The Posture of Meditation
Page 9
The principles and exercises in this book will allow you to let go of the patterns of holding and tension that keep the posture of meditation hidden. They will work for everybody, regardless of an individual’s physical conditioning and state of tension. The process of meditation allows us to unravel whatever physical and psychic knots we may have accumulated over time. Our job is to engage the process and to allow it to affect and transform us. We do not get gold stars after our name if we can manifest the posture of meditation quickly and suddenly. Nor is it a mark of judgment against us if the posture manifests only slowly over time. The posture allows us to contact the truth of our condition, whatever that condition may be. By contacting the truth of our condition, the unraveling process has no choice but to begin.
If you come to a point of impasse in your exploration of alignment, relaxation, and resilience, you may choose to keep patiently allowing the posture to resolve the blockage or you may choose to seek out the services of a professional from within the field of somatic (that is, body-oriented) education. Depending on the nature of the impasse, you may find help through a Rolfer, an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, a Feldenkrais or Alexander practitioner, or a dance therapist. The field of somatic therapy is extremely diverse, and a wide range of techniques, each focusing on a different aspect of embodiment, is to be found in the marketplace. Some techniques focus on the more purely mechanical condition of the body; others view the physical condition primarily as a metaphor through which to define and resolve emotional or attitudinal blockages. If you choose to explore this broad field as an adjunct to your meditation practice, it is advised that you open yourself fully to the teachings of the technique you have chosen, but never lose sight of the reason you sought assistance from the somatic practitioner in the first place. Many somatic therapists view the increase in pleasurable sensation, or the resolution of the physical blockage, as the ultimate goal of the work. To a student of meditation, however, the relief or release of tension is only significant to the degree that it helps you gain insight into the meditative states of awareness to which your formal practice is leading you. Many students of meditation explore the field of somatic education as an adjunct to their practice. Perhaps in a thousand years’ time, when an historian of spiritual practices looks back on our era, the exploration of somatic practices will appear to be an introductory phase in the process of meditative inquiry. Explore these practices if necessary, but never lose sight of the guiding principles of alignment, relaxation, and resilience and their ability to lead you ever closer to your intended goal.
Finally, anybody wishing to correspond with the author or to receive information about workshops and retreats based on the principles presented in this book may do so by contacting the Institute for Embodiment Training, 6688 Grandview Road, Duncan, B.C., V9L 5Y7, Canada.
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