It’s Been a Long Day. Can I Just Let Myself Be?
If you have only two minutes, pause and listen to this “teaser.”
If you have more time, stay as long as you want. For some of it or for all 45 minutes.
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Feeling Off – Being present when that’s the last thing I want to be
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants.
Election Day Centering Meditation
I offered this meditation on the evening of Election Day, before we knew the devastating result. People – myself included – were hopeful but nervous, in need of a grounding, centering presence. It helped in the moment. It would be dishonest to claim that it helped on Wednesday.
But we can’t stay in despair. I think this meditation is still useful. We need to be centered and grounded more than ever. We’re still here. We may “go back,” temporarily, but we’re not going away.
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants.
Why Must There Be War?
Listening With Ears, Eyes, Hands, and Heart
From an online class for the Sensory Awareness Foundation, January 6, 2024
On Silent Levels
In this class, I read a short piece from the chapter “On Silent Levels” from the manuscript of my biography of Charlotte Selver. Only a part of this is in the video but you may be interested in reading a bit more:
Listening With Ears, Eyes, Hands, and Heart
From an online class for the Sensory Awareness Foundation, January 6, 2024
On Silent Levels
In this class, I read a short piece from the chapter “On Silent Levels” from the manuscript of my biography of Charlotte Selver. Only a part of this is in the video but you may be interested in reading a bit more:
“Central to Elsa Gindler’s work was to become quiet,” Charlotte explains at her summer workshop in St. Ulrich in the Black Forest in 1992.” “As long as we are preoccupied with ideas and expectations we cannot be there for what is happening, for what could be happening.
Alfred Korzybski’s central question, stemming from his personal experiences of World War One, was, ‘why must there be wars?’ After years of research, which led him to the study of the origins of language, he concluded, ‘Because people don’t listen to each other.’”
I heard Charlotte speak about Korzybski many times and while I always had questions about her understanding of the principals underlying his work, General Semantics, especially with respect to its neurological foundation—the imagery she used seemed to stem from her study of photography rather than neuroscience—I was touched each time by her explanation of “how it comes to the word,” as she put it.
“Sensory cells are like photographic plates. When light hits receptors in the eye, they are impregnated with a pattern of shapes and colors. This information spreads throughout the entire nervous system. We begin to perceive, to feel, we experience in our totality. This occurs, Korzybski said, on silent levels, that is, in complete silence. It is only after this that we begin to put our experience into words.
But when there is all this thinking noise it is impossible for the impression to reach us in our totality, impossible to really perceive. To be really touched by what we see, or hear, or taste, we need to become quiet.”
“But that’s just the beginning, that’s just getting ready,” Charlotte added, “because once there is seeing, then you’ll see, once there is hearing, you’ll hear, but then you have to respond to what you see and hear. Then you have to play your part in the world, not just for yourself and your family.”
If you want to read the whole chapter, write me and I’ll send you a pdf: stelaeng@mac.com
Relating – The Heart of Sensory Awareness
You’ll get the most of out these videos when you participate.
From an online class for the Sensory Awareness Foundation,
January 6, 2024
Can I Give My Love to This Moment? – It may need it.
This spontaneous guided meditation was inspired by my feeling a bit stressed out, restless and all over the place at the start of the Tuesday Meditation.
The other inspiration was Charlotte Selver’s words: “People who don’t love the moment are always trying to achieve something, but when one is on the way, every moment is ‘it.’” They are on the cover of the Sensory Awareness Foundation’s journal "Every Moment is a Moment,” and they had been on my mind in recent days for some reason …
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants.
This evening’s format was 15 min. sitting / 5 min. walking / 15 min. sitting, followed by a brief sharing, which I hope you’ll listen to as well. I was kindly given permission to include people’s voices.
Everything is Related
This is an excerpt from the longer practice recording "A Gesture of Presence,” which gives you more of an opportunity to practice.
Responding to a comment by a class participant, I talk about how the "work with gravity makes it so immediately clear how everything is in relationship all the time."
For example: By touching and lifting a stone (anything, really) we enter a relationship – that of the stone with the earth.
A Gesture of Presence
Guided Practice Recording
An exploration of gravity and how we enter an already existing relationship between the earth and any object, as soon as we touch and hold it.
You'll need a couple of fist size stones to participate in the exploration. If no stones are available, try something else that fits in your hand and has a clear weight.
Sitting On the Shores of Breathing
Breathing has been happening for millions of years, has sustained life for millions of years. Ants, do it, elephants do it, trees do it, each in their own way.
This meditation is not about paying attention - but about paying our respects for this aspect of nature. It’s also about connection, about exchange, give and take.
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
While the 50 minutes are a whole, you can also just stay for the first part until the walking and/or do the other parts at a different time.
Breathing – Sitting in the Breeze
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
While the 50 minutes are a whole, you can also just stay for the first part until the walking and/or do the other parts at a different time.
The Journey is the Destination
Guided Practice Recording
A simple gesture such as touching ones head can be a journey of discovery and transformation, if we're not focused on the outcome but open for the moment-by-moment unfolding of life.
You’ll get the most of out these videos when you participate along with me, rather than just watching.
Moods – The Weather Within
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Welcoming What Shows Up
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Living Nature
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Not the Time for Problem Solving
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Easy to Be Present
A guide to being present in this moment, not the next.
You’ll see that there are two versions.
One is the original 50 minute guided meditation. If 50 minutes are too much but you still want to practice along, you can use the long version and just do the first 8 minutes, or 20 minutes.
The other is all the instructions at once in 6.5 minutes. Use it for inspiration to then practice without the guidance.
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Letting it Be
Being with Challenging Experiences.
This is an exploration on being with physical or emotional pain and – more generally – meeting challenging experiences.
The Tuesday Meditations are guided meditations. We simply sit (and walk or move) in the presence of what is alive in and around us. They are not a Sensory Awareness class, though the approach is similar, a Sensory Awareness approach to insight meditation, usually a spontaneous improvisation on a theme requested by the participants. The general format is 20 minutes sitting / 10 minutes walking / 20 minutes sitting.
Daily Sensory Awareness Practices
Suggestions for daily Sensory Awareness practices by Stefan Laeng.
This class was recorded as part of the Sensory Awareness Foundation's "Meeting Change" series, offered in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
From Isolation to Connection
This audio recording is from a recent Zoom meeting of the Sensory Awareness Leaders Guild.
We had planned to meet in Berkeley ahead of the Sensory Awareness Foundation’s annual spring retreat, which had to be canceled due to the pandemic. The meeting was also a test run for the series of Zoom classes which the SAF has been offering this spring and is continuing to offer in the coming months.
The edited recording of this class is 24 minutes long and it will give you a taste of Sensory Awareness in times of corona.
This audio recording is from a recent Zoom meeting of the Sensory Awareness Leaders Guild.
We had planned to meet in Berkeley ahead of the Sensory Awareness Foundation’s annual spring retreat, which had to be canceled due to the pandemic. The meeting was also a test run for the series of Zoom classes which the SAF has been offering this spring and is continuing to offer in the coming months.
The edited recording of this class is 24 minutes long and it will give you a taste of Sensory Awareness in times of corona.
In Memory of George Floyd
Here’s the recording of an online class I gave as part of the Sensory Awareness Foundation’s From Isolation to Connection class series in response to the Corona Virus pandemic, and, in this session, the persistent virus of racism.
In memory of George Floyd and dedicated to all victims of racism.