All posts tagged: posture

Hands of Hope: The Possibility of Bodily Ease in Sitting Meditation

Published by Travis Newbill

A few years ago, my experience of sitting on my meditation cushion was changed in a dramatic, simple, and sustained way, when Hope Martin placed her hands on my spine for just a few minutes. Over the past three decades, countless students have had similar experiences, as she has gained a reputation for being a profoundly sensitive, intuitive body-worker as well as a gentle and brilliant meditation teacher. As she says, what she offers is highly experiential. In that space with her, a shift occurred: emotionally, in the body, in the mind. It was profound. I flash on that experience just about every time I sit to meditate, and the body, remembering Hope’s hands, relaxes into a dignified posture. The experience is elusive, and better to be experienced personally than described. But, hearing Hope speak about her work, along with some clips of a recent session I had with her (lucky me!), may bring it to life a bit more. Please enjoy this short video, and may the hands of Hope be with you. Shambhala …

Discussing the Posture of Meditation with Will Johnson (Video/Audio)

Published by dmcblog

Shambhala Mountain Center hosts The Posture of Meditation: Breathing through the Whole Body with Will Johnson, November 14–16, 2014 In the practice of meditation, what you do with your body is every bit as important as what you do with your mind.  Will Johnson help student to explore the conditions of body that naturally deepen meditation and to learn to establish the three primary somatic principles shown to support our posture: alignment (establishing the upright spine), relaxation (surrendering the weight of the body to the pull of gravity), and resilience (the understanding that everything in the body moves subtly in resilient response to the force of breath).  Building on this foundation, we’re naturally led to “breathe through the whole body, ” as suggested in the Buddha’s teachings.  By embodying these simple principles, we can bring far more ease, grace, and release into our sitting practice.  Body awakens.  Mind slows down.  Heart comes open. Watch our interview below, or scroll down to stream/download the audio. If you’d like to download the audio file, CLICK HERE and …