The Fivefold Foundation is a meditation practice designed to guide the body and nervous system into a parasympathetic state, promoting relaxation and openness. This foundational routine serves both as a standalone meditation and as a preparatory sequence for deeper practices. It emphasizes gentle engagement without striving for achievement.
1. Posture (7 minutes):
- Pelvis: Sit comfortably, allowing your torso’s weight to rest on your pelvis, slightly forward of the sitz bones. Feel the support beneath you and surrender into it.
- Spine and Neck: Encourage energy to rise along your back. Lengthen the neck by lifting from the crown of your head, gently stretching if it feels natural.
- Head: Align your head by tilting the forehead forward slightly and drawing the chin and ears back. Aim to have ears, shoulders, and hips in alignment. Soften your eyes, cheeks, jaw, and tongue, noticing how facial relaxation influences your awareness.
- Chest: Keep the collarbones wide and shoulders balanced, avoiding puffing out or collapsing the chest.
- Hands: Rest your hands palms-down on your thighs, positioning them to support an open chest and balanced shoulders.
2. Abdominal Breathing (3 minutes): Breathe deeply into the lower abdomen, below the navel toward the tailbone, signaling safety to your nervous system. Allow the breath to expand both the front and lower back, fostering a sense of acceptance and relaxation.
3. Natural Breath (2-3 minutes): Begin with a few deep breaths, then let your exhales naturally release without immediate inhalation. Notice the pauses between breaths, embracing the stillness and allowing the breath to self-regulate, which in turn calms the nervous system.
4. Awareness of Body in Space (2 minutes): While breathing, gently acknowledge the space around you, perhaps by noting a wall’s presence. This awareness helps ground you in the present moment, aligning your nervous system with the current environment rather than past experiences.
5. Heart Breathing (2-5 minutes): Focus on the center of your chest, imagining your breath flowing in and out from this heart space. Visualize breathing through a point just in front of the spine, exploring sensations within this area. This practice connects you to a compassionate, witnessing aspect of yourself, fostering calmness and clarity.
Throughout this sequence, maintain a gentle approach, embracing softness and openness in both body and mind.