Visualization of the internal body Prepare now to visualize the body internally

Do so with the attitude of a witness, like watching a movie on a screen, unaffected by the images.

First move the awareness to the head.

Go inside the head and visualize the brain, a grey- white mass floating in fluid and filling the inside o f the cranium.

There are many com partm ents in the brain; the frontal brain lies behind the forehead, the cerebrum covers the whole crown, while at the back is the cerebellum where you can feel the pressure between the back of your head and the floor.

This area is where the spinal cord joins the brain.

In this region is the slender brain stem which is like the stalk of a flower.

At the top o f this stalk is the hard, pinkish pineal gland.

Now, move a little forward under the surface o f the brain to the exact centre o f the head.

Located here is the pituitary gland.

Visualize it as a point o f golden light.

Moving further forward, bring your awareness to the eyes.

See the white eyeballs, the transparent cornea and the dark holes o f the pupils.

Go behind and see the white optic nerves connecting the eyes to the brain.

Now, go inside the ears; first the tunnel o f the external ear, the silvery eardrum , then the m iddle ear and the inner ear.

See the auditory nerve which connects the inner ear to the brain.

Inside the abdom inal cavity are also the two kidneys.

Purple in colour, they lie behind the waist, ju st below the diaphragm . T he kidneys, which are about the size o f your palm, filter the blood, recycling useful elements and passing out waste m atter in the form o f urine.

O n top o f the kidneys, like triangular caps, are the bright yellow adrenal glands.

From the kidneys the urine travels along attached tubes, called ureters, to a pouch situated ju st behind the pubic bone.

This pouch is the urinary bladder and is the shape o f an inverted pyramid.

Move yo u r aw areness b e h in d th e b la d d e r to the reproductive organs.

Women should visualize the uterus, situated behind the bladder.

T he uterus is a firm, thick-walled, inverted pouch with two tubes attached to the sides.

At the end of each tube is a pink mass known as an ovary.

Men should visualize a pink, solid gland at the lower angle of the bladder, in the perineum - this is the prostate gland.

Now visualize the whole abdominal area and all the organs within it.

Practise light abdominal breathing and try to see each organ moving slightly with every breath.

Feel the organs to be full o f energy and working perfectly, each one in harmony with the rest.

Visualize the u p p er abdomen: the stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas and the spleen.

T hen visualize the lower abdomen: the small and large intestines, kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder and organs of elimination and reproduction.

Next, take your awareness to the back and the vertebral column which rises up from the pelvis to the brain.

It consists o f thirty-three bony vertebrae placed one on top o f the other.

Try to trace it with the breath down to the stomach.

Now, visualize the stomach; a loosely folded, V-shaped, m uscular pouch, about the size o f your fist, which expands to accommodate ingested food. When the food has been properly churned and liquefied, it is slowly ejected into the duodenum , the tube that connects the stomach with the small intestine. In the C-shaped duodenum , the food is mixed with different enzymes coming from the pancreas, a small, flat organ shaped like an arrow-head, located behind the stomach.

T he food is also mixed with bile produced in the liver.

T he liver is a big, brown globular organ, the largest organ in the body.

It is situated u n d er the right side o f the ribcage and diaphragm .

O n the underside o f the liver is the pear-shaped gall bladder, which stores bile an d squeezes it into the digestive tract.

On the left side o f the liver is the spleen, a soft, egg- shaped organ which contains cells to clean the body of infection.

T he digested food m atter enters the small intestine, which is a tube about thirty feet in length.

As it rhythmically expands and contracts the food is pushed through it.

Examine the long, purplish-grey small intestine coiled up inside the abdom inal cavity.

W rapped a ro u n d th e sm all in testin e is th e large intestine.

O n the right side o f the abdomen is the ascending colon and on the left side is the descending colon.

Connecting the two is the transverse colon, sitting on top o f the small intestines.

From the descending colon the unusable food, in the form o f waste matter, is stored in the rectum, a short, wide tube located in the posterior part o f the pelvis.

From here it is passed out through the anus.

Finally, become aware of the whole body from within: the head, the chest, the abdom en, the back, the arms and hands, the legs and feet, the whole structure of the body, the whole body internally.

See the whole body internally in one glimpse.

Stage 6: Sankalpa

Release the image of the inner body and become aware of the internal space.

Be aware of the quality of spaciousness and stillness.

Bring to mind your sankalpa, the positive resolve made at the beginning o f the practice.

Repeat it mentally three times with faith and with conviction.

Feel the sankalpa perm eating the entire inner space.