Uncategorized

In our first October meditation, Danis Bois reminded us of a notion that is dear to him: ‘Distance is an illusion, as is proximity’. Through the step-by-step process of this meditation, meditators were invited to experiment the various channels that reduce distance between meditators: the voice of the guide and the quality of their presence, silence, motionlessness, energy in motion, transmission and finally thought and imagination turned towards others, towards our aspirations or towards more humanity. The movement that moves within you is not simply an animation and an active principle. It is a quality of presence, a presence that wants what is good for you. Danis Bois. Participants were able to evaluate their own capicity to perceive, grasp and recognise the signs of the presence of transmission: Perceiving within a slow animation, embodied within living matter Feeling and being aware that we are not the origin of this movement And finally feeling a sense of protection, of a presence that is attentive and benevolent When these signs are combined, meditators can direct this transmission towards someone of their choosing or towards a personal objective, by means of thought and imagination.. We can imagine a world that is more human, …

Read more

As quite a few meditators have registered this term who are new to Danis Bois’ live weekly meditations, Danis Bois decided to come back to the fundamentals of how to establish an effective attitude of presence for meditation. To do this, he chose as support this week  the body, particularly the motionlessness of the body in its interaction with sustained attention as, when combined, these give access to states of stability, solidity, tranquility and calm that bring release both at a physical level with the relaxing of tensions, and at the level of the mind with an apeasement of our thoughts so that we have the impression we are no longer thinking. Danis Bois highlighed that achieving these state is already an accomplished meditation and should be regarded as such.   He added that, for some, this combination of perfect motionlessness and sustained attention, which strengthens the ability to remain present to the experience unfolding in the meditation and prevents wandering, may expand to revealing in the interiority of the body everything that is moving, including the possibility of perceiving the presence of an inner animation – the inner movement, an energy in motion. The motionlessness of your body allows …

Read more

In this first meditation of the new term, Danis Bois took us on a journey through the Four Steps of a typical Full-Presence Meditation to settle into the meditation and gradually begin to connect with the possibility of perceiving the inner movement – the driving force of the Meditation.  He then expanded the meditation into a Fifth Step, an acknowldgement of the role of the driving force in our transformation processes Here is a summary of these 5 steps Creating objective conditions for the meditation A decision to create an atmosphere that is conducive to meditation through easy to achieve tasks : by closing our eyes,  being  motionlessness and suspending talk.  The silence of each of us nourishes the collective silence and the collective silence nourishes individual silence.Danis Bois Externally motionless, internally in motionDanis Bois Highlighting the continuous dimension of motionlessness and its relationship to stability and the experience of a moment of eternity. An invitation to become aware of the continuous dimension of motionlessness At the heart of this motionlessness, the possibility to feel a slow animation, on the edge of immobility, that generates a sense of stability, protection, safety and trust. Feeling the inner movement and allowing it …

Read more

Over the last ten years, meditation has evolved from being seen as a spiritual discipline to a cognitive activity able to bring about a range of benefits fitting within humanistic, ecological and natural health trends. Modern meditation claims to be a secular activity aimed at improving human skills and focusing on mental acts destined to master and control thoughts, emotions and more humane behaviour (everyone wants to improve their human qualities). It is supported by science, particularly neuroscience. Scientific literature on the benefits of meditation on physical and mental health, and on cognitive performance is abundant today. DBM (Danis Bois Method) Full-Presence Meditation® fits clearly within humanistic thought and the neurosciences of education and is a logical extension of my academic career (doctorate in the science of education, aggrégation in psychoeducation and university professor in human and social sciences). Medication stimulates human qualities (such as empathy, altruism and benevolence) as well as cognitive, perceptual, relational and behavioural abilities.  In this perspective, Full-Presence Meditation® develops multiple skills and stimulates dormant qualities through a particular style of teaching that mobilizes educative and existential issues at stakes. Full-Presence Meditation® is linked to humanistic thought and fits within the psychoeducation field, with an emphasis …

Read more

As an introduction and following the many reactions to the use of the term movement without a name, Danis Bois referred to the difficulty of giving a name to a movement that is not in a specific place (neither inside nor outside), is at the same time in motion and motionless, and has neither beginning nor end or origin. The objective of the meditation this week was to look at the dynamics of the movement without a name that is “at the same time in motion and motionless”, so that we are in effect “on a journey without moving”, a notion that Danis Bois borrow from Fernando Pessoa who used it in a different context. Entering into the meditative state Après avoir établi les 3 conditions de base de la méditation : fermer les paupières, garder le silence et s’installer dans une posture immobile. Danis Bois a accordé une attention particulière à cette dernière condition cette semaine afin de guider les méditants à atteindre une immobilité complète qui, pour l’œil extérieur, peut donner l’impression que les méditants ne font rien. Il a souligné que l’on peut apprendre beaucoup de choses de cette qualité particulière de calme et, pour illustrer ses …

Read more

As we have seen through the previous meditations guided by Danis Bois, the characteristics that distinguishes Full-Presence Meditation from other forms of meditation is the possibility for some meditators to connect with a slow animation within the body.  In this meditation, Danis Bois revisited and expanded on the standard meditation from last week, in order to accompany meditators to identify and grasp the five key moments when the inner movement may reveal itself to their awareness, which he called the pathway of movement, leading to a sense of warmth and softness. He also highlighted the other pathway of the meditation: a path through the perfect motionlessness of the body leading more specifically to qualities such as stability, serenity and the appeasement of the mind.   These moments appear through the meditators’ connection to the silence, their visual field and their body stillness towards warmer and more peaceful states, leading to the  experience of plenitude. There is a sixth key moment in the meditation, that will be explored in next week’s meditation, which regards the connection to what is greater than we are. How to participate ? Danis Bois, Doctor of Educational Sciences, has been meditating for more than 40 years and …

Read more

Danis Bois introduced the meditation by explaining the nature of a ‘standard meditation’ as being a meditation intended for everyone, that is based on a protocole designed to improve the fundamental skills required in meditation: listening, observing, sensing/feeling towards enriching a different form of thought. This meditation begins a series of meditations to the end of the term, that will be focused on “Meditating for ourselves and with ourselves”: “. With time, I realised that the person I needed most was myself. And that is why I have to take care of myself, always, as it is with me that I am going to spend my whole life. Giorgia Stella. And so, we have to learn to meditate with ourself, with ourself, with our emotions, our thoughts, our attitudes, in short with who we are, if indeed we know ourself a little. In the meditation per say, Danis Bois then used a protocole based on the main supports of the meditation. Meditation Post-meditation Danis Bois used a detailed protocole based on each of the essential supports of the meditation, in order to develop meditators’ abilities to become more present to themselves by: Listening  (through the auditory sense) Listening to the sound atmosphere surrounding …

Read more

Pour illustrer le thème de la méditation, Danis Bois a fait référence à une citation du livre de To illustrate this theme, Danis Bois refered to a quote in Erling Kagge’s book (Silence in the age of noise): I believe it’s possible for everyone to discover this silence within themselves. It is there all the time, even when we are surrounded by constant noise. Erling Kagge These words invite us to investigate silence: what is this place of silence? How can we encounter this silence within that persists regardless of the noise around us? Silence is essential to the practice of meditation and takes on various forms, such as the appeasement of our mind, which comes when we rest, pause, lay down our arms, and take a break from chasing illusions and from endless worries.  Where are you running to? Do you not know that heaven[1] is within you? When there is nothing left, there is only love. [1] ‘Ciel’ in French can be translated as ‘heaven’, or ‘sky’ depending on context Inspired by these quotations Danis Bois unfolded the meditation to bring us towards the silence within, the heaven/sky within and the love within:   To practise silence, we need first to …

Read more

In his introduction, Danis Bois reviewed the various forms of love, before turning to the theme of the week “inner love” seen from a phenomenological perspective and in line with Michel Henry’s notion of ‘auto-affection’ (also called self-affection), enriched by the inner movement.  A life loving force, a loving force that manifests within the fundamental intimacy of the Self with itself at the heart of living matter.  Danis Bois  Having been guided into the meditation through listening, observing and feeling, Danis Bois emphasized our need to be together in our search for our Self and took us on an inner journey towards finding the love that dwells within, the love with no name that makes us ‘feel alive’ in a different way and adds an extra bit of soul to our existence.   The meditation explored our capacity to turn inwards and be touched by ourselves, by the experiences of our inner world – regardless of external factors, by Life: inner movement, engaging our heart, experiencing the warmth conveyed by life that leads to feelings of aliveness, love for ourself, self-affection. Feeling that I feel is already a way to self-affect Life feels itself, experiences itself In other words, the loving …

Read more

We continue on the theme of how we can meditate together despite the distance, which is the main theme of this term, with a meditation that takes us step by step through the various forms of presence towards a Loving Full-Presence. Danis Bois introduced the meditation by explaining the connection between Full-Presence and the experience of the inner movement which is the special feature of Full-Presence Meditation. We then went into the meditation which explored the various kinds of presence at play: presence in its spatial as well as temporal dimensions, self-presence, presence to others, presence to the world and presence to what is greater than we are, leading to Loving Full-Presence, following a step-by-step process: First, being in the intention of experiencing presence by creating an inner space where we are open and available. Establishing the conditions for silence: remaining silent, listening to the silence and inhabiting the silence with our presence : “Presence can then become more of a quality, more relational and more whole”. Exploring presence in its spatial dimension: “It’s first becoming aware that you are physically somewhere in particular, in your body and within yourself: where your body is, you are”. Exploring the temporal dimension …

Read more