Ankle. Foot and toes. The entire right foot and leg as vibrant sensation. Sensing both legs at the same time as vibrant sensation. Sensing the front of the body, back of the body, left side, right side, inside the body. Surface sensations. Welcoming the entire body as vibrant sensation, radiating in all directions inwardly and outwardly. Welcoming every experience that is now present while interweaving your inner resource of being and well-being throughout your body. Feeling secure and at ease. Note how all of these sensations, as well as passing thoughts, emotions, and images, how all of these are constantly changing, coming and going. The entire body, a constantly changing field of radiant sensation. Sense all that you are now aware of. How sensation is a movement within awareness. Feel back into awareness itself. Sensing yourself as spacious, unchanging awareness in which all of the changing sensations are arising and unfolding. Changing sensation, revealing unchanging awareness. Sense the body breathing itself. Letting go of analyzing and thinking. Just the natural flow of sensation as breath enters and leaves the body. Nostrils. Walls of the throat. The gentle rise and release of the chest and abdomen. Welcoming sensation in the body breathing itself. While sensing the abdomen rising and releasing as breath naturally flows in and out. Begin counting from 10 to 1. Like this. 10. Inhaling, abdomen rising and expanding. 10. Exhaling, abdomen releasing and relaxing. Continue counting with your body's own natural breathing rhythm. Alert. Attentive. Completely absorbed in counting from 10 to 1 as the body breathes itself. If you lose count, start again at 10. Counting. Body breathing itself. Abdomen expanding and relaxing. Alert. Attentive. Counting as the body breathes itself. When it feels right, allow counting to fall away while remaining attentive to the flow of sensation and energy throughout the body. Alert. Attentive. The body a field of radiant sensation. Welcoming every experience that is now present while interweaving your inner resource of being and well-being throughout your body. Feeling secure and at ease. Staying with the flows of energy and sensation that are present as the body breathes itself. Not analyzing. Simply welcoming sensation. Note how all of these sensations, as well as passing thoughts, emotions, and images, are constantly changing. Coming and going. The entire body a constantly changing field of radiant sensation. Sense all that you are now aware of. How sensation is a movement within awareness. Feel back into awareness itself. Sensing yourself as spacious, unchanging awareness. Awareness in which all of the changing sensations are arising and unfolding. Changing sensation revealing unchanging awareness. The entire body as a radiant field of sensation. Radiating in all directions simultaneously. Inwardly. Outwardly. Bring attention to sensations of well-being, happiness, joy, or bliss that are present. Welcome and feel an inner smile radiating from your heart. Radiating joy everywhere from your heart. Expanding and spreading throughout your entire torso. Into your arms and hands. Pelvis. Legs. And feet. Every cell throughout the entire body radiantly alive with feelings of well-being, happiness, joy, or bliss. If it's helpful, remember somebody whom you love or who loves you. Allowing this image or an image of a particular circumstance from your life to activate feelings of well-being and joy throughout your body. Then give up the image and simply experience the feeling of well-being, happiness, or joy throughout the body. Feeling yourself being absorbed in and as joy. Welcoming every experience that's present. And if helpful, interweave your inner resource of being and well-being throughout your body. Feeling secure and at ease. Sense all that you are now aware of. Everything a movement within awareness. Feel back into awareness. Spacious, unchanging awareness in which all of the changing sensations are arising and unfolding. Changing sensation revealing unchanging awareness. Setting aside the thinking mind, welcome the felt sensation of being and well-being. Notice how being is arising in the unchanging, spacious field of awareness. Now let go and dissolve into being awareness. Notice how awareness contains everything. Pervades everywhere. As awareness, inquire, where is my center? Where is my periphery? Feeling rather than thinking your way. Awareness in which all perceptions are unfolding and passing away. Without form. Without center. Without periphery. Everywhere and nowhere specific. Yet an undeniable presence. Everything to be just as it is. Without trying to understand or change anything. Simply being just as you are. And everything just as it is. Being spacious, unchanging awareness. As changing experiences come and go. Take a moment and reflect back upon the journey you've just taken. Sensing the qualities that are or have been present. Feelings. Emotions. Thoughts. Sensations. And awareness. In which everything is arising. Unfolding. And passing away. And be aware of your heart's deepest longing. Allowing it to announce itself. Experiencing it as your present reality. While noting an intention that supports living this heartfelt longing in your everyday life. Imagine going about your day while feeling your inner resource of unchanging being and well-being. And yourself as unchanging awareness. In which all of the changing activities of your life are unfolding. Emotions. Thoughts. Sensations. Your personality. And this indescribable sense of being unchanging awareness. Sensing the paradox of being both spacious and vast as awareness. Without border or boundary. All the while being this personality that has location. Center. And periphery. Your body, mind, and personality free to be just as they are. Sensing and affirming how in each moment you always know the exact and perfect response to each situation that you encounter in life. Take your time now as you transition into your waking life. When it feels right, opening and closing your eyes several times while feeling your inner resource of unchanging being and well-being. Returning to your eyes open state of waking consciousness. Alert. Awake. Grateful for taking this time for yourself and the practice of eye rest. Coming fully back to your eyes open, wide awake, and alert state of consciousness and being.