Arrival and Naming the Field Welcome!
This practice is about resting in the field.
The living field of life you're always inside of,
Whether your awareness feels more zoomed in and focused,
Or more spacious and receptive.
Some of us are naturally more left in how we meet the world.
We track details.
We watch the action.
We're here to notice what's happening and respond.
Others are more right.
We feel the whole.
We sense impressions.
We soak in atmospheres.
Both are needed.
If even one deeply left-oriented person were missing,
The whole field would feel it.
If even one deeply right-oriented person were missing,
The whole field would feel that too.
For the next little while,
You're not trying to become anything else.
You're just going to let your body taste both styles of awareness and check what feels kinder,
More restful,
More like home.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and a long exhale out of your mouth.
Eyes open awareness.
Being in the field while life moves.
We'll start with an eyes open segment.
This is for the part of you that came here to see the action.
If it's safe,
Let your eyes be open or gently soft.
If you're walking or slightly moving,
Keep doing what you're doing with full attention to safety.
First,
Notice one point in front of you.
It might be a spot on the wall,
A tree,
A light,
The horizon.
Let your gaze rest there for a few breaths.
Feel how it is to have a clear object of attention.
This is your focused,
Left-flavored awareness.
Precise,
Tracking,
Noticing details.
Now,
Without moving your head much,
Soften your gaze.
Instead of staring at one point,
Let the edges of your vision come in.
Notice that you can perceive things off to the sides,
Above,
Below,
Without effort.
Let yourself see the whole scene with clarity,
Colors,
Shapes,
Movement,
Without needing to judge,
Name,
Anything.
If you're walking,
Feel the rhythm of your footsteps.
See the world passing by.
Let awareness include both your body's movement and the wider space you're moving through.
You might silently say,
I am in the field of life,
And life is moving around me.
Notice,
Does this eyes-open,
In-motion awareness feel natural or tiring?
Is it easy to stay with it,
Or does some part of you long to close your eyes and turn inward?
There's no right answer.
You're collecting data about you.
Transition.
Using the nine elements as a bridge.
Before we shift,
We'll pass through the nine elements as a bridge from doing to resting.
As you continue with eyes open,
Feel the earth in the contact under your feet or seat.
Sense water in your mouth,
Your blood,
The subtle fluidity in your joints.
Notice lightning as tiny sparks of sensation on your skin or in your nerves.
Feel feelings as whatever emotional tone is here.
Calm.
Restless.
Neutral.
Sense fire as any warmth in your chest.
Your desire to participate.
Notice air and how your body and skin respond to this space and contact.
Hear ether in the sounds around you,
Including this voice.
Watch intellect as the mind naming,
Comparing,
Commenting,
Without needing it to stop.
Finally,
Sense presence as the quiet I am here that includes all of this.
You're already in this field just by existing.
If it's safe to do so now,
Prepare to shift into an eyes closed segment.
If you're walking or doing something that needs your full visual attention,
You can simply soften your focus and imagine what the eyes closed version might be like.
Eyes closed awareness,
Resting in the right flavored spaciousness.
Now,
If you can,
Allow your eyes to gently close or lower your gaze toward the floor.
Feel the difference immediately.
The outside world is still there,
But less sharp.
Inside sensations are more noticeable.
Sounds may seem louder or closer.
Let your body know there is nothing to watch right now.
I'm allowed to rest inside the field.
Without forcing,
Imagine your awareness expanding out around you,
Like a soft sphere or cloud.
It includes your body,
The space around your body,
The ground beneath you.
It doesn't have a sharp edge.
It just fades into the larger field.
Right now,
You don't have to pick a single object.
You can let awareness float.
Sound.
Subtle emotion.
The sense of being held by something larger than your personal mind.
If thought comes in about your day,
Your to-do list,
Just notice.
Thinking is happening.
Then let the thought drift away as if it were a leaf on a river.
The river is the field.
The leaf is just one moment on its surface.
Feel how it is to be more receptive than active.
Noticing without chasing.
Feeling without needing to explain.
This is a taste of right-flavored awareness.
You don't have to live here all the time.
You're just visiting,
Seeing how it feels in your nervous system.
Letting your body show you its preference.
Now,
We'll gently compare.
While your eyes are still closed or soft,
Ask your body.
Which tasted more natural today?
Eyes-open engagement or eyes-closed spaciousness?
You might sense a warm yes toward one or a clear no toward another or a feeling that you need both in different proportions.
If you tend to be very left-oriented,
Your body might say,
Let me keep watching the world,
But give me moments of soft focus and spaciousness.
If you tend to be very right-oriented,
Your body might say,
Let me soak in the field more often and only zoom in when needed.
Whatever it is,
It's correct for you right now.
No style is superior.
The field needs all of us,
Those who track the action,
Those who feel the whole,
And those whose lives are a blend.
You might quietly affirm,
My way of being aware is part of the wholeness.
I don't have to become someone else to belong here.
Closing and practical next step.
As we close,
Bring your awareness back to your body.
Feel the contact under you.
Notice the weight of your limbs.
Hear the sounds in the room.
Take one slow breath in and a long,
Relaxed exhale.
Ask yourself,
What is one small way I can honor my awareness style today?
It might be taking a short,
Eyes-open walk where you let yourself really see the world.
Giving yourself five minutes with eyes closed and no agenda before you sleep.
Softening your gaze between tasks to remember the wider field.
