Midline Meditation Awakens our True Selves

We call upon the spirit of evolution, the miraculous force that inspires rocks and dust to weave themselves into biology. You have stood by us for millions and billions of years — do not forsake us now. Empower us and awaken in us pure and dazzling creativity.

“You that can turn scales into feathers, seawater to blood, caterpillars to butterflies — metamorphose our species, awaken in us the powers that we need to survive the present crisis and evolve into more eons of our solar journey.

“Awaken in us a sense of who we truly are: tiny ephemeral blossoms on the Tree of Life. Make the purpose and destiny of that tree our own purpose and destiny.

“Fill each of us with love for our true Self, which includes all of the creatures and plants and landscapes of the world. Fill us with a powerful urge for the well-being and continual unfolding of this Self.

“May we speak in all human councils on behalf of the animals and plants and landscapes of the Earth.

“May we shine with a pure inner passion that will spread rapidly through these leaden times…”

“We call upon the power that sustains the planets in their orbits, that wheels our Milky Way in its 200-million-year spiral, to imbue our personalities and our relationships with harmony, endurance, and joy.

“Fill us with a sense of immense time so that our brief, flickering lives may truly reflect the work of vast ages past and also the million of years of evolution whose potential lies in our trembling hands.

“O stars, lend us your burning passion.

“O silence, give weight to our voice.”

~John Seed from Joanna Macy’s book Pass it On: Five Stories That Can Change the World

 

The Midline: The Forces that Create the Body Heal The Body…and Awaken Consciousness

“In this place within, there is peace and stillness,

and with that, a fulfillment which has always been there.” – C.G. Deuter

 

“My body is the temple, where flesh and spirit unite” Jehan

 

We are in an unprecedented time of change and transformation. Many of us believe or sense that we are ‘spiritual beings having a human experience’, yet it is often rare to have a direct, in-body experience of our own divinity and Oneness with all that is.

 

One of the primary reasons this feeling of unity, ease and Oneness is so difficult to feel is the constant bombardment of inner and outer stress,

and the unceasing swirling of thoughts, static and tension of an overwhelmed nervous system. Even for those who are on a path of personal growth and transformation, the depth and rate of inner and outer change can significantly contribute to the hyperactivity of the central nervous system (CNS).

 

The time has come to recognize, feel and consciously choose to bring our attention to the Midline: a location IN THE BODY of rest, renewal, connectedness to Source and the Wellspring of Health and inner wisdom. The practice of resting in the Midline liberates our attention from the unceasing changes inside and outside of us as we create this New World with forms and relationships rooted in Oneness.

 

As a personal energy practice,  resting our awareness at the Midline- the location of Stillness within us- we allow ourselves to directly feel and merge back into our birthright of Oneness.

 

STILLNESS FORMS THE BODY THROUGH THE MIDLINE

Around day 14 after conception, in the opaque liquid crystal matrix cells of potential life, a line appears and begins to vibrate. This line- known as the primitive streak-is the Midline, at the core of which is a Dynamic Stillness, our personal connection to  Source.  Through this midline flow the forces that create the body, which carry the original Blueprint of health and destiny.

 

Once the body is formed, this flow-known as the Breath of Life- continuously flows the forces that repair the body, sustain its optimal functioning (e.g. balancing hormones, strengthening the immune system) AND evolve our consciousness.

 

Our original midline-a continuous shaft of stillness from the head to the tailbone- recedes into the core of the spine after formation of the embryo. Yet the Breath of Life continues to ‘breathe’ in subtle, palpable rhythms known as the ‘cranial tides’  throughout our lives, and for up to 3 days after the physical body has died.

 

FEEL AND LOCATE THIS FOR YOURSELF:

Find a place to sit or lie comfortably with no distractions. Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. Bring your awareness to the top of your head-

the crown. Rest your attention there for a moment.

From this place feel, sense or imagine a warm radiant column of stillness flowing

from the crown to the tip of the tailbone. Bring all of your awareness into this ‘river

of stillness’ flowing through the core of your being. Breathe slowly and deeply and allow your awareness to settle into the pool of stillness in your tailbone. Rest in this core of stillness for some time  as you allow anything that arises inside or outside of you to ‘be as it is’, gently returning any wandering thoughts back ‘down and in’ to your midline.

 

All biological beings have a midline, upon which that distinctive lifeform was created, and within which is a shaft of Stillness. As a way to experience this: stand in the midst of a forest, close your eyes and bring your awareness ‘down and in’ to your own Midline. Feel the presence of the midline Stillness in the trees surrounding you. Notice the calming of your nervous system…this is the power of resting in Neutral. In this neutral state, we more easily feel our innate connectedness to Life.

 

NEUTRAL= ‘LISTENING’ WITH THE BODY AS A RECEIVER

With midline practice, we are cultivating a bodyfelt sense of allowing, listening and receiving the Wisdom of the Body and our own inner guidance. The Midline is THE location of Neutral in the body. As we rest our attention on this shaft of neutral Stillness in the core of the body, we also let  everything inside and outside of us BE AS IT IS without bringing our attention ’up and out’ to fix or judge. We stay deep inside the core, ALLOW and feel the unimpeded flow of the Breath of Life as it reignites our innate healing forces. Often this feels like an inner body warmth and relaxation as seemingly ‘separate’ parts feel more integrated  and whole.

 

Other benefits include: reducing stress, trauma and fight/flight/freeze responses; strengthening immune function; reducing anxiety; balancing cardiovascular, neurological and hormonal systems; promoting mental clarity; restoring healthy circulation to all cells; promoting deep relaxation; allowing the heart to come fully ‘online’ as our energetic center.

MIDLINE AS A PERSONAL AND GROUP PRACTICE:

Midline Meditation is an essential personal energy awareness practice. Easy to learn, the initial guided instructions are a necessary assistance in redirecting our busy & fragmented attention back  in to this potent location in the core of the body. Eventually, the guidance will not be needed when we feel the deep sense of “Home” and restfulness in the Midline.

This practice is an excellent adjunct to any healing modality or personal growth process, as any person can cultivate it on their own to support their regaining of health, ease and groundedness in the midst of physical, emotional and other challenges.

 

Stillness Circles  are people coming together from diverse life paths and spiritual practices to cultivate and enhance the extensive benefits of Midline practice. These circles are a deep, nourishing, sacred container of embodied Oneness in the midst of dynamic personal and planetary transformation.

Prerequisite to joining Stillness Circles: Midline Meditation training, 2 session class.

NEW CLASSES ARE FORMING IN ASHLAND FOR JANUARY 2013!

Contact: sandra@sandranwheeler.com

 

We welcome you to experience this potent personal energy practice. Below is the link for ordering a direct download of the Meditation…

MIDLINE MEDITATION MP3:

http://sandranwheeler.com/_pages/meditation_mp3s.html

www.midlinemeditation.wordpress.com

 

Sandra Norris Wheeler LMT CST is in private practice in Ashland OR, specializing in Advanced Myofascial Release, shamanic ceremony and is a certified Biodynamic Cranial Touch practitioner and teacher. She has developed and teaches Midline Meditation. Contact: www.sandranwheeler.com  541.912.9556 sandra@sandranwheeler.com

Midline Meditation now offered in Mount Shasta! see below…..

Wren Breedlove is a retired physical therapist living in Mt. Shasta.  She had a 25 year private practice specializing in body work and craniosacral therapy.  She is a certified teacher of Biodynamic Cranial Touch, and is available for mentoring, teaching and sessions.  She is a teacher of Midline Meditation. CONTACT: (530) 926-1628; email:  ravenspeakstome@yahoo.com

 

Midline Meditation Class in Ashland, Oregon!

*Are you wanting to cultivate less stress & anxiety, and feel more inner quiet and ease?

*Did you know about-and have you felt- the deep restful stillness and centeredness available every moment within your own body?

*Do you want to more easily move from “busy mind” to HEART-CENTERED, grounded awareness and Presence?

Please join us for a highly effective,

body-centered

Midline Meditation class! 

Easy to learn and deeply relaxing….

our group field helps all participants to experience and embody this powerful inner ‘sanctuary’ which is

available within us in every moment throughout the day.

WHEN: Thursday, October 11 and Thursday

October 18,    9-11 am (2 meetings)

Instruction and practice are for BOTH days! Please plan to attend both sessions.

SPACE IS LIMITED, so register early! Pre-registration is required.

 

WHERE:  call for location in central Ashland, Oregon   541/912-9556

 

CLASS INCLUDES:  Instruction, handouts, practice, background of Midline Meditation, sharing of experiences. Optional CD of the meditation is available for sale ($12 special price for students)

COST:  $25-$40 suggested tuition

Thank you for passing on this information to

friends and family! 

FOR REGISTRATION: Sandra Norris Wheeler LMT CST  541/912-9556

“The moment you relax into the inherent stillness in your body,

and let your feelings be, as they are, the magic

begins: the inner war ceases… the infusion of the Breath of Life

will pour its healing radiance into your

contracted body, and promptly return it to health.”

Charles Ridley

Breath as the Flow of Spirit…..

There is nothing about your physical awareness that connects you more to the Non-Physical aspect of your Being than that of your breathing.

Many assume that the process of breathing is only about your physical nature, but that is not the case. The process of breathing is much more than an essential function of your physical body. Indeed, it is the flowing of Spirit to you, and through you. That is the reason that when the focusing of Spirit through your physical body ceases, your breathing ceases, also.

Our meditation experience will induce a convergence of beneficial aspects for you, for as you relax into the natural rhythm of perfect breathing while hearing these spoken words, the Vibration of your physical being will gently surrender to the Vibrational frequency of your Source, and you will become one with your Source, inside the Vortex.

Through the hearing of our words in your relaxed state of allowing, you will allow the gentle tuning of your Vibrational frequency to match the frequency of your Source.

This will not be an exercise of effort or trying, but instead an exercise of releasing and allowing…gently allowing yourself to be who-you-really-are.

 

— Abraham

Excerpted from the Getting into the Vortex Guided Meditation CD and User Guide # 272

The Stillness Within

 “There is a place within us where there are no more goals to reach, no more roads to travel, no more maps to follow, no more philosophies to create, no more strategies to construct. In this place within, there is peace and stillness, and with that, a fulfillment which has always been there.”

– C.G. Deuter

 

 

What to Do in Meditation When You Are Flooded with Mental Pain

(article by Steven Goodheart)

Each meditation is so different. Today, as I settled into my breath, I was immediately aware of a great deal of mental pain. The pain didn’t seem to be tied to anything in particular, but was more an existential kind of pain—just the fact of “being” hurt.

One I got mentally quiet enough to feel its full intensity, this background pain wanted all of my attention. I knew that if I just ignored it, or tried to push it away, it would only get worse, and it would be impossible to develop any concentration and insight. So, what to do?

Sometimes, when the existential pain is that bad, I’ve found that it’s wise to just stop trying to meditate, and turn one’s whole attention to the pain. Sometimes this means just exploring the pain—seeing what its nature is and, especially, what it feels like in the body. One looks into the pain or angst with a non-judgmental curiosity. You just want to see what’s going on, so to speak, and you do it with as much compassion and loving-kindness as you can.

If the pain really roars when you look into it with non-judgmental interest, and you don’t seem to be getting a handle on its causes, then it may be well to step back and begin doing metta, loving-kindness, meditation for oneself: “May I be free of this pain, and the causes of this pain. May I have peace of mind and know the causes of peace of mind.”

Or, you may want to address the pain directly, as my heart teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, likes to say, as dealing with a crying baby: “Dear pain, I hear your cries! I do not reject you! I will not lock you away in some other room of my mind and let you wail! (I would hear you anyway!) I am here for you, dear pain. I hold you in my heart, even though it hurts to much. I want to know what you are all about, and set this painful energy free, for you and I are not different, but the same. The pain is me, and I am the pain. I will not reject myself, but look deeply, with love and compassion, so that I may be free.”

Giving some mental pain all one’s attention, like this, can be very skillful—or very unskillful! It all depends on whether we can hold the pain in thought and our heart, without getting sucked into the pains’ story line or getting overwhelmed by the emotions and images that may arise as we pay attention.

Again, if one feels overwhelmed, then it’s usually skillful to just stop, back away, and give oneself and the pain some space. In some cases, it might be wise to just turn one’s thought entirely away from the pain and go do something else—take a walk, do some housework, listen to some music, or talk to a friend. Is this “abandoning” the baby? Not really. It’s not like you’ll won’t hear it in the background! But the fact is, if you are utterly overwhelmed by some mental pain, you won’t be a very good or skillful “mother” or “father” to the pain, and your unskillful attention will actually just make matters worse!

Giving yourself some mental space, you will find that after a while you can usually return to giving yourself metta—loving and embracing yourself in heartfelt well-wishes and the aspiration that you be free of mental entanglements and tight emotional knots. If you find you can return to mindfulness of the pain, and begin to investigate again with fearless, non-judgmental curiosity, that’s great. But if not, then my experience is that staying with the metta, with the loving-kindness work, is the most skillful thing you can do.

Selfless love can heal as much as insight can, and a deep, unconditional love always brings insight. Likewise, with insight into the “not self” nature of the mental things that plague us, one gains equanimity and often the compassion that comes from deeply understanding the nature of something. Understanding often leads to forgiveness, of ourselves, and of others, but only when we’ve plumbed the depths of our hurt and seen through the pain that binds us.

I hope what I’ve shared here is helpful to you. One never knows what will show up when one sits down to meditate. Part of the practice is learning how to deal with what arises skillfully. Though I’ve explained here what to do when one is overwhelmed by pain or angst or some powerful emotion, there are times when one can simply note some lesser pain, some thought that would snag us, and then just smile, and gently return to the breath and the concentration.

You’ll have to see for yourself what works best, and each time is different. There are times to resist the tug of some thought or emotion and to resolutely stick with the breath. The “monkey mind” will want to say everything that arises in our thought is important and that everything we can think or feel should be followed and chased after. Don’t be fooled! Don’t chase the monkey’s tempting bananas! Meditation is indeed a discipline. It takes hard work and an ardent desire to awaken from the monkey mind’s entanglements and delusions.

I can happily report that as I have stuck with meditation practice, and as I’ve gained more skill as a meditator, I’m far less likely to follow some “banana” thought, incidental pain, or fascinating feeling into its imaginary, self-justifying world of pleasures and pains. But, yes, when some mental pain is truly great, when we get overwhelmed, there are times to stop working on concentration and to turn our attention to the cry of our being, to the crying baby within us.

If we investigate mental pain with the twin tools of non-judgmental curiosity and loving-kindness, we will find the way to heal ourselves and gain our freedom.  With each day’s practice, whether on or off “the cushion,” we will learn how to live life more fully and skillfully.  It’s all a matter of learning how to pay attention, even when our “monkey mind” wants to swing from thought to thought—and how to love unconditionally, even in the face of great, screaming pain. My friend, I can testify from my own trial and errors, you can learn how to do it!

 

Next Midline Meditation Gathering!

Eugene OR:

Sunday, October 23 (6:15) 6:30-8 pm

RSVP as space is limited. 541/343-4415. Please plan to arrive 15 minutes early to get settled.

Bend OR:

Friday, October 29 6-8 pm

Hawthorn Healing Arts

39 NW Louisiana Avenue

RSVP as space is limited. 541/343-4415 or Hawthorn 541/330-0334

You, who are the source of all power

Whose rays illuminate the whole world

Illuminate also my heart

So that it too can do your work

-from the Gayatri:

The Restful Sanctuary Within Our Being….

 

Midline Meditation is a practice which assists us moving from brain dominance to a state of heart dominance: we exchange thinking for sensing and feeling. As we reorient our inner ‘resting place’ from the head to the heart, belly and body- the place  from which we orient our Presence-

            stress and fight/flight/freeze responses ease

            heart -centered consciousness naturally arises

            heart coherence comes back “on line” and choreographs all the systems of our bodymind (see below)

            an innate sense of our wholeness arises, rather than an ego (brain) driven sense of separateness, including our sense of our own bodies

The effects of consistently reorienting our awareness to our midlines, finding a place of rest in our more INNER, heart-centered, feeling centers is cumulative and progressive.

Like training a new ‘muscle’,  our abilities to relax our busy mind/nervous system dominance becomes easier and more instinctual. We are more able to move to this inner awareness throughout our day, in all situations. From this place we find that it is easier to ALLOW life to unfold without needing to “go out” and react/try to change the events and people in our lives.

 We are cultivating a restful sanctuary within ourselves, that strengthens and stabilizes each time we bring our awareness within.

 Over time, we also notice that this stillness and sense of wholeness begins to permeate our entire being. The stillness which we have cultivated within the midline has come to radiate and infuse every cell of our body. As we move through our day and our lives, we literally move into the world as Stillness, radiating this heartcentered Presence into every encounter and environment.

 This radiant Presence is brought into our lives, and through the coherence of our heart fields, we offer the possibility to every other heart field to begin to entrain and awaken. Again, we are not GOING OUT to ‘make something happen’, but are simply cultivating our own inner Stillness/heart coherence and moving into Life as that, embodied.

 Our bodies, then,  literally become agents of transformation through our own willingness to cultivate this within ourselves.

Enlightenment Within the Body…..

 

When the body calls us back, we begin to find that we have a partner on the spiritual path that we didn’t know about–the body itself. In our meditation and in our surrounding lives, the body becomes a teacher, one that does not communicate in words but tends to speak out of the shadows. Moreover, rather than being able to require the body to adapt to our conscious ideas and intentions, we find that we have to begin to learn the language that the body naturally speaks. As we come under the tutelage of the body, we often think we know what is going on, only to discover, over and over, that we have completely missed the point. And then, just when we think we are completely confused, we come to see that we have understood something much more profound and far-reaching than anything we could have imagined. It is all very puzzling but, in meditating with the body as our guide, we come to feel that, perhaps for the first time in our lives, we are in the presence of a being, our own body, that is wise, loving, flawlessly reliable, and, strange to say, worthy of our deepest devotion.

In entering into this process of developing somatic awareness, we are not simply making peace with our physical existence. In fact, we are entering into a process that lies right at the heart of the spiritual life itself, something the Buddha saw a very long time ago. He saw that while spiritual strategies of disembodiment may yield apparent short-term gains, in the long run they land us right back in the mess we began with, perhaps more deeply than before.

In meditating with the body, the awareness itself is being retrained and reeducated. We begin to live our life as a continual welling up from the depths of our soma, of our pores, our tissues, and our cells. Rather than thinking that the conscious mind is or should be the engineer of our lives, we begin to realize that the conscious mind is actually more appropriately the handmaiden of the body. The body becomes the continual source of what we need in order to live, the unending fount of the water of life.

from: “Touching Enlightenment”  by Reggie Ray

Next Midline Meditation Gathering: June 16

Midline Meditation Gatherings….

“Enlightenment is in the Body, Right Here and Now”

The Buddha

Cultivating body-centered Stillness

and deep relaxation in a nurturing group field 

Thursday, June 16 (6:45) 7-8:30 pm

Sunday, June 26 (6:15) 6:30-8 pm

Thursday, July 7 (6:45) 7-8:30 pm

We do start on time, so please plan to arrive several minutes early to get settled.

***RSVP no later than 24 hours before each class so space can be created for everyone***  541/343-4415

Everyone is invited to participate.  Please invite your friends, family and community.

Midline Meditation is a guided 30-40 minute body-centered meditation and progressive relaxation experience, with time on your own to rest in quiet at the completion. We will then have the opportunity to share our experiences afterward in the circle (always optional).

What to bring:  Whatever you need to sit comfortably and warm (we have pillows). We will be sitting in straight back chairs. Some participants like to bring a shawl for extra coziness.

Go to our Blog Site for more information and for new postings: http://midlinemedittion.wordpress.com/

Cost: $10-$20

 “Since noise is increasing in all directions, the psychology of silence has taken on a special meaning. We are already so adapted to an abundance of screeching sound that we are surprised when stillness suddenly envelopes us. Not that this happens very often.

We begin to see that the whole question of our relation to the world , both positive and negative, centers in something like silence.

So our service to the world might be simply to keep a place where there is no noise, where people can be silent  together.”

Thomas Merton  “The Springs Of Contemplation”

If you cannot join us in person, we invite you to sit with us at the same time wherever you may be. Midline Meditation CDs and MP3 direct downloads are available on our blog at : http://midlinemeditation.wordpress.com/