Hey,
Everyone.
Seems like a good time to bring a sense of wellness and well-being to the foreground in our lives.
And so this is one small way we can do that.
Um,
What I wanted to do today.
.
.
Is I got some questions in my email from the last,
Someone who,
There was one question in particular from someone who came to the last two sessions I did.
Two weeks ago and last week.
And it was really about the difference between the kind of practice I was leading,
Which is sort of opening up to whatever you experience in the moment,
And what the difference was between that and something more like a breath-focused meditation.
And instead of trying to verbally tease out the nuances and answer that question,
Which I could certainly do that if you're interested,
But.
I thought it might be more interesting to actually do those practices back-to-back.
And really the intention here is to give you a lens into noticing experientially.
What it feels like to do a focused breath practice and a more of an open or even choiceless awareness practice,
Which is subtly different,
But that's what we're going to do today in the next 10 minutes.
I see someone from Platteville.
Hello.
Welcome.
Okay.
So let's get started.
And to begin,
Just find yourself in a position that captures your intention for the next 10 minutes,
Whatever it is that you feel like you want to bring,
Something that's alert and awake,
Yet also relaxed and captures this sense of taking a true break here for the next 10 minutes.
And if for you,
Part of getting set up is taking a deep breath or closing your eyes or anything like that,
You're more than welcome to do that,
Whatever seems to work for you.
You If you're not sure,
I'd recommend an upright posture,
Relaxing the shoulders,
Maybe closing your eyes or hooding them at least.
And just before we get started.
Zoom out for a moment.
And bring to mind the reason you're here doing this practice.
What's motivating you?
Bring that front and center in your mind.
Can really help to inspire you.
To bring yourself fully to this practice,
To remember why you're doing it.
Maybe it has something to do with coping.
With the situation in your life.
Maybe it has something to do with general well-being and maintenance.
Maybe you've got a routine.
Maybe it has to do with other people.
Maybe it has to do with being your best self for those around you.
Or for the larger world,
Perhaps.
Take a few moments to bask in that inspiring motivation.
And when you're ready.
Place your attention.
On the gentle sensation of your breath flowing in and out of your body wherever you feel it most clearly.
You might notice the stomach or chest inflating and deflating.
You might notice the flow of air in your throat or your nose.
No need to be aware of all of it,
Just pick one area where you feel that sensation most clearly.
Really hone in there.
You might notice the inhale.
Maybe the little pause and the exhale.
And a little pause.
Try to get really curious about the subtlety.
Each breath is different than the last.
See if you can notice.
The subtle changes.
Subtle sensations.
Of breathing.
If you notice other experiences.
Coming and going,
Maybe there's sounds in your environment.
Maybe discomfort in the body,
Maybe thoughts.
Mental images or mental talk.
There's no need to resist any of that.
Just let it come and go in the background,
But let your breath be your anchor.
Holding you in place from the calm,
Deep stillness,
Staying connected with the breath as everything else just sort of flows by on the surface.
If you lose track of your breath,
That's perfectly normal.
That's totally fine.
No need to get self-critical.
Or judge yourself.
Maybe replace that with a bit of love for yourself to just say.
That's okay.
That's human.
It's all part of the process.
Take the opportunity to celebrate the choice that you have.
And choose to bring your attention back to the breath.
And sometimes it can help to really get curious about breathing,
Noticing its subtle beauty,
Noticing that the breath is this life force that's with us through our whole lives.
Really tuning in to that.
Now right now,
This practice,
Our focus area is the breath.
So you can kind of think of it like.
Or considering any sensation related to the breath as sort of.
.
.
On the field and everything else is kind of out of bounds.
But we can define that focus space however we want.
We can focus on sounds or a particular sound or sites in our environment.
Right now we're going to completely flip it on its head.
And make everything inbound.
So nothing is out of bounds anymore.
We're going to open up completely.
So let go of the breath.
And open up to full awareness of everything in your environment.
Pull up your anchor.
And let your attention float on the waves as they come and go.
And notice where your attention wanders with awareness and open curiosity.
Wherever your attention happens to wander.
Immediately becomes your meditation object.
So.
You might find yourself persisting on the breath.
That's fine.
You might find yourself caught up in thought.
Become open and curious and bring your attention to those thoughts.
You might find sounds in your environment.
You might find your attention jumping back and forth between all this stuff.
That's all okay.
Just notice where your attention goes without any attempt to control or change anything.
Nothing to fix here.
Just notice what happens when you be as you are.
Open up to your experience.
Whatever is happening right now in your experience is perfectly fine.
Even if it's a challenging thought.
Or if it's stressful.
Or if you're noticing emotions in the body that might be challenging.
We're including all of that.
For this period of practice,
There's no need to resist any of it,
But to just let it all happen the way it does.
Just bring some awareness.
To what it's like to be you in this moment.
To be here now.
And for this last minute or so.
I really want to clarify the feelings of compassion and kindness that are inherent.
To this particular practice.
So really clarify and bring forward that idea that.
By accepting everything that's happening in the moment.
You're actually engaging in an act of self-compassion and self-love.
So abandon any attempt.
To try to improve yourself or fix something or change anything about your experience.
And take this last minute to just really bask in your own acceptance of who you are and whatever's happening in this moment.
No need to judge anything as positive or negative or good or bad.
Just take this last minute to fully accept yourself and everything around you.
Okay,
Great.
So you can take your time transitioning out of the practice.
You can stretch your body if that helps,
Or just wiggle your fingers.
And just a final note,
When we're looking at different kinds of practice,
Different techniques,
Whether it's breath focus or open awareness as we just did,
Or loving kindness practices,
Connection practices,
You know,
Reflecting on purpose.
One thing to remember is that you don't need to sort of work out all these muscles in kind of like a fitness metaphor where I need to get my love and kindness practice in,
I need to get my awareness practice.
I think really,
Especially at the beginning stages,
It's important to just use this as a time for exploration,
To find a practice that works for you.
And whenever you find a practice that works for you,
Stick with it.
There's no need to round your practice out and do other things.
If it seems to be a page turner for you,
Keep reading that particular book and go forward.
And if it starts to get boring and you start to notice yourself falling off your routine,
That's a great time to maybe explore some new practices.
I like to think of it as sort of momentum to drive forward with whatever practice you currently have momentum with and to really commit yourself to that without any need to find another area or distract yourself with other practices.
