January 2013 Open Meditation

Body Awareness (+ raw juicing)

Sunday, January 13, 2:00pm

This body is an unremovable part of living experience. It's most prominent in our awareness when we're in pain or when things don't work as well as we'd like them to. Often we build an antagonistic relationship with our body when we struggle to live up to the norms of attractiveness. This month, I [Seth] would like to practice body awareness in a group so we can thing through together the strategies we'd like to use to develop a more joyful and aware experience of embodiment.

"What we must work on, it seems to me, is not so much to liberate our desires but to make ourselves infinitely more susceptible to pleasure." -Foucault

Through the practice of body mindfulness, we can become more sensitive to the pleasurable experiences of our lived reality. While we cannot wish away pain, we can reduce the negative reaction pain sparks. The body is also a store house of memory and emotion. By cultivating attention of the body we can better come to terms with the present reality of our past and come to a greater intimacy with our own feelings.

Guided meditations are sometimes useful for practicing body awareness, as we can follow another's lead in bringing different kinds of attention to various areas of the body, but in this group I like to it best to give everyone the freedom to explore themselves on their own and see what comes up.

As usual we'll have a round discussion before and after the sit which will consist of two 25 min. sessions divided by walking. I'd also like to treat our body by making fresh juice after the meditation. I've got the juicer and will bring some organic produce. You should bring any fruits and veggies that you'd like to throw in! Let's make raw juice and drink it in conscious community.

Donations are welcome to cover the cost of the space (and juice) but are not required.