Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness practices take us into the direct experience of the present moment in two ways. The first way is by becoming aware of our inner body. Doing so connects us to our inner selves so that we are not lost in thinking. We become embodied, in-the-body.
The easiest way to become aware of our inner body is by paying attention to the movement of breath. When our attention is focused on the flow of breath moving in and out, thoughts subside. Our mind becomes engrossed with breathing and becomes quiet. We orient to the inner world.
We practice taking our awareness inside the body in other ways; by noticing physical sensations within the body, the beating of the heart and the feeling of energy moving through the body, whatever feels most soothing. We learn to take refuge in the comfort of being at home in the body.
The second way of coming into present moment awareness is by focusing on what we perceive through the sensory capacities of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. Paying attention to sensory perception connects us to the immediate world around us. Rather than feeling disconnected from our experience, we feel interconnected to life as it arises in the here and now.
During retreat we practice mindfulness and awareness using sound, taste, body sensation, walking meditation, and movement awareness.
Like breathing, sensory perception is familiar and easy to overlook. Thoughts demand our attention. However, when we are lost in thoughts we disconnect from our experience of the outer life. By paying full attention to our subjective experience of the outer world we realize that we are deeply connected to it. In reconnecting we feel alive and know that we belong, just because we are.
Mindfulness practices take us into the direct experience of the present moment in two ways. The first way is by becoming aware of our inner body. Doing so connects us to our inner selves so that we are not lost in thinking. We become embodied, in-the-body.
The easiest way to become aware of our inner body is by paying attention to the movement of breath. When our attention is focused on the flow of breath moving in and out, thoughts subside. Our mind becomes engrossed with breathing and becomes quiet. We orient to the inner world.
We practice taking our awareness inside the body in other ways; by noticing physical sensations within the body, the beating of the heart and the feeling of energy moving through the body, whatever feels most soothing. We learn to take refuge in the comfort of being at home in the body.
The second way of coming into present moment awareness is by focusing on what we perceive through the sensory capacities of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. Paying attention to sensory perception connects us to the immediate world around us. Rather than feeling disconnected from our experience, we feel interconnected to life as it arises in the here and now.
During retreat we practice mindfulness and awareness using sound, taste, body sensation, walking meditation, and movement awareness.
Like breathing, sensory perception is familiar and easy to overlook. Thoughts demand our attention. However, when we are lost in thoughts we disconnect from our experience of the outer life. By paying full attention to our subjective experience of the outer world we realize that we are deeply connected to it. In reconnecting we feel alive and know that we belong, just because we are.
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