Flow is simply the quality of movement or change in any sensory experience.
We've previously worked with flow in the body and in sounds.
Today,
We'll explore flow in visual experience.
You can do this with eyes open or closed.
You'll get a different set of experiences depending on what you choose.
If you close your eyes,
The flow will be mostly blobs of light and shadow or mental imagery.
With eyes open,
Any movement in what you can see will be flow,
As well as when you shift your eyes from place to place.
Even looking at one object,
Your eyes can move across it,
Up,
Down,
Side to side,
Focusing on different spots.
That movement changes your visual experience of the object,
And that is flow.
Even if you're not moving your eyes at all,
Sometimes you may notice floaters in your eyes or other shifts of light.
Let's try it out.
Take a moment to get into a comfortable posture.
Stretch up your spine to promote alertness.
Relax the rest of your body as much as you can.
With eyes open,
Bring your attention to what you can see.
Let anything you hear or feel fade into the background.
Notice any movement you can detect in your visual field.
Track it as it flows.
It could be any type of vibratory movement,
Whether rapid or a more slow,
Wavy motion.
If you can go to a window or have some view of outdoors,
There tends to be a lot of natural movement there.
But if not,
Flow is certainly available inside as well.
You may just notice as your eyes move around the room,
Your focus shifts from one object to the next.
This is flow.
So for each flowing sensation you see,
Clearly acknowledge that you're paying attention to it,
Optionally label it as flow,
And then soak attention into it for a few moments.
Repeat the process,
Either with the same object or with another.
If you can't detect any flow,
And everything you see appears static,
That's okay too.
In that case,
You can label it see.
Now I'll invite you to close your eyes.
Notice what you can see with your eyes closed.
It may just be restful,
A blank nothingness.
Or you may detect colors or light in various degrees.
Perhaps you have mental images that arise in that space,
Either directly in front of or behind your eyelids,
That we might call the mental screen or mental stage.
Maybe it's a mental image of your surroundings or your body.
Maybe it's something else from your visual thinking.
Whether your visual field is restful or active,
See if you can notice any aspect of it that is dynamic,
Moving.
See how closely you can follow and attend to this moving and changing.
Now you can choose to continue practicing see flow with eyes closed,
Or open them again,
And practice with external physical sights.
The flow may be as simple as little micro-movements of your eyes as they shift here and there.
Continue keeping visual flow in the foreground of your attention,
And let anything you hear or feel be in the background of your awareness.
Maybe you can notice as your eyes move that what you're experiencing visually changes completely.
Whatever your experience was a moment ago,
It's different now.
Even focusing on different parts of the same image is a different perspective,
And thus a different experience.
As we begin to wrap up,
I'll invite you to notice flow in the visual space when you're going about your day today.
Tuning into flow can be pleasant and sometimes soothing.
It helps us not to get too fixated on anything.
We're literally going with the flow.
Thanks for your practice.
Have a nice day.
