In this week's Torah portion,
Korach.
Korach accuses Moses,
You have gone too far.
He challenged Moses' leadership and accused him of elitism.
He says,
All the community is holy,
All of them,
And God is in their midst.
Why do you then raise yourself above the congregation?
He was jealous of Moses' position and authority.
It's human to be jealous.
There were times and opportunities when Korach could have stepped back to gain some perspective and process his feelings,
To assess the situation in a different way.
Jumping to conclusions about someone else without knowing all the facts is destructive to relationships,
Such as when parents at the height of their anger punish their children.
The word for nose in Hebrew is af,
And the word for anger is charon af,
Flared nose.
When people get angry,
Their nostrils flare.
God is called erach apayim,
Literally long-nosed,
To describe his patience as a loving father to his child who errs.
So perhaps the best advice when angry is to focus on the breath,
Specifically through the nose.
When one feels the fire of anger,
It's a good idea to breathe in through the nose.
In other words,
Practice mindful meditation.
Maybe Korach should have done some mindful breathing practices.
A 2016 study that researched anger and its physiological manifestations showed that people made angry by the researchers became much calmer,
As evidenced by lower heart rate and blood pressure,
After only 20 minutes of meditation,
Even if they have never meditated before.
Practicing meditation can help protect our bodies and minds from the harmful physical stress of anger.
It's possible that people who choose to do meditation long-term are more likely to be less reactive in the first place.
Emotions show up in our bodies.
We've all had butterflies in our stomachs when we're nervous,
Or a warm feeling in our chest when we're touched by someone.
It can be more helpful to attend to the physical sensations in the body connected to emotions rather than thinking about those emotions.
Why?
Because physical sensations don't move as quickly as thoughts,
So they're easier to hold in our awareness.
They shift,
They change,
And simply noticing the sensations in our body can provide us with a kind of grounding that can calm us down.
We're going to do a practice of noticing sensations in the body.
I'll leave spaces with no talking for you to take a moment and observe sensations in your body.
We'll begin by finding a comfortable place to sit on a chair or on the floor.
It doesn't matter where you sit,
But the attention that you bring to the practice.
So wherever you can be the most awake and attentive,
We're going to be paying attention to body sensations.
So start by placing your feet on the floor,
Your hands on your thighs or the sides,
And sitting upright in an alert and comfortable way.
Noticing how your feet feel on the floor if you're sitting on a chair.
Noticing your hands on your thighs or the sides.
And noticing the contact your body's making with the chair,
The ground or the cushion.
And observing your spine if it's resting on the chair or slightly off your chair.
Noticing your breath and what it feels like to be breathing in this moment.
Noticing your physical sensations as you inhale and as you exhale.
Noticing your breath and the air entering and leaving your body.
Can you feel the air as it enters your nose?
Is it warm or cool?
Focusing on the temperature of the air as it enters your nose and leaves your nose.
Paying attention to the sensations in your chest with each in-breath and each out-breath.
Perhaps contracting or expanding.
Tightness,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
A sense of flow.
Just noticing.
Bringing curiosity to any and all sensations.
And now focusing on the stomach as the breath goes in and out.
What sensations do you notice there?
Being curious about whatever you're noticing in your body right now.
So perhaps expanding,
Queasy,
Fluttery,
Butterflies,
Knotted,
Lightness,
Calm.
Not going out to look for anything.
Just allowing whatever sensations are coming up to be there.
And now noticing your clothing on your body and observing where you feel your clothing.
Is it tight or loose?
Rough or soft?
We're going to take a few moments to notice what's happening in your body and any sensations emerging,
Arising,
Or falling away.
Sensations such as warmth,
Heat,
Clammy or sweaty,
Coolness,
Dryness,
Tingling,
Trembling,
An itch,
Heaviness,
Tension,
Stiffness,
Perhaps numbness or a relaxed feeling.
So taking a few moments now to scan your body from head to toe or toes to head.
And noticing whatever sensations are coming up in different areas of your body.
And now bringing awareness to sensations in one place in your body.
Perhaps your face,
Your chest,
Your stomach,
Your back,
Your legs.
As you notice the sensation arising in your body,
You can move your awareness to that specific sensation.
So if you become aware that you have an ache in your right knee,
Move your awareness to the sensation in the right knee,
Notice what that sensation is.
And then maybe that sensation starts to fade and you notice another sensation.
This time maybe an itch.
Maintaining your stillness and just being aware of the itch.
And as this passes,
Another sensation might arise.
So we're going to take another moment and observe any and all sensations coming up.
We're going to allow them to come and then to pass or fall.
You can widen your focus by noticing sensations coming from different places in your body and also narrow your focus by paying attention to a specific place in your body when you notice a sensation.
Being mindful of physical sensations in the body can help you to become more connected to your body.
You can start to differentiate between discomfort and pain.
It also helps with relaxing the body.
When you scan your body,
You start to notice areas of tension and maybe you can start to allow yourself to relax.
Another advantage of noticing your body sensations is grounding yourself in the here and now.
In your reality as it experiences right now through your body.
This practice helps to achieve this groundedness in the present.
And maybe taking a moment to appreciate taking care of yourself in this way.
While most of us don't incite rebellions like Korach,
We can benefit from making an intention to continue with this practice.
