가장多 Allegoud Anime So let's see if we can become aware of our breathing in this posture now.
Just returning to this old friend breath.
And this time instead of picking just one location where we're noticing breathing,
See if it's possible to be aware of the body as a whole breathing.
And as we bring our awareness of the body as a whole,
We might notice other sensations in the body.
So kind of just scanning your body in the seated posture now.
And noticing if there are any particularly strong sensations that are kind of attracting your attention.
Maybe discomfort,
Pain.
Maybe it's rather pleasant or maybe just neutral.
As you kind of scan around and notice the different parts of your body,
If you do find places where there is discomfort or pain,
Knowing you have options,
One option is to turn toward that sensation with a lot of curiosity,
With a lot of kindness,
And just investigate non-judgmentally what does it actually feel like from moment to moment.
So covering that unpleasant sensation with your awareness.
And then seeing how it evolves from moment to moment.
Another option you have is to kind of return to your breathing,
If that's neutral or pleasant.
Return to your breathing from time to time.
And then see if it's possible to kind of breathe into that unpleasant sensation and out from that sensation.
So in other words,
See if you can be aware at once of breathing sensations and at the same time that unpleasant or painful sensation,
Holding both of them in awareness.
And we're not doing this to make it go away.
We're doing this to be informed,
To listen to the signals of our body.
And if the message is you need to move,
Then that's a third option.
You can move.
And if you move,
Doing so mindfully,
With a lot of awareness.
All this in the service of self-care.
So sitting here with this body that's breathing,
That's generating sensations that might be pleasant,
Neutral,
Unpleasant.
And then if we broaden our awareness even more,
We might notice things outside of our body.
And we might notice sounds as one of those things.
So what sounds are already arriving at your ears?
And keep arriving at your ears from moment to moment.
Perceiving sounds as sensations,
Auditory sensations.
Sensations that have a pitch,
A rhythm,
And other qualities like the timbre of the sound,
Quality of the sound.
Maybe paying attention to layers of sound you haven't noticed yet that are maybe more subtle.
Whether it's the sound of your own body breathing or subtle sounds outside of this room.
Just becoming a human microphone that's just receiving without preference all sounds.
And notice that while these sounds are happening,
Those body sensations earlier that we noticed,
They're probably still there.
They probably changed,
But they're probably new ones.
So keeping some awareness of that and of the breath.
Seeing if we can receive all of those sensations,
Somatic,
The body,
And auditory.
And seeing now if we can even include other sensations like cognitive sensations,
Thoughts,
Images,
Internal sounds.
It might be your voice,
Someone else's voice.
It might be a judgment,
A memory,
Planning,
Just a running commentary.
So like what's showing up right now in terms of thoughts in my mind?
As these sounds keep arriving,
As these body sensations keep being generated,
Can I see them arrive?
Captivate me?
Tempt me to elaborate on them?
And if I don't get involved with them,
Can I see them just pass and make room for another one?
Or maybe it's version two of this first thought that's showing up again,
Or version 1000.
Just noticing if those thoughts come with any emotions that show up as just more sensations in the body.
And if we note an emotion or kind of a general mood,
We can label it,
Describe it with just one word.
Frustration,
Sadness,
Calm,
Boredom.
All these pixels.
And seeing if we can switch into a choiceless awareness,
Or we widen the lens of our attention so that we become aware of all these different facets of what it's like to be me in any given moment.
Perceiving sounds,
Breathing,
Body sensations,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Just all happening at once in parallel.
Just allowing all of it to be here and seeing if we can cover all of that with our awareness.
Perhaps labeling what we notice from moment to moment.
So what's at the forefront of my awareness right now?
And right now?
Coming back to breathing if we need to from time to time,
If we get lost.
So what's at the forefront of my awareness right now?
And right now?
And listening to the wise words of the 13th century poet Rumi,
The guest house.
Again,
Using this metaphor of the guest house.
To receive our experience from moment to moment.
He says,
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival,
A joy,
A depression,
A meanness.
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all,
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.
Still,
Treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought,
The shame,
The malice,
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
So as we sit here,
Can we become a guest house?
Welcoming the next visitor,
Which might be a sound or might be boredom or frustration or hunger.
Can we honor these experiences?
Some of these people would think of me as one of his audiences.
