The Shelf Meditation: A Self-Awareness Practice

If I had to pick one of the five layers of self-awareness to focus on, it would be the Witness.
You can think of the Witness as your personal GPS system. It will point you in the right direction if you are able to engage it and allow its wisdom to shine the light of awareness on all that you are for understanding, acceptance and integration. The Witness is interrelated with, overlaps, and shares space with the mind. To visualize this, imagine two circles that overlap like a Venn diagram. One circle is the mind and the other is the Witness.

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Here’s an example of how they work together. 

A core belief that “I’m not good enough,” can exist in both the mind and the Witness but at different levels of awareness. In the Witness circle, “I’m not good enough,” might be seen, and sourced as messages of unworthiness from family, friends and the society at large for any number of reasons; race, gender, gender identification, class, physical or mental ability etc. In the mind circle, “I’m not good enough,” might be believed  and expressed through depression, addictions and other self-sabotaging behaviors. 

However, the Witness seeing where it comes from, and knowing that the core belief, “I’m not good enough,”  is not true, does its best to send that message to the mind through the overlapping space the two layers share. When the mind opens to receive the message, it may experience an Aha! moment of total understanding, or be able to acknowledge that the cause and source of the belief will need to be examined. In either case, steps can be taken to make a choice for positive change, keep the status quo with full knowledge of the consequences or find acceptance if change is not possible. 

Tuning into the Witness requires practice. The Shelf Meditation is a good way to begin.
The first time Joseph LePage, my yoga teacher, read this to the class, we were outside in the Florida sunshine lying on our mats on the grass, feeling warm and peaceful. This remains one of my favorite meditations. Here is my version. 

Note: You may want to record this on one of your devices so you can relax, listen and take it all in.

Instructions 
Make yourself as comfortable as possible. You can lie down, sit up or settle into any position that will help you relax and feel at ease.

Visualize a shelf. It can be made out of anything you like, wood, glass, stone and so on. As you move through the meditation, you will place everything in your life that changes on the shelf. At the end, you can take back everything you put on the shelf, but your attitude about some of them may have changed.  

First, place on the shelf, an image of your purse or wallet, cell phone and symbolically, everything connected with your identity: name, address, driver’s license, health insurance and credit cards, phone number, email, contact list, apps etc. Notice that everything connected to your identity can be put on the shelf, but you are still here, independent of them. Long pause.

Now, place on the shelf, an image of your friends and family. Remember you are taking a little vacation from them. You will return to them at the end of the exercise. Notice that although they may be dear to you (or not!), you are independent of them. Long pause.

Now place on the shelf, all of your life experiences up to this point in time;  the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Include the joys and sorrows of your life. They too can be independent objects for you to observe. Notice too, that the way you perceive these experiences may be very different from the way you perceived them when they happened. Long pause.

Finally, place an image of your body on the shelf and take a look at yourself from outside of your body. Observe with detachment everything you see without judgment. Notice that even your body can be an object to observe. Long pause.

Now notice who is observing everything on the shelf. Try to place that observer on the shelf.  You will discover that the observer can’t be placed in space and time like everything else on the shelf.  The observer sticks like glue. No matter how hard you try to put it on the shelf, it remains the center of yourself, nearer to you than your body. Long pause.

Notice now the qualities of the observer, which we call consciousness. It is not separate from existence. The world around you and the objects on the shelf are all parts of the same consciousness. Long pause.

Take a moment to notice and witness that unlike everything on the shelf, this consciousness, is not limited by space. It cannot exist in the body since the body is on the shelf. It is not limited by time because in the few minutes it took to do this exercise, everything on the shelf may have changed. But this consciousness has not. 

Now notice that this consciousness, is whole and content. Although it may be a part of life on the shelf, its sense of satisfaction, peace, joy and enlightenment is innate, and does not depend on interactions with any of the objects on the shelf. This sense of wholeness is Bliss. Your ability to observe it is The Witness/Intuitive Wisdom.

Notice and witness this sense of wholeness and allow it to expand through your entire being in a way that feels comfortable. Know that this wholeness, this consciousness, this freedom from limitation, is your true nature. Rest in this wholeness for as long as you like. Long pause.

When you feel a sense of completion, begin to slowly move the fingers and toes. 
Stretch in any way that is comfortable. As you begin to return to full awareness take a moment to reflect on your relationship with everything on the shelf. Has anything changed? Do you see anything differently? Where should you place your priorities? What changes, if any, would you like to make to bring your life into alignment with this sense of wholeness? As you witness, reflect, contemplate, journal or draw about your observations if you wish.

Re-establish your relationship with everything you put on the shelf; your identity, friends, family and your life experiences. But now do it with using any new perceptions you may have gained by waking your Witness.

Remember, your Witness is as close to you as your body, breath, and mind. All you need to do is notice it, wake it, listen to it and work with it.

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