Hi,
This is Carolyn Ziehl.
Thank you so much for joining me today to meditate,
To journal,
To get a little curious about mindfulness.
Pema Chodron says,
We could just go forward with curiosity,
Wondering where this experiment will lead.
This kind of open-ended inquisitiveness captures the spirit of enthusiasm or heroic perseverance.
Curiosity,
It is an essential quality for human development and learning,
And it is an important aspect of mindfulness.
According to Merriam-Webster,
Curiosity is marked by a desire to investigate and learn.
If you're curious,
You're inquisitive.
You're inclined to ask questions,
To investigate.
When we ask questions,
We open up possibilities.
We don't assume we have the answers,
And we don't assume something is as it appears necessarily.
Being curious allows you to turn toward the entirety of an experience,
Moving you from avoidance into a more openness,
Even towards something or a situation that you might not like or might not be as pleasing as you wish.
You could look at curiosity as one of the antidotes to judgment and other harsh evaluations we may direct at ourselves and others.
Kindness and compassion are two other antidotes to judgment,
And it is through curiosity,
The asking of questions,
The looking at the world with curious eyes or looking at a situation with curious eyes that could bring us to kindness and compassion.
Curiosity is a quality,
A quality that can be developed over time.
It is a tool.
It's a way of looking at the world.
It is a way of inquiring into an experience,
Whether joyful or painful,
That can allow you to begin to smooth over some of the ups and the downs that you may be facing now or any time in your life.
And mindfulness begins with awareness,
The noticing,
The recognition,
The acknowledgement that something is up,
Something is here,
Something is rising to the surface.
It is up and it is present,
And being mindful means that you're willing to allow and be with that which is revealing itself to you,
Allowing yourself to fully experience what is arising as it arises without trying to change it.
And curiosity,
Inquiring into that without trying to change what is coming up for you,
Allows you to stay in the present moment.
And this is the practice of mindfulness,
Allowing,
Allowing yourself to be present with whatever it is that is with you in that moment,
And you accept without judgment.
And just because you're accepting doesn't mean you're complacent.
Instead,
You're just turning toward the experience.
You're not trying to change it in this moment.
But that doesn't mean you're not trying to make change in your life.
It just means that if something doesn't go your way,
You don't charge at it like a bull.
You don't throw a temper tantrum.
But instead,
You turn toward that thing,
That situation,
That emotion with curious eyes,
And you ask yourself some questions.
And when you're asking yourself these questions,
You don't want to ask why questions like,
Why is this happening to me?
Because that can border on tantrum territory,
As we know,
We've all railed at a situation asking why.
But instead,
We want to ask more exploratory questions,
Questions that won't lead us to analytical answers,
But instead,
Maybe lead us to a little bit of magic.
Because really,
In the end,
We're looking to create space.
And from a more spacious,
Accepting place,
Look toward the answers that might come to us when we ask more open ended,
Curious questions.
So let's practice and get curious together.
Ideally in a seated position with your journal by your side,
Get really comfortable.
If you need to shake your body a little bit,
Shaking your arms,
Your hands,
Wiggling your toes,
Gently rolling your neck to the right and to the left,
Lifting and lowering your shoulders,
Get really comfortable in your body.
And when you feel ready,
Close your eyes.
And let's get curious.
Notice what you hear,
The sounds around you,
What you hear in the silence around you.
Notice the sounds your body makes.
Is your stomach growling?
Can you hear your heartbeat?
Can you hear your breath?
Let's notice and get really curious in this moment.
Take in a deep breath through your nose.
Hold it at the top and sigh it out.
One more deep breath through your nose,
Holding it a little longer at the top and sigh it out.
And again,
Deep breath in through your nose,
Holding it at the top even longer this time and sigh it out.
And notice your body as you begin to settle in to yourself.
I invite you now to either answer these questions in your journal or you can just keep your eyes closed and get curious that way.
And notice and ask yourself,
Where is my attention in this moment?
Is it immersed in thinking and or emotions?
Is it in the body?
Where is my attention in this moment?
