Nalu | Mind The Flow, Day 23 Of 28 - Setting Intentions

Nalu is the Hawaiian word for wave. It can also mean mindful observation. During this series, we follow our main character, Nalu, as they explore mindful and meditation practices and deepen their understanding. On day 23, we continue to explore setting intentions.

Thank you to Mika Mimura Erickson for licensing the music track.

Transcript

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Nalu Mind the Flow. So grateful to have you here today together with us. If you are joining for the first time, Welcome. If you're returning, Then welcome back. We are on day 23 of our 28-day mindfulness journey together with Nalu. For the past several days, Nalu has found themselves on their favorite strip of shoreline and they've been working on understanding and feeling their bodily sensations, The breath coming in, The breath going out. They've been noticing that the way it feels to be in their bodies, Even at the same time as they notice things that are happening outside of them. So for today, We will follow Nalu along again in a little bit of intention setting, This time a little bit more generally, About setting intention to become more aware of our own inner sensations and more aware of our own inner state of mind, Even as we're working, Playing, Interacting with the outside world. So for now, I invite you to have your eyes opened or closed, Become, Bring yourself into a relaxed position, Whether that's seated or lying down, Or if you're walking, Then feeling the way that your feet are there on the ground, Moving slowly. And just notice the current scenario, The current sensation, The current feeling as it is to be you here and now. And one way to do that is by keying in on the breath. You might start to notice the breath moving in and out. You might take a conscious deep breath to help bring yourself into the current awareness. And then as you settle in, Just bringing the attention onto the breathing as it comes into the body, Onto the breathing as the air moves out of the body. And just observing this natural process as it happens, Seemingly of its own, Seemingly by itself. So as we follow Nalu here along the shoreline, Down in one direction, Nalu can see the people that they've been interacting with. And in the other direction, They can see the beautiful waveforms as the water comes in and moves up along the shoreline and then moves back and recedes. And they start to make additional connections, More connections between the waves they're seeing on the outside, The flows they're noticing on the outside, The slow and gentle movements of people at a distance, And the waves and motions and flows that they're observing within their own bodies. Nalu is noticing the flow within their body and observing the breath come in and observing the breath go out, Even while they're watching all of these different flows and patterns outside of them. They continue to observe inside. And if we follow Nalu's example, We may start to notice that some of those rhythms and some of those patterns that we're experiencing inside our own lives, Inside of our own bodies, Inside of our own breath, They might imitate or be very similar to some of the patterns and flows that we see outside. And that's okay. That's part of what it is to be here and be part of nature. And so for today, As far as we feel comfortable, Or as much as we feel comfortable, We'll continue to set an intention to keep some of our awareness as we go out into the world, Keep some of our awareness on that inner flow that's happening, On the inner rhythms that are moving us, On the very obvious rhythm of the breathing as it continues to happen, In and out, In and out. And maybe even on some more of those subtle sensations that we've been learning how to experience with Nalu. Maybe it's the gentle motion of sensation within the body, Or maybe it's something more distinct, Like a gut feeling, Or maybe you have some sensation in the chest area when there's something happening outside. So we have the opportunity to set an intention to remain more aware of those inner sensations, Even as we are there interacting with the outside world. And insofar as we're comfortable, Now's a great time to set an intention to continue to observe those sensations, Even as they happen. And the mind may wander out and ask, How can I do that? How can I make that happen? And one way that we can help to make that happen is through this kind of regular, Consistent, And continual practice. Today, We're on the 23rd day together with Nalu, So that if you've joined for most of or all of the days, Then we've already had more than 200 minutes of practice in this kind of technique, In this kind of awareness of the breath and awareness of sensation. And so the more that we have just a few minutes a day to take time to do this kind of thing, The more we can use this kind of practice out there in the world, Even as we're faced with things that are seemingly out of our control, Or maybe we don't agree with, Or maybe we run to wholeheartedly. Any of those situations, We can meet with an awareness of our inner thought, An awareness of our inner sensation. And so we set a small intention today to do that, And just to notice how it might shift the scenario. And as we come nearer to the closing of our time here together, I so appreciate having folks join, Whether you're joining in real time or joining out of time. I'm super grateful that we've had this chance here together with these few minutes to experience a little bit of minding the flow with Nalu. And so as you come back to the top of the hour and back to the room, Maybe checking in with some of your more obvious sensations that are happening, Maybe your clothing on your skin or your seat in the chair, Maybe taking a deep breath, And welcoming yourself back to the room and back to the current awareness, Possibly or hopefully with a little bit more curiosity and perhaps a little bit more interest in what's going on around. So thank you so much for joining today, And I'll look forward hopefully to seeing you again.