JoAnna Hardy returns to share a guided meditation all around the first foundation of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body.
Coming Home to the Body // The First Foundation of Mindfulness
In this episode of the Be Here Now Network Guest Podcast, JoAnna Hardy invites us to come home to the body. Sharing a story of art students whose assignment was to look at a piece of art for four hours, she describes how when we stay with something for that long, moving beyond what our brains want to do, we can better notice the subtleties, depth, and intimacy of the experience. Connecting this with meditation practice, she structures a short dharma talk and guided meditation around the first foundation of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body and posture.
“Typically when we’re uncomfortable or something is difficult, we want to think our way out of it, we want to feel better. That’s totally natural, there’s nothing wrong with that. Yet, what we see is, the growth and the deep knowing of the experience can get missed.” – JoAnna Hardy
Dive deeper with JoAnna into the first foundation of mindfulness, on Ep. 72 of the BHNN Guest Podcast
Guided Meditation // The Intentional Quality of Intention (8:01)
JoAnna drops into the guided meditation portion of the dharma session, focusing on intention, body, the elements, and our breath.
“A lot of our mindfulness practice is the intentional quality of intention. What am I paying attention to right now?” – JoAnna Hardy
JoAnna offers a discussion & guided practice on choiceless awareness, on Ep. 99 of the BHNN Guest Podcast
Standing Practice // Checking in with the Body (32:00)
From here, JoAnna invites those comfortable into a standing practice, staying mindful of the movements it takes to stand, as well as the feeling of standing – bringing awareness to something we normally do in mindless autopilot. She closes by relaying the importance of checking in with feelings in the body throughout our day.
“What does joy feel like? What does gratitude feel like? We don’t need to make anything up. Just what is here, whatever is truly alive for you.” – JoAnna Hardy
Art via Matic Stojs Lomovsek