The 5 elements of our Vibrant Awareness program
Sitting meditation
We teach several different forms of sitting meditation, including meditating from a cross-legged sitting position, a kneeling position, and while sitting in a chair.
When you sit in our cross-legged sitting position, you sit with a cushion under your buttocks, legs crossed, back straight, eyes half closed looking down at a point on the floor in front of you, hands folded in your lap. The only difference between the kneeling position and the cross-legged position is the position of your legs. All the rest of the same. The same can be said for the sitting in a chair position. You still have a cushion on the chair under your buttocks and your feet are flat on the floor.
While in one of these positions, you focus your mind on your center, a point located four fingers widths below the navel. The postures of the sitting positions facilitate breathing from your lower abdomen, so when you focus your attention on your center, you are focusing on your abdominal breathing. We have several different exercises for beginners that involve counting the breaths to aid in focusing your attention.
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When you sit in one of these positions, you must try as much as possible to be perfectly still and not move. Also, you should try not to make any unnecessary noise. Gradually, the mind settles down and you become naturally more aware and alert to what is going on inside and outside of you. Thoughts will arise, but they naturally have less control over you. Anticipations of the future, regrets of the past, fears, conditioned responses, all fade into the background and become replaced by a special kind of awareness of your self and your surroundings. This awareness that arises out of sitting meditation is what we call vibrant awareness.
Standing meditation
We teach several different forms of standing meditation. These forms are drawn from Qigong, ancient Chinese exercises that facilitate the flow of energy. When doing any of these exercises, you stand with your knees totally relaxed, your tailbone tilted forward so it is in line with your spine. Your entire body and mind should be relaxed completely. Your spine should be straight and stretched upward. Your arms are either down to your sides or held in one of several different positions in front of you.
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While in any one of these positions, your focus needs to be either on your center, a point located four fingers widths below the navel or, in some of the standing positions, on an imaginary line connecting connecting the centers of the palms of your hands. The postures of the standing positions facilitate breathing from your lower abdomen, so when you focus your attention on your center, you are focusing on your abdominal breathing.
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When you sit in one of these positions, you must try as much as possible to be perfectly still and not move. Also, you should try not to make any unnecessary noise. The effects of these forms of meditative practice are very similar to those arising out of sitting meditation. Gradually, the mind settles down and you become naturally more aware and alert to what is going on inside and outside of you. Since these are Qigong exercises, they have the additional benefit of facilitating the flow of energy throughout your body, giving rise to increased vitality and stamina. The awareness that arises out of any of the forms of standing meditation is what we call vibrant awareness.
Walking meditation
The kind of walking meditation we teach is essentially a walking version of sitting meditation. Hands are clasped in front across your chest. Eyes are half closed and you look at a point on the floor several feet in front of you. You raise one foot as you inhale and set it down gently on the floor as you exhale. Your entire body and mind should be relaxed completely. Your spine should be straight and stretched upward.
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Your focus needs to be on your center, a point located four fingers widths below the navel. The posture of the walking position facilitates breathing from your lower abdomen, so when you focus your attention on your center, you are focusing on your abdominal breathing.
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As you walk, slowly and mindfully in a circular or rectangular path, you should have a feeling of carrying inside you a point of stillness within that moves along with you smoothly and continuously. The effects of this form of meditative practice are very similar to those arising out of sitting meditation. Gradually, the mind settles down and you become naturally more aware and alert to what is going on inside and outside of you. This is a practice of mindfulness.The awareness that arises out of this form of walking meditation is what we call vibrant awareness.
Moving meditation
We teach several different forms of moving meditation. These forms are drawn from Tai Chi Chu'an, the Chinese martial art that has remarkable health benefits bot physical and mental. Some of them are warm up and stretching exercises, others are elements of the Tai Chi solo form.
When doing any of these exercises, you stand with your knees totally relaxed, your tailbone tilted forward so it is in line with your spine. Your entire body and mind should be relaxed completely. Your spine should be straight and stretched upward. Some of the movements you do while standing still and moving your arms or other parts of your body, but most of them involve the movement of your entire body in a slow and relaxed manner.
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While doing any of these movements, your focus needs to be on whichever part or parts of your body are moving. We call this 'tasting the movements' or directing your mind to the moving parts. The mind and body work together.
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The effects of these forms of meditative practice are very similar to those arising out of sitting meditation. Gradually, the mind settles down and you become naturally more aware and alert to what is going on inside and outside of you. Since these are Tai Chi exercises and movements, they have two additional benefits. One is the awakening internal energy in your body. The other is strengthening the body and learning self defense techniques.
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While moving in these ways, your mind quietens down and you experience a greater awareness of your body and how it moves. Thoughts, whether of anticipations of the future, regrets of the past, and other idle thoughts, are displaced by a growing awareness of the immediate present.The awareness that arises out of any of the forms of moving meditation is what we call vibrant awareness.
Music and Sound meditation
While we are soon becoming more vibrant through our different branches of Vibrant Awareness, there is a treat that we've nurtured into grounding practices. It's my specialty, Music and Sound meditation.
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Hi , I'm Donna or "Miss Mindful Me".
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You will soon consider this part of our program to be an indulgence into a delightful "dessert". As we listen our way through sounds of music, your soul will wander amidst your different emotions. Joy comes for you to embrace it, smile with it, and take it home with you to bless others with it. Joy is the place that I want to take you to. Let's go!
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My Music and Sound meditation is accomplished through a variety of sounds that I've chosen to implement that touch the heart and move the spirit. We gracefully and delicately move into applying our expression through the feelings that these sounds have us feeling. Putting all of this together as we have been revived in our vibrance, renewed in our emotions and we have become awakened in our awareness of the world around us.
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In essence you will be in touch with your senses and this will take you to your "where I've always wanted to be" place. Your place could be your creative self, your talents, your relating health, your expression place. What ever it is that you've been seeking after, it will come to you throughout the five branches of VA training and my Music & Sound will top it off for you.
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While music touches our deep emotions we are reconnected with our self, our family, our lover and our community.
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