Basic Awareness Practice.
Intention behind the three actions.
Start by taking a moment to settle and relax before you begin.
Find a comfortable sitting position and listen to what the body needs.
Shifting position to be comfortable and balanced if necessary.
Begin by bringing attention to the body in relation to the space it's in.
Sensing the room and any objects around you.
And shifting the attention to the entire body as it sits here.
And now moving the attention to the breathing process in the whole body.
Breathing naturally and leaving the breath to find its own rhythm.
And coming back to the sensation of the entire body.
Now bring to mind your reasons for doing this basic awareness practice on intention behind the three actions.
What's motivating and inspiring you to engage with this process of inner development?
And finally wish yourself success in this process.
This exercise is to help you recognize intention as the compulsion or drive behind all of your actions.
Be they mental,
Verbal or physical.
Whether you are aware of it or not.
And focus on building basic awareness by practicing awareness of the breath in the body.
It will also encourage you to question your life and open up to possibilities of change and fulfillment.
Helping you build a picture of what your potential might be,
What may be helping you develop your potential and what may be limiting you at the moment.
Intention refers to the movement or compulsion of the mind towards doing something.
It's the compelling energy before an action.
Whether it's a mental action,
A verbal action or a physical action.
Intention is present in all actions and there is always an effect or result from intention.
Awareness of intention is important because this drive shapes your life.
Conditioning what you experience and who you become.
It can be beneficial or harmful to you and others depending on the orientation of the intention.
The process works as follows.
First there is an intention.
This is the leading drive behind the mind doing something.
In other words a mental action.
Whether you are aware of it or not.
You will rarely be aware of your underlying intention because the mind acts so swiftly.
Second is the actual mental action.
This compulsion to act and the resulting thoughts and emotions are almost inseparable as they come so closely together.
It is also closely linked to feeling tone.
And lastly from the mental action come the verbal and physical actions.
The aim of becoming aware of this intention,
Compulsion or drive is to manage it.
This entails noticing the movement or the intention before the action.
Through practicing basic awareness of intention you can also begin to notice active or passive patterns.
If you are not aware of your intention you are passive and on autopilot and this is caused by the effects of past ingrained habits and conditioning which you receive passively.
At this point you are unable to do anything about the intention.
However the intention is still active.
In other words it has effects.
This doesn't mean that passivity is necessarily negative.
Many mental and physical processes are automatic and you cannot be aware of everything all of the time.
However you can become active by gradually becoming more aware of intention and then responding skillfully which depends on the quality of your attention.
Once you begin to be aware of the intention,
Compulsion or drive you then have a choice to manage the impulse of the mind to be drawn into action and then to reorient the mind.
In other words train or retrain your compulsion or intention.
This is important as actions get results or effects and these results or effects are the foundation of further actions and effects.
Awareness of this intention or compulsion also increases your freedom to cultivate peaceful and constructive mental states that put together a life characterized by inner peace and meaningful well-being for yourself and others.
This exercise is about looking at intention in regards to your physical posture where you try to identify your intention to move as you hold a posture for a period of time.
So now taking time to find a comfortable sitting position with the back straight not too tense.
Letting the head tilt slightly forward and resting it comfortably at the top of the spine.
Keeping the eyes either open or closed depending on what feels right.
And if you have your eyes open resting the gaze in front without focusing on anything in particular and relaxing the muscles around the eyes and the jaw tucking the chin in slightly.
Adjusting to what the body needs and shifting that position to become comfortable.
And now taking some time to take three deep breaths.
Becoming aware of any disturbing attitudes in the mind any worries or frustrations and putting them aside for the duration of the practice.
Ask yourself why you are doing this practice the benefits of doing it and the disadvantages of not doing it and consider who might benefit from you doing this practice.
And keep in mind this practice is to help you recognize intention as it arises.
Now bring the attention to the body and try to stay as still as possible.
You you And as you try to stay as still as possible notice any intention or compulsion to move in any way to shift position to scratch or to become more comfortable without candidates.
Remaining as still as possible as you hold your attention on the body,
Noticing any intention or compulsion to move in any way.
00 Again,
As you hold your attention on the body,
Is there any drive or intention to move?
And finally releasing your attention from the body and bringing your attention back to the room.
So what was that like?
Did you notice any intention to move?
And how easy was it to notice?
Did you notice any active intention to move?
Or did you find yourself moving passively without noticing the compulsion?
What would you have normally done when sitting for an extended period of time?
Did you notice the feeling tone associated with the compulsion to move?
And if you did,
Was it positive,
Negative,
Neutral or was it different each time?
Do you think feeling tone was linked to the intention to move?
And now thinking about everyday life,
How often do you think you have intentions or compulsions to act?
Are you usually aware of intention in daily life?
And finally,
Why might bringing basic awareness to your intentions help you in daily life?
And remember,
We are using the image of the spiral to show how certain personal qualities build on and reinforce each other in an upward spiral towards positive potential.
A positive reinforcement spiral.
Likewise,
Certain personal qualities also build on and reinforce each other in a downward spiral.
A negative reinforcement spiral.
So using your learning from the previous practice on intention behind the three actions,
Simply note whether this may be helping you develop towards the top of the spiral or if it may be limiting you towards the bottom.
Finally,
Taking a moment to reconnect with your posture.
Rebalancing,
Relaxing and gently releasing any tension if necessary.
Becoming aware of the body breathing.
Taking a moment to recall your motivation for doing this practice.
And bring to mind what you've experienced and learned in this practice.
Have you discovered anything about yourself?
Have you begun to cultivate any helpful qualities or overcome or let go of any unhelpful qualities?
And how might this process be beneficial and meaningful and contribute to the welfare and well-being of yourself and others,
Your family,
Friends and those close to you,
Or those who inspire and nurture your positive development and all living beings and the environment they rely on?
And as this practice ends,
Try to carry this with you wherever you go by recollecting it occasionally.
