Sensing Yourself, the Gurdjieff meditation

Here’s how to enjoy being more awake in your day: be present to your arms and legs.

All day.

Get out of your head and come to your senses.

Get out of those words in your noggin and sense your feet and toes, as far away from your head as you can get and still be in your body.

Sense those feet and toes.

And legs.

Sense those finger and hands.

And arms.

That’s a lot of territory.

Try it now. All the leg, both of ‘em. All the arm, both of ‘em.

Sense the skin and the bones and the flesh and the nerves and anything else you can. From finger tips to shoulder. From the ends of the toes, to the hip joint.

Two arms.

Two legs.

The four limbs that move us around and allow us to move the world around.

Hugs people, hammers nails, hangs up the wash, writes the poem, ice skates, hunts, cooks, plants harvests the garden, dances, plays tennis plays the piano flute oboe viola, takes a walk swim stroll bath shower run.

Moves around.

Moves stuff around.

We evolved as moving beings. With a brain that could do more and more intricate ( and sometimes awful) things.

We move through our lives and right now, as you read, perhaps you’re remembering the breathing and gravity challenge, and perhaps not.

And now your legs are somewhere and your arms likewise can be sensed as right here now where they are right now.

And what if we feasted our attention on these beautiful arms and legs and finger and toes?

Well:, the Gurdjeiff meditation, here goes:

Sit in a chair. Or anywhere, feet on the ground/ floor.

Close your eyes.

RIGHT LEG

Start at the tips of your right toes.

Sense them all, and keeping the attention always where it’s been before, move your attention bit by bit up through your leg to sense all the inside and outer flesh of your toes, until you reach your feet.

The whole foot, all of it, inside and out.

The ankle.

Up, up, keeping all you’ve sensed so far.

The lower leg.

Knee. ( No words, just sense it as…..sensation)

The upper leg, all the way to the hip joint.

Sense this entire chuck of you, toe tips to hip joint. Fill it up with attention.

THE RIGHT ARM

Keep the entire right leg lit up with attention and add on the fingertips of the right hand.

Move up, through the ‘

Fingers

Hand

Wrist

Lower arm

Elbow

Upper arm, to the shoulder socket.

KEEP THE WHOLE RIGHT ARM AND ENTIRE RIGHT LEG IN ATTENTION.

Good.

And now, add on

THE LEFT ARM

Starting from the top, this mediation sometimes being called, “around the world.”

The left upper arm from shoulder down to the

Elbow and then

Lower arm, wrist, hand, fingers, finger tips.

KEEP THE WHOLE LEFT ARM AND TWO RIGHT LIMBS IN ATTENTION.

Now, finishing the “circle”

THE LEFT LEG

Upper leg at the hip joint, down through ALL of it to the

Knee

Lower leg, ankle, foot, toes and toe tips

Now sense all four, fully, for a long while.

Then

Add on listening. Hear whatever you hear WHILE KEEPING BOTH ARMS AND BOTH LEGS IN ATTENTION.

You now have inner and outer attention.

Bask in that for awhile.

Then OPEN THE EYES AND NOTICE REFLECTED LIGHT COMING IN TO THEM.

Four windows out into the world , two ears and two eyes.

Four bastions of inner attention, two legs and two arms.

Hang out in this fullness.

Now get up and go about your day staying in all this attention.