Category: meditation and creativity

Categories
A Mind of Ease Energy Meditation Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership Presence and being present Stress Transformation

Anxiety & depression or excitement & calm? Playing with high & low energy states

“If you can make friends with your high and low-energy states, both become places that you can enjoy and draw strength from as you go through your daily life-journey!”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This week’s article invites you to take a more nuanced, playful approach to times when you feel energised, and times when you feel tired, and how you can be creative with both!

This week’s Wednesday & Saturday meditation classes are on the subject of the article ‘Playing with high & low energy states’. We will be looking specifically at how to transform our stress using this angle in meditation.

In the spirit of highs & lows,

Toby

Anxiety & depression or excitement & calm? Playing with high & low energy states

October 10th is world mental health day, so this whole week for me is busy with giving talks and meditation sessions to companies and organizations, focused on building sustainable inner wellbeing. Over the duration of the week, I will be experiencing both:

  • High-energy states, coming from the anticipation and then the execution of the session’s facilitation
  • Low-energy states following on from the energy expenditure, the fatigue, after executing the trainings. This is on both a daily level, as well as cumulatively over the week

The question for me to be curious about is; how can I navigate these ups and downs in an enjoyable, life-affirming manner, as opposed to a dis-orienting, energy-sapping high-low rollercoaster?

This article explores our experience of both high and low energy states, and how we can find ways to experience the balanced, positive expression of both, rather than being stuck in imbalanced high-low variations.

The mindful flow principle – not too high, not too low

If you think of 10 as absolute high-energy effort, and 0 as absolute exhaustion, in terms of our everyday ‘mindful-flow’, we can aim to be spending most of our time around a 4-6, feeling relaxed, and somewhat focused in  a pleasant, sustainable manner.

Two sides of the low-energy state

If you then think about low-energy states as when your energy level drops, you feel tired, a ‘3-0’ range. There are two ways this can go:

  • Low-energy in the sense of feeling depressed, overwhelmed, helpless, lacking in not just energy but also self-esteem and personal value
  • Low-energy in the sense of being at peace, regenerative, tired-but-satisfied, restful, calm

Playing with low energy states

When you are in a low-energy state, if you can combine it with mindful awareness, you can actually steer the state towards an enjoyable one, rather than getting unconsciously caught in a ‘negative’ low energy state.

Two sides of the high-energy state

Like low-energy states, we can mindfully play with high energy states, the ‘7-10’ range:

  • If you find yourself feeling angry, you can practice directing that high-energy state toward doing something constructive and useful, ‘riding’ your anger toward that destination. The anger becomes determination
  • If you are anxious about an uncertain outcome, or before having to do something in public, you can practice moving the anxiety toward excitement, optimism, anticipation or a combination of any of these

Accepting your state

The ‘first position’ with this type of state training is to notice, become aware the state you are in at any given time. From this awareness you can then accept that state, whether high or low. With acceptance you can then notice whether this energy state is in it’s balanced or imbalanced expression. In a playful manner, you can then start to move your low-energy states toward peacefulness and calm, and move your high-energy states from anxiety toward excitement (for example).

If you can make friends with your high and low-energy states, both become places that you can enjoy and draw strength from as you go through your daily life-journey!

Related articles: Using mindful flow to train in strengths-building

Moving From Anxiety to Excitement

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Live workshops & online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight creative imagery Enlightened Flow Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Motivation and scope Presence and being present spiritual intelligence Stress Transformation

Going Saffron – being many ways at once

“We can feel many different ways at any given time, & all of them can be true”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article looks at the state of being ‘saffron’ which is an idea & experience that I have been working with a lot these last couple of weeks.
 
This week’s Wednesday & Saturday meditation classes are on the subject of the witness self, inner agility & staying on the tail of the sharks of your mind!
 
In the spirit of positive paradox,

Toby
 


Going Saffron – being many ways at once
 
I met a friend whom I had not seen for a while last Thursday. She asked me how I was, to which I replied that I was feeling very ‘saffron’. She asked me what I meant by this, to which I replied that when a cloth is died with saffron (as in the Saffron the spice derived from the flower of the Crocus, used for spices, dyes ect) the saffron ‘colour’ is, in fact a number of colours at the same time. If you look at it from on angle it is yellow, from another gold, another orange, from another red. Saffron is a number of different colours ‘all at once’.
 
So, what I meant when I said I was feeling saffron was that I was feeling lots of different ways all at the same time:

  • In some ways stressed and tired
  • In some ways calm and strong
  • In some ways angry and disappointed
  • In some ways resolute and optimistic
  • In some ways persecuted, in other ways grateful and enthusiastic

The thing about it is that ALL of the way I felt was true, and that I felt comfortable holding the paradox between them all. The totality of it then, was a rich and textured feel, like the depth of colour in saffron.
 
I think most people reading this will be able to relate to this in some way. Much of the time we have a number if ‘dimensions’ to how we are in the moment. We may be able to relate to some of those ways more than others. For example, you might be feeling 40% nervous, 30% excited, 20% calm, 5% catastrophizing and 5% confident (!)
 
Playing with what you identify with
 
Within all those different ways however, you will identify more strongly or weakly with the qualities that are turning up. For example, even though calm is there, your sense of identification may be with the nervousness, so it dominates. It can be really useful to understand that this sense of identity is not fixed and can be played with. You can consciously choose to notice the part of you that is calm, and bring it to the ‘front and center of your awareness, rather than off to the side somewhere. Just changing its position ‘in the field’ can make a surprising difference.
 
Harmonizing your colours, not clashing them
 
Another aspect of this is finding ways for the qualities to complement and harmonize the different qualities, rather than feeling as if they are clashing or fighting with each other. For example:

  • Rather than trying to escape from the stress and make the calmness ‘win’, we can use the calmness as a way of soothing the stressed part. Perhaps the stressed part may then be able to move toward excitement, so you the get a complementary ‘calm-yet-excited state
  • The optimistic part of you can help the ‘disappointed’ part of you to mellow a bit and become a little more accepting
  • The grateful part of self can combine with the resolute self to create a softer, more adaptable strength

With mindful awareness, there are lots of ways in which you can start to notice and play with your saffron states, making your life and experience richer in the process.
Actually, I’ve started using this term ‘saffron’ state after reding about ‘Saffron Tara’, who is one of the twenty-one Tara’s in Tibetan Buddhism. I want to finish this article with a quote from Rachel Wooten’s book ‘Tara – the liberating power of the female Buddha’:
 
“Saffron Tara’s appearance – She appears in a radiant body of saffron light. The otherworldly beauty of this colour, shimmering with multiple shades simultaneously, reminds you –  especially in difficult times – of the preciousness of your life, the wealth of the teachings, the “all at once” quality of limitless awakened consciousness that she embodies, and the joyful aliveness that calls to you from your depths.
Her facial expression conveys both wrathfulness and peace. Contemplate her along with her expression and imagine how this might happen. Could you feel the fierce red of anger, the luminosity of golden-yellow, and the brightness of orange all at once? Can you connect with the peace that resonates in your connection to the Source of existence and the aliveness of your body consciousness while tending to anxieties as they appear in daily life?”

Related reading: Paradox therapy & the difference between a psychological crisis and a spiritual crisis

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Live workshops & online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
creative imagery Inner vision Integral Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Presence and being present Stress Transformation

Never the same meditation twice

“Being consciously, creatively responsive to the present moment is a powerful tool (maybe the most powerful) that we have for making the world a better place, & we all have it within us”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article explores one of the main driving practices in my meditation practice; creativity. 

This week also sees the start of three stress-transformation programs: 

The theme for this weeks stress-transfromation sessions is ‘Karuna: Using compassion & wisdom to transform your pain & create connection’. 

In the spirit of creative transformation,

Toby
 


Article: Never the same meditation twice
 
I was in a weekly class at a Business school last recently that I have been running for the last decade. A guy came to the session who has been coming since around 2018. At the end of the experience he said “Toby, I have never been in a session of yours that was the same, I always hear and experience something new!”. This is actually true, as whilst there are always themes and principles that are consistent in my guided meditations, I am always responding to the moment, and trying new ways of expressing and practising meditation.
 
The beginners mind
 
One of the reasons for the variation and novelty in my sessions is that part of being a meditator is having a beginner’s mind, a sense of each moment being a new moment, different from the moment before. Every time I come back to a familiar practice or theme, I notice there is something new about it, because in this moment, the experience is different from all the other times I have done the practice.
 
The artist and creative evolutionary in you
 
Another reason for the creativity in my sessions is that I am originally an artist by training, and so the idea of creating in the moment, and of life being like a work of art is very strong in me. Not just that, one of the things I am trying to communicate in my work is that you also are creative. Being consciously, creatively responsive to the present moment is a powerful tool (maybe the most powerful tool) that we have for making the world a better place, and we all have it within us.
Alfred North Whitehead, the philosopher also described the process of evolution as the ‘creative advance into novelty’. When we align with the evolutionary impulse of the universe, we become much more spontaneous and creative, naturally. You might say we express the spirit of evolution when we get in touch with our creative nature and express it skillfully.
 
To create, you need a framework
 
So, in order to create in meditation, as in other areas of life, you need to have framework, or a set of principles that give you the basis. For example, in my stress-transformation meditations, I tend to work off four main principles:
 

  1. Witnessing – from fighting stress to being curious about it 
  2. Flowing – from resisting emotions to feeling and releasing them
  3. Framing – from being lost in the inner conversation to creating it
  4. Appreciating – from feeling unlucky and hard done-by to appreciating the opportunity

From these four principles there are a huge variety of types of stress transformation that I have come up with and teach. Also, in my daily life I use these principles to improvise meditations that help me with a presenting challenge. For example, last night I had jet-lag from a recent trip to the UK. Not being able to sleep, and feeling the presence of a variety of challenging emotions and thoughts about my life, I set up a three-stage pattern of meditation:

  1. Head – nine breaths of brain relaxation meditation to move into non-conceptual presence
  2. Heart – nine breaths of letting emotions come and go, acknowledging them and letting them flow
  3. Belly – nine breaths of reverse abdominal breathing to build energetic strength and balance

 
Practising this as I lay down in bed, after five minutes or so I was feeling really quite good already, a state almost as good as being asleep. After half an hour or so I drifted off into a restful sleep. Waking up the next morning I felt good despite being tired.
I’ve never done a meditation in exactly that manner before, it was new, I created it! But it was based upon the four principles of stress-transformation, which were the basis from which I improvised from.
 
Wishing you creativity in your own life and meditation practice!
 
Related article: Four stress-transformation ‘flips’


© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Live workshops & online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Awareness and insight creative imagery Inner vision Insight Meditation Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Mindful Resilience Presence and being present Stress Transformation

No such thing as a bad situation? – Mindful life-sculpting

“How can you create, or ‘sculpt’ your present experience into something valuable, worthwhile, fulfilling? What if it was not primarily about it, but you?”

Dear <<First Name>>, 

This week’s article looks at the theme of mindful-life sculpting, where you use your mind & attention to ‘sculpt’ your expereince. As a sculptor by training, its a perenially interesting theme for me.

A reminder of the Wednesday evening & Saturday afternoon chakra meditation & non-duality summer courses. If you are looking for methods that are both profoundly relaxing & transformative, do have a look!
Programs can be participated in live, online or via the recordngs. Click below for full details.

In the spirit of energised relaxation, 

Toby

No such thing as a bad situation? – Mindful life-sculpting
 
No such thing as a bad sculpture
 
Twice in my degree in the fine arts, specializing in sculpture, I was told by one of the art tutors who taught me “Actually, after you have been making sculptures a while, one of the things that you realize is that there is no such thing as a bad sculpture.” That they meant by this is that, after a while you realize that every object has a certain quality, and that, if you can work your way around to seeing it, you can appreciate, enjoy and even value it.
 
Your own life from this perspective
 
In your own life you may have come across many experiences and situations that look a bit like a ‘bad sculpture’. By this I mean that initially you react with a strong negative judgment about it; “This is bad because”:

  • It’s not what I wanted…
  • It’s not what I’m used to…
  • It’s not what I was expecting…
  • It gets in the way of….

The reasons can go on and on. But then perhaps you have found over time that,

  • It not what you wanted, but there are certain advantages to it, now I have been living with it for a couple of weeks…
  • It’s not what you were used to, but now you are starting to see how what you were used to was holding you back in certain ways…
  • It’s not what I was expecting, but why was I thinking that what I was expecting was going to be the best thing for me anyway?…
  • It got in the way of this goal, but now there is more room for this other possibility to manifest in my life…

No such thing as a bad situation?

So then, the extension of the ‘no bad sculptures’ idea is perhaps, that there are no bad situations? And that actually it’s more a ‘mindset limitation’ that is the issue…

  • Last week I discussed halving the work commitment I have toward an organization. In these uncertain times that might seem like a ‘bad’ thing, but actually I need to create space in my work schedule, as it is getting over crowded
  • I tried to create room for doing some physical sculpture at the end of last year, but I wasn’t able to. Maybe this is inviting me to double down in the idea of my life as my ‘sculpture’, and that I am doing great!
  • My sleep has not been fantastic over the last couple of weeks, but maybe this is helping me to see how much new capacity I have to cope and thrive in life, even when my sleep is not optimal…

What if there were no bad situations in your life?
 
What if it was more a matter of you seeing the value in what you are going through? If you are the most powerful creative force in your life, how can you create, or ‘sculpt’ your present experience into something valuable, worthwhile, fulfilling? What if it was not primarily about it, but you?
 
Related articles: Integral Meditation training page: Using distractions, sculpting thoughts & soft body

Using distractions, sculpting thoughts, softening the body
Being the center of your universe

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Upcoming classes & workshops

Ongoing on Tuesday’s & Wednesday’s (live & online), 7.30-8.30pm – Weekly integral meditation classes

Ongoing on Saturdays, 5.30-6.45pm SG time – Saturday Integral meditation deep-dive sessions with Toby

Starts on Wednesday June 10th, 7.30-8.30pm – Chakra meditation as a gateway to non-duality, energy & the integrated self -an 8-week course

Starts Saturday June 13th, 5.30-6.45pm – Chakra meditation as a gateway to non-duality, energy & the integrated self – an 8-session deep-dive practice series

Sat 20th, 5.30pm & Weds 24th June, 7.30pm – Summer solstice balancing & renewing meditation
 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Chakra meditation Inner vision meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Uncategorized

Chakra meditation as a gateway to non-duality summer courses

Dear Integral Meditators, 

I’ve just completed the write ups for the summer meditation courses. Both the weekday classes & the Saturday deep-dive sessions will be focused on the chakras as gateways to non-duality. 

Actually, all seven chakras have three levels; bio-energetic, mental & consciousness. 

In the sessions we will look at all three in an intergral manner, with the emphasis being on the final wisdom-state of the conscious level. The seven gatweays we will cover are: 

  • First chakra – stability, abundance, unity with the world
  • Second chakra – energy, creativity, union with life
  • Third chakra – Confidence, power, union with mind
  •  Fourth chakra – Heart, merging, relating – union as love
  • Fifth chakra – sound, speech, mantra – unity through silence
  • Sixth Chakra – Observation, integration – union as the witness
  • Seventh chakra – Consciousness, integration – formless union

I’m pretty excited to facilitate these sessions, I’ve been practising different forms of chakram meditation for the last 30 years, & this will be a conndensation of that expereince into a single 8 session format. If your looking for an ‘inner summer to remember’, this might be your ticket!

Programs can be participated in live, online or via the recordngs. Click below for full details.

In the spirit of energised relaxation, 

Toby

Starts on Wednesday June 10th, 7.30-8.30pm – Chakra meditation as a gateway to non-duality, energy & the integrated self -an 8-week course

Overview:  The chakras are a traditional, dynamic meditation form that invite us to discover:

  • A way of bringing greater energy into our body in a way that promotes health & wellbeing
  • A way of developing ourselves on seven different levels of our being in a balanced & integrated manner
  • A way of accessing deeper meditation states more easily & effectively
  • A way of enjoying working with colour in meditation

Read full details…

Starts Saturday June 13th, 5.30-6.45pm – Chakra meditation as a gateway to non-duality, energy & the integrated self – an 8-session deep-dive practice series

What is unique to these sessions is that Toby will be showing how to meditate on each of the chakras as gateways to the non-dual state, which is considered the highest or ‘ultimate’ level of wisdom-meditation practice.

Non-duality is a state beyond verbal description, but it can be understood more deeply & profoundly by approaching it from the seven different levels of the chakras. In doing so the richness of your non-dual meditation, & your ability to apply it effectively in daily life will be greatly enhanced….read full details

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Inner vision Insight Meditation Integrating Ego, Soul and Spirit Life-fullness Meditating on the Self meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Mindful Confidence Mindful Resilience Mindful Self-Leadership

Mindful of – the quest for safety & excitement

“How can you start co-creating a greater sense of both safety & excitement in your life today?”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article looks at how to transform conflicting desires into complementary desires. Its a topic that comes up quite often in my Life-fullness life coaching, and in my executive coaching, and getting a hang for it can open up lots of positive possibilties.

This week’s Wednesday & Saturday class continue our inner-smile meditation, with the focus being on ‘Meditating on the lungs & on transforming sadness/depression, cultivating courage.’ All welcome!

In the spirit of integration,

 Toby


The quest for both safety and excitement
 
Our contradictory desires
 
One of the challenges that we face to our sense of even-mindedness in life is that we have desires. Not just desires, but conflicting desires that actively seem to be pulling against each other!

  • We want safety and excitement in life
  • We want money but also plenty of free time
  • We want our body to look good, but don’t want to suffer from exertion

 
The list could go on, but I want to just double click on the safety and excitement and look at that as a primary example. One of our most feared emotions is, well, fear itself! Many of us feel uncomfortable about fear, and act to avoid it, and its subsidiaries, insecurity and anxiety. We desire safety, physically, psychologically, spiritually, and take out the element of risk, uncertainty, and danger (real or perceived). In an attempt to experience safety:
 

  • We choose to trade the hours of our day for work that pays a salary
  • We settle into a predictable romantic relationship
  • We stay with known patterns and activities in our life

 
The issue with this then becomes that our life feels boring, predictable, unexciting. This then blocks another common desire, the desire for excitement in life, for variety, change, growth, adventure! To get excitement in our life we have to create a degree of risk, an encountering of the unknown, a place where the result is not guaranteed.
 
If we aren’t careful, we find ourself locked between the horns of these two desires. Our desire for safety stifles the excitement we crave. The excitement we crave threatens our sense of safety and stability. Either way we are unhappy, or feel unhappy because it looks like a loose-loose paradigm, we feel condemned by the contradiction.
 
From contradictory to complementary – Both and, not either or
 
In my Life-fullness life coaching, and in my executive coaching, quite a lot of what I do is help people spot contradictions or conflicts in their life, and work on balancing them out, turning them into mutually enhancing polarities that can propel them toward a better experience. In the case of safety and excitement, I can create a greater sense of safety by:

  • Recognizing that I am physically safe almost all the time, and that the illusion of danger on the biological level is often merely an imbalance in my nervous system
  • I can create psychological safety by choosing to be mindful of my inner narrative, supporting myself, not attacking myself
  • I can articulate my vision of a greater intelligence in the universe that is benevolent toward me, thus learning to recognize and rest in a sense of spiritual safety

 
By cultivating in this way, I can feel more secure in life, satisfying my desire for safety. Having done this, I can then use that sense of safety to take more positive risk, and court excitement in my life! With my broader sense of safety, I can:

  • Be a bit more socially daring/entertaining, without being afraid of judgments
  • I can assert my wishes and desires for a fulfilling work life, not just staying silent and keeping on keeping on for fear of change
  • I can take up activities I am not yet good at but want to be, and not be so afraid of looking foolish as I do so

 
With my healthy sense of safety, I can cultivate MORE excitement in my life, and my desire for both becomes a mutually supporting, virtuous cycle.
How can you start co-creating a greater sense of safety and excitement in your life today?

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com
 

Upcoming classes & workshops

Ongoing on Tuesday’s & Wednesday’s (live & online), 7.30-8.30pm – Weekly integral meditation classes

Ongoing on Saturdays, 5.30-6.45pm SG time – Saturday Integral meditation deep-dive sessions with Toby

Ongoing on Wednesdays – The inner smile – Meditations for inner regeneration & connecting to the Earth – An 8-week course

Ongoing on Saturdays – The inner smile & Earth healing deep-dive – An 8 session practice series

Saturday 25th April, 2.30-4.30pm – Mindfulness for emotional intelligence masterclass
 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Energy Meditation Inner smile & Earth healing Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Mindfulness Presence and being present Stress Transformation

Mindful of – colour therapy & facial expression

“Awareness of colour & facial expression are two ways of using mindful attention to improve your mood and energy with very little effort. You just need to remember them & return to them often”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article focuses on working with colour & facial expression, both powerful, enjoyable methods for enhancing mood & energy.

If you enjoy it, then do have a look at this Saturdays workshop, that looks at this subject in depth: 
Saturday, March 28th 9:00am – 12:30pm – Inner smile & Earth Healing meditation workshop – Build health, confidence & energetic resilience in life, as well as the class & deep-dive series following on from it. 

In the spirit of living-in-colour,

Toby

Mindful of – colour therapy & facial expression
 
The two ‘mindful positions’ that we explore in this article are:

  • The energetics of colour, and tuning into the colour you need right now
  • The expression on your face, and working with what it is communicating

 
What colour does my body need?
 
If you have ever drawn or painted with colours, you might have noticed that concentrating on colour can feel great. After an hour of working with a green, blue and yellow landscape picture, you can really feel how these colours make you feel relaxed, calm and energised, even if you aren’t a great artist.
Similarly, if you go outside and just notice the colours in the landscape around you, you will notice that certain colours feel great to just stare at, absorb the energy of and relax.
On a slightly deeper level, if you ask yourself the question what coulor does my body energy need right now to move toward balance? Quite quickly you will notice your body intelligence will suggest a colour to surround yourself with.

  • If it needs energy it may move toward oranges or reds
  • If it needs lifting, it might move towards yellows
  • If it needs balancing and harmonizing, it might move toward greens
  • For calmness blues, and so on…

You can then just imagine yourself surrounded by that colour and let your body-mind absorb it, with often rapid effect. You might feel also that the colour has a ‘sound’ or vibration, which you can enjoy too.
 
Variation: You can imagine a point of energy in your belly, heart, and head. Ask each of these areas of your body what colour it needs. Breathe each of these colours into the particular area of the body, building that colour vibration there. You will get to know what colours work for you powerfully very quickly if you do this.
 
Your facial expression
 
The expression on your face communicates how you are feeling, but often we are unaware of it. If you are on a commute, and look at people’s faces, you will see this quite clearly!
If you become aware of your face, and notice tension, stress or a bad mood there, here are three stages you can try:

  1. Notice the expression and the mood it embodies. Accept it, even exaggerate the expression a little to really get a feeling for what is there
  2. Next, relax your face, release the expression, move your face toward a calm, neutral position, enjoy it
  3. Third, raise the corners of your mouth a little, so that your face is in the position of a half-smile. Feel the gentle joy and radiance of this expression, let it spread from your face into your body, and any parts of your body-mind that might need a bit of warmth and support.

 
There you go, two ways of playing with your attention to improve your mood and energy with very little effort. It’s just something that you need to come back to often and put to use!
 
Related reading: Mindfulness, beauty & slowing the effects of ageing
Your Emotional Colour Palette
Practical dimensions of chakra meditation
Inner smile meditation
What your body posture communicates to you

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Upcoming classes & workshops

Ongoing on Tuesday’s & Wednesday’s (live & online), 7.30-8.30pm – Weekly integral meditation classes

Ongoing on Saturdays, 5.30-6.45pm SG time – Saturday Integral meditation deep-dive sessions with Toby

Ongoing weekly on Wednesday – Beginners mind, resilient body – a 10-week integral meditation course

Starts Saturday 17th January, 5.30-6.15pm, & then weekly – Beginners mind, resilient body deep-dive: An 11 -session practice series

Saturday, March 28th 9:00am – 12:30pm – Inner smile & Earth Healing meditation workshop – Build health, confidence & energetic resilience in life

Wednesday April 1st, 7.30-8.30pm & Saturday, 4th April, 5-6pm – Which meditator are you? – Free meditation seminars: The five types of meditators & how to build your path to inner freedom

Starts Wednesday 8th April, 7.30-8.30pm, & then ongoing – The inner smile – Meditations for inner regeneration & connecting to the Earth – An 8-week course

 Saturday 11th April, 5.30-6.15pm SG time, & then ongoing – The inner smile & Earth healing deep-dive – An 8 session practice series
 

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
Beginners mind, resilient body creative imagery Energy Meditation Enlightened Flow Enlightened service Greenworld Meditation Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Primal Spirituality Qi gong Tree of Life Tree of Yoga Zen Meditation

Healing thru the Earth, & Earth-as-Self

“Release the weight & burdens of your life downwards into the Earth. She in turn receives it, taking it into her body, where it can be recycled & renewed”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article looks at ways of relating to the Earth that are healing & regenerative, as well as them relating to ourselves AS the Earth, which can lead us to developing unusual inner strength & independence.

If you enjoy the article, we will be doing a related meditation in this week’s Wednesday & Saturday meditations, you would be welcome to join!

Finally, heads up for the Spring Equinox balancing & renewing meditation on the 18th & 21st March!

In the spirit of resilient identity,

Toby

Healing thru the Earth, & Earth-as-Self
 
Experience yourself sitting or standing on the Earth. Feel her body beneath you. Feel your body as a part of here body, which of course it is. Imagine your body sinking a few centimeters into the floor, so that you feel like your body and the Earth are connecting energetically. Feel her energy supporting you from below.
 
Releasing the wounds of adulthood
 
In the state described above, spend some time getting in touch with the emotional wounds, burdens, and trials of your life. Sense how they turn up in your body and your body energy. As you breathe in, feel yourself getting in touch with the weight of these wounds. As you breathe out, feel yourself releasing them downwards into the Earth. She in turn receives this wounded energy, taking it into her body, where it can be recycled and renewed.
 
Receiving regenerative energy
 
Now sense downward into the Earth, and feel her energy rising into your body, flowing in particular into the areas of your body that carried the emotional wounds, the fatigue, the world-weariness that you released downwards previously. Feel these areas of your body becoming renewed and strengthened. Spend some time relaxing with this experience.
 
The Earth-as-Self
 
Experiencing your connection to the Earth, reflect upon how your body and energy came from her, and is a part of her.

  • Your body came from your parents bodes, the bodies of all humans come from the Earth
  • Every time you eat, you take the body of the earth into yourself, her body becomes your body

You are like a leaf, the Earth is the tree. The bigger identity of the leaf is the Tree. You are the Earth!
 
Imagine your sense of your body expanding outwards, becoming the size of the room that you are in, or the landscape around you. Experience your body as the whole room, and or as the whole landscape around you.
Feel roots growing down from your body into the Earth, filling it. Feel your energy moving down and expanding into the Earth. Feel your massiveness, stability, and solidity. You are the Earth, the Earth is you.
 
From this position of Earth-as-self, having renewed yourself through the Earth, turn and inwardly face your life, and your life challenges. Feel your strength, equanimity, and compassion. Connect to the new beginning in each moment from this position of calm, resourced Earth-strength-that-you-are. Go and meet your life.  
 
Standing on your own feet
 
ADULTHOOD, by Anthony De Mello
 
To a disciple who was always at his prayers the Master said, “When will you stop
leaning on God and stand on your own two feet?”
The disciple was astonished. “But you are the one who taught us to look on God as
Father!”
“When will you learn that a father isn’t someone you can lean on but someone who
rids you of your tendency to lean?”
 
Related article: Yin stability – Mother Earth meditation
Born from life, not into it
Connecting to your Big Mind

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Date for your diaries:

Wednesday April 1st, 7.30-8.30pm & Saturday, 4th April, 5-6pm – Which meditator are you? – Free meditation seminars: The five types of meditators & how to build your path to inner freedom

 


Upcoming classes & workshops

Ongoing on Tuesday’s & Wednesday’s (live & online), 7.30-8.30pm – Weekly integral meditation classes

Ongoing on Saturdays, 5.30-6.45pm SG time – Saturday Integral meditation deep-dive sessions with Toby

Ongoing weekly on Wednesday – Beginners mind, resilient body – a 10-week integral meditation course

Starts Saturday 17th January, 5.30-6.15pm, & then weekly – Beginners mind, resilient body deep-dive: An 11 -session practice series

Wednesday 18th (7.30pm) & Saturday 21st (5.30pm) March – Spring Equinox balancing and renewing meditation

Saturday, March 28th 9:00am – 12:30pm – Inner smile & energy balls meditation workshop – Build health, confidence & energetic resilience in life

Wednesday April 1st, 7.30-8.30pm & Saturday, 4th April, 5-6pm – Which meditator are you? – Free meditation seminars: The five types of meditators & how to build your path to inner freedom

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Beginners mind, resilient body creative imagery Inner vision Integral Awareness Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Resilience Presence and being present Stress Transformation Zen Meditation

A bag of rats & a big meadow (tactics or strategy?)

“When you practice the ‘sheep in the meadow’ form of awareness, you can keep your attention on your ‘bigger Why’s,’ accepting the small obstacles that you encounter on the way toward your larger goals”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week I outline two images to help you refine and develop your awareness in a way that can significantly transform your daily experience. If you enjoy it, we will be exploring these methods in both the weekday (Tues&Weds) and Saturday sessions this week. You are invited!

If you are interested in Qi gong, do check out the Qi Gong for Improving your Health and Energy Levels & for Self-Healing that I will be facilitating on the 28th Feb.

In the spirit of the meadow mind, 

Toby

A bag of rats & a big meadow (tactics or strategy?)
 
This article explains what is essentially a perspective shift that changes your relationship to your thoughts, and how you experience them. It looks at how we can create an inner space for ourselves that contains a lot more acceptance and allowing. We will then look at some other applications of this principle in daily life.
 
The bag of rats – Your everyday ‘small’ mind
 
Imagine you are a rat in a dark sack. There are several other rats inside. It is dark, hot, and claustrophobic. You feel agitated by the rats around you, they in turn feel agitated by you. You have a very limited sense of where you are and what is happening to you, it is all close-up, friction-loaded and conducive to irritation, even paranoia.
In everyday life our mind can feel a bit like this bag of rats. It feels trapped inside our body. Often, we feel trapped in an even smaller space, the one between our ears, inside our skull! There are many thoughts about many things in this small space, bumping into each other, creating friction as they rub-up against the thoughts next to them. A lot of feelings and emotions are created from this rubbing. It is difficult to know which feelings come from which thoughts, and what emotional state came from where. It’s difficult not to get confused, to difficult to see our life clearly.
When your mind is like a bag of rats, life naturally feels a bit tough and contentious. States like acceptance, flow, curiosity come at a premium and are difficult to maintain.
 
The open meadow – Making your mind bigger
 
“To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him” – Shunryu Suzuki
 
The quote from Suzuki above refers both to the method to control one’s mind, but also an approach to working with other people, and with experiences in our life. In terms of mind-training and meditation, this instruction stands in contrast to the ‘rats in the bag’ image from the first section. When sitting with the thoughts in your mind, rather than trying to control them, stop them or ‘fix’ them, you simply make your mind and awareness bigger, like a large open meadow. Rather than having your thoughts ‘in your head’ like rats in a bag, you make your mind big, with the thoughts like sheep in a big, spacious meadow. In such an environment an animal will tend to simply wonder off, find its place in the field and be content. So, when you make your awareness big, you can sit there watching the thoughts without being so bothered by them, and they in turn tend to gradually return to equilibrium, without you having to work that hard to control or fix them.
 
The movement from tactics, and making room for your ‘Big Why’
 
When your experience of your mind is of the ‘rats in the bag’ type, it is difficult to keep perspective. Everything that you are doing tends to be tactical, small picture, just dealing with what is right in front of you. When you practice the ‘sheep in the meadow’ form of awareness, you can keep things more in perspective. You can ‘choose your battles’. You can keep your attention on your ‘bigger Why’s’, accepting the small obstacles that you encounter on the way toward your broader goals.
 
Enjoy the meadow!

Related article: Integrating field awareness & single-pointedness in daily life

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology

Categories
A Mind of Ease Beginners mind, resilient body creative imagery Energy Meditation Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral meditation training pages meditation and creativity Meditation Recordings Meditation techniques mind body connection Mindful Resilience Mindfulness Qi gong Zen Meditation

Not two, not one – The unified body-mind & brain illumination

“The body-mind are not one, not two, & also both one & two. If you just read these words, it can seem either complex or non-sensical. However, when you actually DO it in meditation, it is quite simple!”

Dear Integral Meditators, 

This week’s article has several aspects to it, including recordings that you can listen to to experience the meditations. If you don’t have time for all the material, just focus on the first section ‘Not one, not two – The integrated, or unified body-mind’, and enjoy digesting that!
 
If you enjoy the article, we will be exploring these subjects in both the weekday (Tues&Weds) and Saturday sessions this week.
 
And final call for this Saturday’s Meditation and Mindfulness for Self-Healing and Creating High Levels of Energy!
 
In the spirit of not one, not two,

Toby

Not two, not one – The unified body-mind & brain illumination
 
This article looks at creating a combination of Zen and energy meditation techniques, putting them together in a complementary, mutually enhancing way.
 
Not one, not two – The integrated, or unified body-mind
 
The first position is a Zen meditation on the unified body-mind. The basis of this meditation is explained very succinctly in this quote from Shunryu Suzuki, from his book Zen mind beginners mind:
 
“Our body and mind are not two and not one. If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong. If you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one. We usually think that if something is not one, it is more than one; if it is not singular it is plural. But in actual experience, our life is not only plural, it is singular. Each one of us is both dependent and independent”
 
Normally in everyday life it feels like our mind and body are separate. Our body is doing one thing whilst our mind is thinking about something else. Often it feels as if our mind is the ‘owner’ and operator of the body. Either way they feel like two things. When we sit in meditation focusing on the body and breath, the temporary cessation of thoughts brings the mind and body together in a unity, or singularity. We experience a unified body-mind, it feels like they are one. In reality, the body mind are not one or two, they are as they are. We can explore this ‘not one-not two’ experience in meditation, using it as a gateway to experiencing our body-mind as they are, in the present moment, not one, not two, and also both one and two.
This meditation by itself is a great way to move beyond conceptual awareness, using the apparent paradox presented. If you just read the words above, it can seem either complex or non-sensical. However, when you actually DO it in meditation, it is really quite simple!
 
Practice the unified body-mind 10-minute meditation recording
 
Brain energy activation microcosmic orbit meditation, basic mindful positions
 
Position 1: Connecting to our light body, or energy body,
Position 2: Visualizing the microcosmic orbit within our energy body, focusing on activating the energy centre within the perineum and coccyx
Position 3: Practicing circulating energy within the M-O, from the perineum and coxyx up to the base of the skull, crown and third eye centers to activate and illuminate the brain.
Position 4: Circulating the energy up the back & down the front of the body. More generally for integration.
Position 4: Pausing the flow of the microcosmic orbit, breathing in and out of our navel/belly area. Letting the energy go to an area of our body that needs healing or energizing.
 
Practice the microcosmic orbit 12-minute brain activation meditation
 
If you practice both techniques in combination, the effect is designed to be that:

  • Your unified body-mind meditation helps you establish a solid based
  • The brain illumination practice enables you to refine and brighten your consciousness to then go deeper into the unified body-mind state
  • And so on in a virtuous cycle

Finally, here is a ten-minute combination form that puts them together in a shorter format.
 
Enjoy!

© Toby Ouvry 2026, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com


Upcoming classes & workshops

Ongoing on Tuesday’s & Wednesday’s (live & online), 7.30-8.30pm – Weekly integral meditation classes

Ongoing on Saturdays, 5.30-6.45pm SG time – Saturday Integral meditation deep-dive sessions with Toby

Tues 13th, Weds 14th January, & then weekly – Beginners mind, resilient body – a 10-week integral meditation course

Starts Saturday 17th January, 5.30-6.15pm, & then weekly – Beginners mind, resilient body deep-dive: An 11 -session practice series

Saturday 24th January, 9.00am-12.30pm – Meditation and Mindfulness for Self-Healing and Creating High Levels of Energy

Follow Toby on: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching *  Meditation Technology