Overview of #850: The Peace That's Always Within You — Guided Meditation by Zen Master Henry Shukman
This episode is a Meditation Monday short (≈10 minutes) from the Tim Ferriss Show featuring Zen teacher Henry Shukman. The meditation centers on an old Zen directive: "Take the backward step that shines the light inward." The practice guides you to disengage briefly from forward-focused doing, rest the body, and open into a naturally present, restful awareness that reveals an intrinsic sense of calm and spaciousness.
Key points and main takeaways
- Purpose: create a quick, portable way to access intrinsic, unconditional well‑being by briefly disengaging from activity and resting in awareness.
- Core instruction: “Take the backward step” — a small mental/experiential receding from the stream of doing into a more receptive stance.
- Physiological/psychological effect: relaxation of the body (make it floppy), a reset of the nervous system, access to a quieter, wider field of awareness, and a taste of timelessness.
- Practical outcome: a brief practice you can deploy anytime (start/end of day, during stress) to reduce anxiety, increase patience, and cultivate steadiness.
Guided steps
Quick micro-practice (1–2 minutes)
- Sit comfortably, close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Let your hands and arms rest; relax the whole body so it feels slack.
- Intentionally “take the backward step”: mentally recede from immediate activity and rest with the fact of being here.
- Notice the quieter, wider awareness that shows up. Rest in it briefly.
- Gently return: move fingers/toes, open eyes, take a deep inhale and exhale.
Full short practice (≈10 minutes)
- Assume a comfortable seated or supported position; allow your whole body to become floppy (head, throat, shoulders, chest, belly, legs).
- Allow a body‑wide release; don’t try to activate any part of the body.
- Maintain this restful posture and give yourself permission to disengage from the forward momentum of daily life.
- Observe and rest in the arising quality of awareness — spacious, calm, and slightly outside the immediate stream of time.
- When ready, come out gently: sway, wiggle, raise your gaze, and breathe deeply.
Practical tips and recommended uses
- Deploy as a brief reset during stressful moments, transitions, or before important tasks.
- Use at the start or end of the day to ground and calm the nervous system.
- Even 1–3 minutes can be effective; consistency matters more than length.
- Combine with mindful breathing if helpful, but emphasis is on resting into awareness rather than active concentration.
- Try it twice daily (morning and evening) to build familiarity with the “backward step.”
Notable quotes and lines to remember
- “Take the backward step that shines the light inward.”
- “Rest, coming into body-wide rest.”
- “A broader awareness… not some special accomplishment — it’s simply always been with us.”
- “A little less bound by time — a little taste of a certain flavor of timelessness.”
About the teacher, series, and offer
- Teacher: Henry Shukman — introduced here as an authorized Zen teacher (Tim describes him as one of a few dozen masters authorized to teach).
- Series: This episode is part of Tim Ferriss’s Meditation Monday series (four‑episode introductory set of meditations).
- Offer mentioned: listeners can try The Way app with 30 free sessions via thewayapp.com/tim.
Use this practice as a brief, accessible tool to interrupt reactivity, recover perspective, and access a calm baseline that’s available throughout your day.