I'm going to start this practice with a poem that I really like by Rumi.
There are two kinds of intelligence.
One acquired,
As a child in school memorizes facts and concepts from books and from what the teacher says,
Collecting information from the traditional sciences as well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others in regard to your competence in retaining information.
You stroll with this intelligence in and out of fields of knowledge,
Getting always more marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet,
One already completed and preserved inside of you.
A spring overflowing its spring box.
A freshness in the center of the chest.
This other intelligence does not turn yellow or stagnate.
It's fluid,
And it doesn't move from outside to inside through conduits of plumbing,
Learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead from within you,
Moving out.
Rumi was a poet in the 13th century,
If you've not heard his works before,
And I really appreciate this idea of a second knowing and that being something that goes beyond what we learn in books and in school and in our training.
And being human,
It's just so easy to get disconnected from the intuitive and deep knowing that we all have inside of us.
Our busy minds and reliance on data and celebration of competence can move us away from the wisdom that we all hold internally.
And I love data.
It's a good thing.
It helps us to be able to make great decisions,
But we learn over time to dismiss our intuition,
To logic our way out of it,
To contort ourselves away from it,
To adapt to environments that come in conflict with it.
What would it be like to be still and reconnect to that powerful knowing?
For the next few minutes,
I'll ask you to just sit and be quiet.
Arrange yourself in a comfortable position.
Alert,
But also comfortable.
Eyes open or closed,
Whatever feels most accessible and supportive to you.
And bring your attention to your breath as it moves in and out of your body.
Just that simple.
In and out.
With each breath in,
You're expanding your sense of knowing.
With each breath out,
Letting go of what you may be holding that doesn't feel true.
It would not be at all surprised if your mind has wandered off very quickly,
Bounced off to something else,
To a thought or planning or an emotion or a discomfort that's come up.
This is not a problem.
It's part of being human.
Our minds are busy minds.
Let's see if you can gently bring your attention back to that breath in.
And see if you can connect with the wise part of you that goes beyond thinking.
And that's connected to just being.
Is there something that your body or your mind may be telling you that has been pushed in the background,
Not allowed to surface,
And to be part of the rest of your experience?
And again,
Just noticing the urge to think how quickly it comes in those quiet spaces.
To be thinking about what is instead of being with what is.
Allowing the possibility that there's something inside of you that is more enduring than your training,
Your education,
Your facts,
Your concepts.
A fountainhead.
A second knowing.
What is here that needs to be felt?
Being with whatever arises,
And that could be resistance,
Anger,
Openness,
Possibility,
Tension,
Or nothing at all.
There are no right answers here.
So if you're finding yourself wondering,
Am I doing this right?
There isn't a right.
There isn't a wrong.
There are no A's or pats on the back.
Just you.
Connecting to yourself in whatever way shows up today.
That may be confusion.
It's okay too.
We're just experimenting and exploring with what could be if we allow ourselves to quiet our thinking.
If it feels good,
You might put a hand on your heart.
Just to connect with that sense of your body working,
Doing what it needs to do to keep you well.
That intuitive part of your body that knows exactly what to do.
No thinking required.
And then shifting attention to your body sitting here as a whole.
Just whatever parts of your body you can connect with.
Maybe noticing the contact of yourself with whatever you're seated on.
Notice the fabric on your skin.
Are you starting to move in a way that feels comfortable,
Like a nice gentle stretch,
Whatever it feels like your body needs?
And then wrapping up this practice whenever you feel ready.
Thank you.
