Meditate with Danis Bois – #99 – Motionless yet active

Since the beginning of the term, the meditations have centred around exploring the main supports of  meditation. As a reminder, for Danis Bois, a support is this something on which we apply our attention, our presence, our awareness and in a more dynamic perspective, these supports provide the grounding on which perceptual, cognitive, relational and behavioural potentialities can be developed. Having, in the preceeding weeks, explored silence, the present moment in all its aspects, it is not time to explore two fundamental supports of Full-Presence Meditation: motionlessness and what we call an active motionlessness, meaning the inner movement.  In this meditation, Danis Bois explores through the inner movement what the poet T.S. Elliot calls ‘the dance’, alluding to the co-existence of stillness and movement – a lively stillness.   Having reaching the state of motionlessness in the meditation, it is then seen as the revealer of the inner movement inside the body.  Extracts : I invite you to imagine that you are a statue, draped in silence, and as all statues, you feel unmovable, unshakable by external events. When you feel the support of your back on the chair or another area of support, it is the sign that you are being …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #98 – The time that is coming

Generally speaking, the relationship to temporality is complex. On one hand, time evokes the threat of our finitude : “With time, everything goes”, sang Léo Ferré. And on the other, time brings the promise of our growth. It is this dimention “With time, everything comes” that Danis Bois offers us this latest meditation.  In this perspective, Gustave Flaubert also questions us with these words: “The future torments us, the past holds us back, that is why the present escapes us.” Indeed the future torments us as we do not know what it will be made of, and the past holds us back as we are attached to what we have lived, to our memories. Through our past, we have constructed our personality. And so meditation enables us to connect to the present so that we can ensure that the present does not escape us. Having established the conditions for silence that lead to experiencing plenitude, this meditation is an invitation to explore the time that is coming with two questions : What is the future for ? or in other words: What would our life be without our future? Extraits : As nets that do not hold back water, the present moment does not …

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Meditate avec Danis Bois – #97 – The glow of time

In the preceeding weeks, the meditations focusesd on experiencing the eternal moment – a notion that brings a new perspective on the now moment in the context of meditation. A central question remained : how to combine this particular temporality with an objective temporality, the one we experience every day, the time of the clock?  To illustrate this quest, Danis Bois refers to Proust for whom it was possible to wander at our will in the past, the present and the future. And indeed, when we meditate, it is possible to navigate through the past through our memories and to project ourselves into the future through our intention. This meditation offers the opportunity to understand how this is possible without leaving the present moment. The title  The Glow of Time expresses a desire to brighten up the dark areas of temporality through the use of poetry, as the only way to bring some light on the subtleties of time.  In practice, before going deeper into this theme, it is necessary to settle within ourself, in our own silence, and to be present to ourself and to the second that passes; to be present to the eternal moment.  Then comes the time to …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #96 – The eternal present

The theme of this meditation was around ‘the eternal present’. Danis Bois does address the notion of present moment in a mathematical way, neither in a dimension where temporalities follow each other (past, present, future), but rather he proposes a vision and experience of the present moment as a moment of eternity. By guiding us on a stroll into the movement of the present, Danis Bois offers us the poetry of the life that reveals itself in this way.  It all begins by establishing within a deep silence to listen to, through which we can experience ourself.   It is pointless  looking for the present moment as it is here already, as it has always been ever since you were born. Then comes the immersion phase during which we stroll in the present and become aware of the present moment as a moment of eternity that we can reach consciously in our experiencing.  Extracts : The real gift of life is the present moment. And our gift to ourself, for life, is to be present to the present moment. The present moment is the only temporality that lasts over time. There is nothing that is more eternal than the present moment.  Louis …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #95 – Living the present moment fully

With this meditation, Danis Bois explores an attitude that underlies meditation: “Inhabiting the present moment”. Being in the present is at the heart of meditation, and all meditative practices aim to enter into a relationship with the now. With the help of a step-by-step process, participants explore how to sit in the moment and anchor themselves in the present as neutral observers. How to let things happen, to welcome them, to accept them as they are, without expectation, impatience or dissatisfaction. It’s about honouring everything that arises to perception, however minute. Later on, from the present moment, they will visit past and future. The notion of temporality is very broad when we talk about things that are essential. In terms of temporality, we could have a temporality that is connected with the time of the clock, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And we can also see temporality in terms of eternity and a space dimension where we talk about ‘infinite’ and with temporality of moments of ‘eternity’. There is the time that is passing, the time of the clock, and then there is the time that we feel; and it is the feeling of this time that …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #94 – Silence in everyday life

This week Danis Bois touches on silence from a different perspective: in how it contributes to our everyday life In the previous meditations of this series, Danis Bois talked of the importance of silence in meditation. Silence is fundamental to meditation as we cannot meditate without it. But confronting silence is sometimes difficult for beginners as some of them struggle with the experience of silence. Silence is also the place that we have within us from which we can replenish, and finally silence is synonymous with the absolute as Danis Bois expresses with these words: “I know nothing that is as close to the absolute as silence’. As always, the meditation begins by devoting time to settling into an attitude conducive to appropriating silence: meaning to internalize it, to connect with ourself, to unite with the silent life within, to connect with others and become more present. And even those who are most resistant to silence end up surrendering to its charm. We need a bit of time before silence appears in its essence, before silence changes how you relate to yourself, before silence embodies within you, before silence internalizes. Through silence we can commune with ourself; through silence, we …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #93 – The plenitude of silence in Full-presence meditation

In the previous meditation, Danis Bois focused on the essential role of silence in meditation as it is the foundation of silence.  He notes however that we do not all have the same attitude towards silence or aspiration for it. In this meditation, Danis Bois invites us to navigate the waves of silence, to become more aware as Albert Camus suggests with these words: “It is no longer being happy that I wish for now. It is only to be aware.” and to try a little to experience the flavour of silence. And we need silence to become even more aware, aware of ourself, aware of our own thoughts, aware of what we are feeling, aware of being alive, aware of our human essence that has the flavour of love.. The first phase of the meditation, time is devoted to gradually becoming closer to silence, by making choices and mobilising attention in a particular way, which is soon rewarded by the feeling of reconnection with ourself. . The more you go into your depth, the more you enter into a bubble that protects you from the external world. And silence settles! Take the time to see this alchemy arise where the external …

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Meditate with Danis Bois – #92- Silence in meditation

Silence is at the heart of meditation.  Sometimes however, it brings us to face boredom through inactivity or anxiety through thoughts that are overwhelming, and prevents us from reaching inner calm.  Using a step-by-step process, Danis Bois enables participants to experience the beneficial effects of silence and to make it a place full of discoveries. Silence is not just an absence of noise, but it is a place where you connect with your depth, with yourself, and it allows you an introspection and to contemplate. It is also a way of being, a way of stepping back. It is a channel, a channel of transmission between us all. And through silence we discover phenomena that are invisible, not just inaudible Each meditation begins by establishing conditions conducive to silence as: “Before we learn from the silence, we are going to learn to settle into silence.” It is then time to explore the various aspects of silence and discover its secrets.  Chosen extracts: Two minutes of silence are enough to slow the heart, to lower our heartbeat, to lower stress and to refresh, as we bathe in this silence that we need so much, to regain our strength and a calm …

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Chamblay 2023, a memorable event with Danis Bois

Every year, at the end of August, around 250 people gathers in Chamblay in an Eastern corner of France, in order to meditate together, under the caring guidance of Danis Bois. It is a moment of warm conviviality and sharing that is opened to anyone, who is interested in developing a closer relationship to themselves in order to become more present to themselves, to others around them and to the world.  For many practitioners in the Arts and Practices of the Sensible (fasciatherapists, somatic-psychoeducators, and perceptual educators), it is a yearly opportunity to refresh, catch up with new scientific discoveries and the evolution of protocols, as well as sharing with other practitioners. This workshop is also a one-off yearly opportunity to meet Danis Bois for those interested in this work either because they are patients or learners of the various methodologies elaborated by Danis Bois over the years.  This year had a particularly international flavour with many participants from far and wide – Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal, Canada, Brazil, Germany and the Reunion Islands. In this workshop, Danis Bois wished to : In the mornings Danis Bois led guided meditations and developed the fundamental notions he wished to share, and there …

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Meditation live with Danis Bois – #72- Growing with impermanence

Over the next three weeks, Danis Bois proposes meditations on the theme of impermanence. Impermanence is a Buddhist concept. Buddha teaches that the cause of human suffering is the attachment to everything that does not last. Danis Bois prefers to address the theme of impermanance from a philosophical angle, as did Heraclitus, the VI century BC Greek philosopher who advocated that everything is constantly changing: “All things flow, nothing abides”; and also : “No man ever steps in the same river twice.” Danis Bois expresses these words in this way : “Everything is in perpetual motion.” With this meditation (#72), Danis Bois suggests that we explore how to grow with impermanence and how we can apply this concept within our meditation and maybe even in our daily life. Extracts : In a world regulated as the cosmos is, eternally and infinitely, you do feel deep within you that every time, everything is different. Everything changes. Everything is transient. Everything is in motion in terms of your sensations, emotions and feelings… And when things last, they continuously evolve… Nothing can become fixed… in the living world at least… I invite you to become aware of the ephemeral, when you are present to …

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