We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss today. Today we focused our practice on the tactile field of the body. We drew our practice inspiration from B. Alan Wallace’s Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness. Like last week we included two practice periods and a walking meditation.
Alan writes about settling the body, breath and speech into their natural states. He describes this as a process of balancing three essential qualities: relaxation, stillness and vigilance. We could observe the process of our bodies settling by consciously feeling specific areas – feet, legs, torso, arms, neck and head – relaxing. Aaaah, if you’re reading this right now you can take some deep breaths and feel what I’m describing.
Experiencing “witness consciousness” involved using bare attention without having to analyze or label or judge. As we experienced the breath settle we explored its natural movement while attempting to maintain a balance between relaxation and vigilance.
Settling speech involved releasing the “inner speech” of mental talk into a natural state of effortless silence. With deepening relaxation we intended to let go of thoughts, images, memories, fantasies with each out-breath. Relaxing deeper still, we explored inner clarity and a luminosity of awareness.
We had a rich discussion about bringing mindfulness into daily life. We shared observations about the way stopping in the midst of day to day occurrences can often yield insights. The next time you find yourself waiting, ask yourself if you would rather relax. The next time you feel your belly tightening and heart speeding up stop and check in with your whole being. What is the body expressing? Are you driving yourself a little too much like a machine? Or how do you react when you discover you’ve made a mistake? Do you beat yourself up? How does it really feel to do this? If you follow the feeling what can it teach you? I am starting to realize that I have a hard time forgiving myself.
One student shared a beautiful mindfulness practice that she’s incorporated into her life. I’ve been thinking about it a lot this afternoon. I’m calling it the Threshold Practice. She described stopping for some deep breathing every time she transitions from one activity to the next. It’s helped her stay more present. This really resonated. How many “thresholds” do we cross in a day and not even notice? Aren’t these signposts wonderful opportunities to come into your life more deeply? I feel so grateful for this teaching. It’s taking root in my heart: I really need it.
There is such a profoundly precious opportunity in coming together and sharing like this. I will be thinking of you at the threshold this week. I hope we will all have time to explore this week’s homework suggestions you can find it at: