The Enrealment Walking Meditation
I call this the Enrealment Walking Meditation. It’s very simple, and yet, it holds the capacity to meaningfully inform and alter our consciousness. Just to be aware — it may take about a few hours of your time if you do it all at one time. Even if you don’t do all 4 parts in one session, be sure to do parts one and two together, and parts three and four together. Before doing parts 3 and 4, check in with yourself to be sure you have the energy and the emotional and physical capacity to participate. If at any point you feel that it is perilous to continue, please stop and rest.
PART ONE
Do a sitting meditation of your choice. Be sure that it is a form of meditation that is primarily witness-centered. That is, close your eyes and spend 30-minutes merely witness-observing (or ‘watching’) your thoughts and your bodily sensations. Don’t analyze or engage them—just watch them.
PART TWO
Right after you are done, go for a walk in your neighborhood, alone, for at least thirty more minutes. While you are walking, pay close attention to both what you feel and what you see. Make an inward note of what you observe and what you are aware of. When you return, ponder these questions:
As you walked, were you more cerebral, emotional, or equanimous?
How connected did you feel to yourself?
Were you feeling any emotions? What were they?
What thoughts and feelings entered your consciousness as you walked?
Could you feel your body, your breath, your feet making contact with the ground?
How connected did you feel to landscapes, buildings, and vehicles?
To other people that you saw?
Did you feel connected to them or distinct from them?
Did you feel connected to the “oneness” field?
Were you aware of your practical responsibilities, duties, and obligations?
What is your present state?
PART THREE
Today or another day, do this exercise in a different way. Begin by standing up and removing your shoes and socks. Rub your feet into the ground for a few minutes. If you have a tennis or golf ball, place it on the ground and rub your feet into it. Stay like this until you can really feel your feet.
And then spend no more than 15 minutes doing the Bioenergetic Vibratory and Grounding practice. Even a minute or two may be enough to yield fruits. I will describe it below. Do not meditate. Do not use any control methods or mechanisms. Do not quest for equanimity, and make no efforts to focus your mind. This practice is a mind-free immersion into the body. While doing this, remember to give yourself permission to invite your feelings and any expressions to the surface.
(If you prefer, feel free to engage in free dance or any other release practice for no more than 30 minutes. Again, do not use any control methods or mechanisms. Do not quest for equanimity, and make no efforts to watch yourself or focus your mind. This practice is a mind-free immersion into the body. While doing this, remember to give yourself permission to invite your feelings and any expressions to the surface.)
Bioenergetic Vibratory and Grounding practice
When you are ready, stand with your feet about 10” apart, toes slightly turned in so as to stretch some of the muscles of the buttocks. Bend forward and touch the ground with the fingers of both hands. The knees should be slightly bent. No weight should be on the hands; all the body weight is in the feet. Let the head drop as much as possible.
Breathe through your mouth easily and deeply. Make sure to keep breathing throughout. Forget about breathing through your nose for the time being.
Let the weight of your body go forward so that it is on the balls of the feet. The heels can be slightly raised.
Straighten the knees slowly until the hamstring muscles are stretched and you feel vibrations in your legs. The vibration in your legs is key to the grounding process. Do not lock your knees backward as this immobilizes the legs. Hold the position for as long as you reasonably can…
Be particularly connected to your feet. Feel them to the extent that you can as they make contact with the ground. Feel into the whole of your body, as you surrender to your breath. Sometimes the vibration will work its way through the whole body and it will begin to excavate old memories and feelings. Age-old tensions. Contractions that you have sustained in an unconscious effort to contain the feelings you weren’t ready to assimilate. Be with whatever it is. If feelings arise, give them permission to be fully felt and experienced to the extent that you are ready. If it feels like too much, don’t push yourself beyond your limits. Come down into child’s pose and rest. Try again when the moment is right. There is no judgment here.
PART FOUR
Right after you are done, go for a walk in your neighborhood, alone, for at least thirty more minutes. While you are walking, pay close attention to both what you feel and what you see. Make an inward note of what you observe and what you are aware of. While walking, again ponder these questions:
As you walked, were you more cerebral, emotional, or equanimous?
How connected did you feel to yourself?
Were you feeling any emotions? What were they?
What thoughts and feelings entered your consciousness as you walked?
Could you feel your body, your breath, your feet making contact with the ground?
How connected did you feel to landscapes, buildings, and vehicles?
To other people that you saw?
Did you feel connected to them or distinct from them?
Did you feel connected to the “oneness” field?
Were you aware of your practical responsibilities, duties, and obligations?
What is your present state?
When you return, reflect on any differences between the two walks. Is there a notable difference between how you know reality when you are at the end of a more witness-centered meditation practice, vs. at the end of a more energized and grounding embodiment practice? Was there any difference with respect to how you experienced your body, your consciousness, your selfhood, your purpose? Was your experience of presence the same, or different, in the two practices? Did you feel less embodied and fragmented on the first walk, more embodied and inclusive on the second walk? Or, was it the other way around?
If you feel inspired, go back another day to Part One, and spend even more time witnessing (rather than embodying) yourself? Make a note of whether there is any relationship between the length of time spent as a witness-observer, and the way in which you perceive and experience all aspects of reality? Do lengthy periods of witnessing sharpen your perspective in some ways, while limiting them in others? What is the relationship between your state of being and your perception of reality? What is the relationship between your various experiences of presence, and your clarity with respect to your purpose?