BLISS RITUALS OUTLINE

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BLISS DANCE

MAIN PRACTICE:

Eyes Closed
Abdominal Breathing
Feel the Music
Full Body Movement

FINE TUNE:

Dim Light
Tribal Music
Sacred Space
30 Minutes Minimum

COMMENTARY:

1. Eyes Closed – You must dance with closed eyes. Dance is the body resonating with music. You start by listening to the music. Closing the eyes shifts our attention from images and thoughts, to sounds and body sensations. This opens the gateway to the ecstasy of dance. Shutting off visual input quiets the busy mind. Not seeing other people stops us from feeling self-conscious, eliminating the biggest obstacle to dance. I recommend wearing an eye mask to ensure complete darkness. The dark night is home to stillness and silence. From stillness, movement arises. From silence, music begins.

1. Abdominal Breathing – This is the start of your body’s dance. Feel deeply into your body by breathing deeply. Imagine breathing all the way into the ground, and then out of it. Notice the sensation of your belly rising and falling with each air intake. As you breathe deeply, scan your body from head to toe, and relax every muscle. Let go of all the weights you have been carrying, and all the tension you have been holding. Stay very still, feel the softness, lightness and aliveness of your being. At the beginning, you consciously regulate your breathing. Eventually you forget it. Your body breathes deeply on its own. You become your breath.

1. Feel the Music – Back into the mother’s womb, lovingly held in a dark, still and silent space, you listen to the music. Let the melody flow through you. Allow your body to vibrate with the rhythm. Tune into the sound. Feel the vibe. Let your body be filled with music. You become the music. When you feel so full of music that it is overflowing, then your body is ready to move. Maintain this connection with the music at all times. If you ever lose it, stop, listen, and let the music fill you up again.

1. Full Body Movement – Your body moves because it wants to, not because your mind tells it so. Trust your body’s instincts to move. Let go of the mind’s hold on the body. There is no right or wrong way to move. One way is not better looking than another. Dance is music expressed through your being. Start with slow and small movement. Tune into the music. Feel the resonance in your body. Then amplify it by gradually increasing the intensity and range of your movement.Feel the music in every part of your body. Every part of the body has its own unique movement. Explore the rich melody of your body by moving through each part. Wiggle your toes, tap your feet, knock your knees, lift your thighs, roll your hips, wave your torso, shimmy your shoulder, spin your arms, shake your hands, flutter your fingers, circle your neck, nod your head, twirl your hair… Learn the vocabulary of your movement language. Then mix them up, create your own musical phrases and sentences. Before long, you will surprise yourself at how effortless and enjoyable dancing is.As you venture further into your dance ritual, you will find your body feeling more alive, your heart oozing with love, your mind reaching new clarity and your spirit becoming more connected with the divine. This is the gift of dance, the path to bliss through movement. The dancer becomes the dance.

1. Dim Light – Draw the blinds, lit the candles! The absence of light enhances our sense of hearing. It helps us to get out of the mind, and into the body. Low light sets the mood for music and dance. Unable to see people and things clearly minimises mental analysis and judgment, opens our heart for love and connection.

1. Tribal Music – Dance is in our blood! For millions of years, our tribal ancestors roamed the Earth. When the night descends, they dance around a campfire. Mankind has since learnt to harness the power of the mind and build great civilisations, at the expense of losing touch with our instincts. Tribal music helps us to reconnect with our inner animal, wild and raw. Dancing to music from African tribes, Australian Aboriginals and the American Indians is an immensely grounding experience, connecting us to mother Earth.

1. Sacred Space – Create a space that invites the contemplation of the divine mystery. A dance circle is a celebration of life. Through the ritual of dance, we transcend the body, delving into the sacred spiritual dimension. Dance is medicine. When we surrender to the music, let our body’s instinct take over, healing takes place. Physical pain, emotional hurt and mental block may be spontaneously resolved.The physical space should be clean, tidy and free of clutter. Consider warm ambient light, calming music, candles, incense, statues, plants, art, sacred texts, etc. The interpersonal space should make us feel calm, safe, open, playful and loved. In a group, avoid talking during the dance. Before the dance, set an intention and meditate. After the dance, allow time for reflection and sharing.

30 Minutes Minimum – The duration of your dance ritual matters. It cannot be too short. It does not matter how slow you are dancing, or how awful you look. What matters is that you are relaxed, tuning into the music and enjoying yourself. Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth!Dance for at least 30 minutes. Your eyes need time to adjust to the dark. Your breath needs time to regulate. Your mind needs time to settle down. Your body needs time to warm up and get in sync with the music. Your heart needs time to pump up its beating. Your awareness needs time to lose track of time. When you forget the time, forget the self, become one with the breath, the music, and the dance, you do not want to stop. You are in bliss. You are bliss.This is a 30-minute dance playlist:

BLISS MEDITATION

Bliss Meditation

MAIN PRACTICE:

Abdominal Breathing
Relaxed Posture
Complete Darkness
Know Thyself

FINE-TUNE:

Meditate Daily
20 Minutes Minimum
Soothing Music
Sitting Upright

COMMENTARY:

1. Abdominal Breathing – I cannot emphasis more strongly the importance of proper breathing. This key practice should be your starting point. Forget everything else, just pay attention to breathing. Imagine breathing all the way into and out of the ground. At the beginning, you may find your breath short and shallow, in the chest area. Try breathing deeper and lower into the belly. Make this a daily practice. Practice until abdominal breathing feels natural and your body does it automatically. I spent three months forming the habit of abdominal breathing. I feel more relaxed and grounded, yet more energetic and passionate than ever!First you consciously regulate your breathing. Eventually you forget about it. Do not do the breathing. Let breathing do what it does on its own. Notice the sensation of your belly rising and falling with each air intake. A slight tension builds up as it rises. The tension dissipates into sensations of warmth and comfort. Often I involuntarily smile as my belly falls. Also become aware of the air drafting in and out of your nostrils. The intake makes a subtle high-pitched sound, whereas the outflow tends to create into a lower and more relaxed vibration.

1. Relaxed Posture – Meditation is not about posture: it is about a state of being. I call it bliss. I believe meditation can be done anywhere, anytime and in any posture. However, just like any other practice, certain postures are better at getting us into the meditative groove! Your posture must be relaxed. You do not want excessive tension in your body, because it creates distraction. If your legs are too tight for Lotus Pose, do not force yourself. Just sit on a chair with your legs touching the floor.Guide your awareness along your entire body from the crown of your head to the bottom of your feet. Pay attention to your eye brows, jaws, tongue, neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back, hip, fingers and toes. Touch, move or tense your body parts to feel them, then let them relax. As you breathe out, let your body sink into the ground. You are one with your body. Your body one with the Earth.

1. Complete Darkness – You must meditate in darkness. Meditation is an introspective practice. Shutting off eyesight eliminates the biggest source of external sensory input. Closing the eyes is second best, since this still allows some light to come through. Complete darkness is preferred. I recommend wearing an eye mask. If you want the cool look, put on a pair of sunglasses. For a year I meditated daily with a pair of sunnies, sitting on a street bench in Perth CBD during the busy lunch hour. Darkness promotes stillness and silence, which are the keys to deep meditative bliss.

1. Know Thyself – Meditation is like having a date with yourself. Nowadays our lives are so busy that we rarely have the time just for ourselves. Even when we try to relax, we remain distracted by TV, social media, other people, etc. Many of us have become disconnected with ourselves. We do not know who we are. We are sleep walking through life. Meditation is my No.1 Bliss Ritual because I connect with myself through the practice!First, you sense your entire body through relaxed posture.
  Second, you observe your thoughts at a distance. Imagine you are at a cinema with only one seat, dedicated to yourself. As you breathe deeply in and out of your tummy, ideas and thoughts arise on the screen of your mind. Watch them, but stay in your seat, keep your distance, let them play out. Resist the temptation to react to your thoughts. Over time, they will fade away, replaced by some other thoughts. Stay in your seat, breathe, and enjoy the show.
  
  Third, feel your emotions. This is more subtle and difficult to do. But you will get better at it if you do this every day. This becomes easier once you have become adept at sensing your body and observing your thoughts. The areas to pay special attention to are your chest and abdomen. A lot of our emotions, such as anger, joy, sadness and fear, are stored in these areas. Feeling your emotion requires you to zero in on a body sensation, and then identify the associated emotion. For instance, you sense heaviness in your chest. When you feel into it, your heart sinks and you feel like crying. This is sadness. However, if you start to have shorter and heavier breaths, your chest and shoulders tense up, as if preparing to strike out. This is anger.
  Know yourself. Become the observer. Become your own best friend.

1. Meditate Daily – Rituals are ongoing practices. Practice Bliss Meditation daily until it becomes an indispensable part of your routine. Pick a time and place to meditate every day, and stick with it. When I first started daily meditation, I did it during my lunch break. I would spend 30 minutes eating lunch, and then spend the next 30 minutes meditating. I now meditate 30 minutes in the morning straight out of bed, and 30 minutes just after lunch.Find a time and space that is most suitable for you and meditate daily. You are worth spending time with every day. You are an amazing person. You are just too busy to notice. Slow down, breathe, and get to know yourself. You will discover the wonderful microcosm that is you. You are full of contradictions, hidden secrets and wild dreams! It is an adventure. It is a pilgrimage. These are the worst and the best times. It is pure bliss!

1. 20 Minutes Minimum – Your breath needs time to ground. Your body needs time to relax. Your mind needs time to settle. Your awareness needs time to be present. Yes, set your timer for at least 20 minutes. If you are new to meditation, there will be struggle at the beginning. You might feel restless. You might feel bored. Such a waste of your precious time! Do not give up. Just breathe, relax, and observe.There is nothing to do, nothing to think about. Just be. Over time you will enjoy meditation so much that you never want to stop. You are blissed out! You realise you save time by spending the time to meditate. You have more energy and mental clarity at work. Meditation gilds a golden lining to every aspect of your day, improving the overall quality of your life.

Soothing Music – If you are new to meditation, I highly recommend listening to soothing music. I listened to music during my first two years of daily meditation. Music helps my breath to slow down, and my body to loosen up. It is a pleasant distraction for my mind. Meditation needs not to be a struggle. It should be an enjoyable experience.Choose music that you love. Choose music that helps you to relax. You will find your musical preferences change as you evolve with your practice. I have changed from classical piano to deep meditation over the years. Now I meditate in silence. I have managed to quiet my mind so much that music becomes an unwanted distraction during meditation.
However, occasionally when my mind is unsettled or the environment is noisy, I play music during meditation. This was my 30-minute playlist for meditation when I first started:
This is what I listen to now:
DEEP MEDITATION MUSIC | Expand Your Consciousness !!!
Sitting Upright – You can meditate in any posture. You could be sitting on a chair, lying in bed or in Lotus Pose on top of a mountain. Over the years I find sitting with a relaxed upright spine to be optimal. Sitting upright helps me to stay alert. Do not try to meditate when you are tired. If you are falling asleep, just lie down and take a nap, and then meditate once you have woken up.Sitting upright helps to direct the energy flow along the chakras from the base to the crown. I experience the most clarity and gain the most insight in this posture. Often in deep states of meditation, flashes of energy will rush up my spine. I will voluntarily bend my back and neck to flow with the energy. I am in bliss.