THE SKELETON AND MUSCLES: THE SUPPLE BODY

The skeleton gives us stability and protection, while the muscles give us movement, interpreting the commands of the brain. The intricate interplay of bone, muscle and mind is our wonderful daily dance on this Earth.

Together the skeleton and muscles make up the mechanics of the human form: the highly engineered, subtly articulated device that carries us from place to place and enables us to manipulate our environment.

We learn in later life what it means when mobility and dexterity are reduced. At the very least, we might struggle to climb a hill, or even the stairs, or to bend to tie a shoelace or dig for half an hour in the garden. Our joints might get inflamed and cause us pain, even at rest. Meditation, luckily, can have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. One scientific study has shown that a group of people who did mindfulness training had lower levels of Interleukin 6, a biomarker of inflammation, than a control group who undertook less focused ways to relax. It is likely that stress reduction lies behind this finding, since stress is a known inflammation trigger.

The mandala opposite offers an exploration of the relationship between bone and muscle, with resonant symbolism. One of its aims is to liberate the skull (depicted as a dome) from associations with mortality, since the skull, after all, is nothing more macabre than a tough protection for the brain with all its connections – the inexhaustible wonder of consciousness. Also, the mandala brings us awareness of another natural miracle: the skeleton and muscles responding to the unvoiced commands we transmit through the nervous system.

This meditation helps us to relish the power of human agency: our ability to lift things, to travel, to be dextrous and to get things done, to labour for good purpose, and to express ourselves through movement. For those concerned about joint pain it provides a focus for sending anti-inflammatory energy where it is needed, by means of the healing solar rays.

The mandala also emphasizes, in the dome, the idea of the skull as a protective capstone. Both skull and dome are approximations of the half-sphere, a gesture towards the perfection and completeness of the globe. Our own skulls are robust though not indestructible vaults for the most precious wonder of all, conscious being, which is approachable through meditation but not, without falling into cliché, through words.

“The whole soul is in the whole body, in the bones and in the veins and in the heart ... ”

Giordano Bruno

Focus on your breathing / Enter a relaxed awareness / Imagine yourself lifting the tree branch in the forest – you are happy to tidy the clearing / Visualize warm, bright sunlight penetrating your bones and muscles / Contemplate the dome – symbol of the protective skull / Meditate on the tai chi symbols – a balance of yin and yang energy

SKELETON AND MUSCLES MEDITATION

TAKING ACTION

In this practice, we start with a mindfulness audit of the body and progress to a mandala meditation on the muscles moving the bones under the power of our focused intention. All this takes place under the influence of the sun’s energy, whose anti-inflammatory powers are summoned.

Sit comfortably with the Skeleton and Muscles Mandala (shown on the previous page) in front of you.

Empty your mind of thoughts and worries. Now concentrate on your breathing. Inhale and exhale slowly, becoming more relaxed with each in-breath and going deeper into awareness with each out-breath.

Before engaging with the mandala, pause for a few minutes of mindfulness. Starting with your toes, move your attention up each leg in turn, onto your body, and up each arm from the fingers, concluding with neck and head. During this exercise visualize your muscles and bones under the skin – the working parts of the engine that gives you power to do good things.

Now turn your attention to the mandala. Imagine yourself copying the figure, putting to use your muscles and bones, lifting heavy branches, chopping wood and tidying the forest clearing – this is the job you have to do.

There are certain tasks you lack the strength for, but where necessary you find workarounds – for example, chopping a branch in two before dragging along each half separately. You rejoice in all the movements of which you are capable. All this is work, not play, but you are happy to be of service.

You are working in summer sunlight, which blazes down from three suns charged with infinite healing energy. Pause for a minute or so in your imaginary work to contemplate the triple sun depicted in the mandala. As you gaze at the suns, spend a few minutes feeling the solar warmth penetrating your skin and strengthening your bones and muscles.

Be aware also, for a further couple of minutes, of that solar energy massaging all your joints, the ultimate anti-inflammatory agent of healing. You feel your whole body relax and become more supple as you meditate.

Finally, turn your gaze to the dome in the mandala. Recognize this as a metaphor for your skull. Just as your brain is protected by your skull, so too your essential being is protected by your positive spirit – your faith in the meaning and purpose of life.

Conclude by contemplating the tai chi symbols. Feel within yourself the perfect balance of energies they represent. Select any one of the points of light or dark within the symbols and take your mind through this portal into a profound awareness of being itself – the ultimate reality. Whenever you feel ready, return your thoughts to the everyday moment, feeling – paradoxically – deeply refreshed by your labours.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

Francis of Assisi