Instructions for iRest


Seated Meditation

In a chair: have your feet on the ground, your pelvis on a solid surface, so that you can feel your sit bones supporting you from underneath. This gives you the stability to keep your back straight as you inhale, allowing your neck to lengthen and your entire spine to expand, softening as you exhale, allowing your attention to gently move down the front of yourself as you release the old all the way down your belly to your pubic bone to engage your Dan Tien, the center of mass in your belly that helps ground you in the electromagnetic field of the earth as you become more and more present.

In lotus position: on a cushion with your legs crossed - if you choose a few pillows or a bolster that is comfortable yet solid enough to provide a firm sense of support, set it up so that your pelvis is higher than your knees. This is another way of setting up a way to sense the solidity of your sit bones beneath you, so that you can extend into the full height of your being as you inhale and engage the entire length of your abdomen as you exhale.

Recumbent Meditation
Lying down: make sure you are warm, undisturbed, have plenty of pillows and bolsters to create a yin support system for yourself. Place a pillow under your knees to allow your back to flatten on the surface you are lying on. Place a pillow under your head and neck to allow your chin to be slightly lower than the top of your head. Place a hand towel over your eyes to diminish the light and lower the stimulus from the external world. Cover yourself with a blankent and release your whole being into the earth underneath you. This is the traditional position for iRest meditation, a restorative kind of guided process that allows you to find a way back to your authentic, spontaneous true nature in a state of relaxed awareness.