2. Working with the Body—body armor, tension patterns

1. Welcome; What is “Embodiment” and “Off-the-Cushion” Practice?

Tina describes what she means by the terms “embodiment” and “off-the-cushion” and gives a context for doing this type of practice as an extension of our sitting meditation practice.

2. Working with the Body—body armor, tension patterns

Tina describes what “body armor” is—the tension patterns in the body that correspond to our personality patterns that take us off our meditation object. She details how important it is to also work with the body armor, as these tension patterns can keep the personality patterns active if the body patterns aren’t addressed.

3. Practice Session 3—Working with body armor and tension patterns on-the-cushion

Tina provides a guided meditation on how to identify and work with body armor and tension patterns while meditating.

4. The Enneagram—What it is, how using it is valuable on the spiritual path

Tina gives an overview of the Enneagram as a tool for the spiritual path, and describes how it can be very valuable in understanding and unwinding our patterns.

5. The Enneagram—the Inner Triangle and the Fall from Grace; the SuperEgo / Inner Critic

Tina describes how the Inner Triangle of the Enneagram explains the turn of our consciousness away from the Ground of Being when we are born and develop an ego-self in childhood. She also details how the Inner Triangle corresponds to the three Defilements in Buddhism. In addition, she explains the construction of the ego-self, and how the SuperEgo tries to keep us in the ego-self when we try to break free from patterns in our practice.

6. The Inquiry practice—Vipassana off-the-cushion

Tina details the practice of Inquiry, which enables us to work with our patterns skillfully in our life off-the cushion. She also describes how it is similar but also different from the Vipassana practice.

7. Practice Session 4— Working with your Enneatype and Patterns

Tina provides a guided meditation on how to work with all of the prior practice methods on-the-cushion, including the addition of the Enneagram and the Inquiry practice.

8. Living Your Buddha-nature, Tathagata Gharba, seed of enlightenment; moving directly from on-cushion to off-cushion using Dzogchen

Tina details what is can be like, to move more fully into living your Buddha-nature and Enlightenment Drive in a more ongoing way in daily life. She also describes how the Dzogchen practice (as well as Vipassana) can be used to cultivate the ability to stay present and resting in our True Nature while functioning in daily life.

9. Practice Session 5— Dzogchen (and Vipassana) off-the-cushion

Tina provides a guided meditation for transitioning from on-the-cushion to off-the-cushion in Dzogchen practice and also Vipassana, to cultivate this capacity while functioning in daily life.

10. Further Potentials–Functioning from Being and Living Your Realization

Tina describes the potential for our practice to be seamless on and off-the-cushion, living our realization in everyday life and functioning from being throughout the day, which is the ultimate possibility for our full life practice—embodying a stable non-dual realization.