#844: Be Still — Guided Meditation with Zen Master Henry Shukman
🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode introduces a guided meditation led by Zen master Henry Shukman, designed to help listeners find calm and regulate their nervous systems. It is part of a four-episode series aimed at building a Zen toolkit
for greater peace and effectiveness in daily life. The session focuses on a body scan meditation to cultivate stillness and relaxation.
Notable Quotes
- For now, all that matters is your being still.
– Henry Shukman, emphasizing the importance of presence over past or future concerns.
- You're granted this possibility just now of having your whole body find its way to restful ease.
– Henry Shukman, on the transformative power of relaxation.
🧘♂️ The Power of Stillness
- Henry Shukman begins the meditation with a poem, encouraging listeners to set aside worries, hopes, or grief and focus solely on being still.
- Stillness is framed as a gateway to peace, allowing individuals to reconnect with their inner selves and regulate their nervous systems.
🛠️ Body Scan Meditation Technique
- The meditation guides listeners through a systematic relaxation of the body, starting with the jaw and throat, moving through the chest, belly, and limbs, and ending with the head.
- Emphasis is placed on softness, warmth, and ease, with imagery like warm wax
and a subtle cloud of ease
to deepen relaxation.
- The practice aims to create a sense of the entire body being enveloped in warmth and restfulness.
🌟 Practical Benefits of Relaxation
- Relaxing the body is presented as a skill that can improve daily functioning, enhance peace, and better regulate emotions.
- Henry Shukman highlights that these moments of ease are always accessible with the right tools and practice.
🔄 Transitioning Back to Activity
- The session concludes with gentle movements—wiggling fingers and toes—to help listeners transition back to their environment.
- Henry Shukman previews the next session, which will explore how doing less can help us do more.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
This episode is part of a series called Meditation Monday. The teacher, Henry Shukman, has been on my podcast twice before. He is one of only a few dozen masters in the world authorized to teach Sanbo Zen, and now, he’ll be your teacher.
In addition to my long-form interviews each week, every Monday I’ll bring you a short 10-minute or so meditation, which will help you for the rest of the week.
Over this four-episode series, you’ll develop a Zen toolkit to help you find greater calm, peace, and effectiveness in your daily life.
Henry’s app, The Way, has changed my life since I first started using it. Unlike other meditation apps, where you’re overwhelmed with a thousand choices, The Way is a clear step-by-step training program guided entirely by Henry. Through a logical progression, you’ll develop real skills that stick with you.
I’ve been using it daily, often twice a day, and it’s lowered my anxiety more than I thought possible.
As a listener of my podcast, you can get 30 free sessions by visiting https://thewayapp.com/tim and downloading the app.
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