We look to see.
We touch to feel.
We listen to hear.
We smell to recognise.
We taste to savour.
We breathe to live.
And we live to love.
Hello and thank you for joining me for this short little experience.
Now,
The senses are such a wonderful gift and an essential part of human existence.
They give us the ability to nurture our lives to the fullest throughout our lifespans.
Savouring our favourite foods or listening to the music we most enjoy.
Feeling the cold winter sting on our fingertips or the touch of a loved one.
Moreover,
They're the very things that allow us to be present.
That give us access to the here and now and invite us to savour it in its wholeness.
So,
For today's practice we're going to be accepting that invitation in the most enthusiastic way possible.
This will be a joyful,
Blissful experience which we'll be able to take with us beyond the practice itself and out into the remainder of our day.
So,
Before we get things underway,
I'd like to invite you to find yourself a tactile object.
Something fairly small such as a tennis ball or a child's toy.
It doesn't really matter what it is,
As long as you can hold it in your hands without any difficulty.
Feel free to pause the recording while you find yourself something and we can get started when you're ready.
So,
What we're going to be doing today is immersing ourselves completely in this,
The present moment in its entirety.
So,
We're not going to be focusing on one particular sensation or directing our awareness towards one specific thing,
But rather aiming towards absorbing and noticing the entire moment and all it has to offer us.
So,
We can start by finding a comfortable seated position on the floor.
By all means,
Use a cushion if you'd like to.
Legs crossed,
Back as straight as possible.
If you can't do that for whatever reason,
Then seated in a chair is absolutely fine.
Hands overlapping in the lap,
Holding your tactile object.
Palms upwards,
Simply to avoid accidentally dropping it during the experience.
And let's begin with a bit of grounding.
So,
Attention towards the breath.
Eyes remain open with a nice,
Soft focus.
You may find it useful to lower the eyelids slightly.
And we're not attempting to change or alter the breath in any way.
No need to attempt to control it.
Simply observing it as it is.
Noticing its nuances without judgment.
So,
Let's just rest there for the next 60 seconds or so.
Now,
As we continue to observe the breath,
Let's start to bring in our senses one by one.
We'll start with our vision.
So,
Maintaining that nice,
Soft focus with your eyes,
Just noticing now everything within your field of vision.
Not looking around for any one particular object.
Just observing everything within your visual field.
And as you start to do that,
I invite you to give yourself permission to forget everything you know.
Everything you've ever been taught.
Wipe it all out temporarily.
So that everything you notice from here until the end of the practice doesn't come with a label attached to it.
No need to verbalize anything internally.
Curtains,
Lampshade,
Books,
For example.
Just imagine you've never been taught what any given object is called.
Just seeing it and bringing it in.
Also,
Still noticing the breath at the same time.
And resting with this for a few moments.
And as we continue to observe the breath and things within our field of vision,
Let's also start to notice what we can hear.
Maybe kids playing in the street outside.
Vehicles going past.
Perhaps other members of the household in different rooms.
Just noticing and absorbing in the same way as the breath and the vision.
Again,
No requirement for verbal labels.
Car,
Birdsong,
Laughter and so on.
Just sound coming within from without.
Resting with all three things now.
Breath,
Vision,
Sound.
So,
Continuing to be present with our breath,
Sight and hearing,
Let's see if we can also notice what our noses are telling us.
Are there any smells that are making themselves obvious?
Room fresheners,
New carpet,
Cooking downstairs.
Keeping with the idea of not attaching verbal labels to anything.
Like an infant child who's yet to be taught what things should be called.
Everything is just there.
No understanding of the concept of this thing,
That thing,
Something,
Nothing.
Sticking with this for a short while now.
Breath,
Vision,
Sound,
Smell.
All at once.
And keeping with those impartial observations,
Those childlike investigations of the senses,
Let's invite taste in now.
What's going on inside the mouth?
If you're getting a slight feeling of butterflies in the tummy,
That's because you're becoming more and more encapsulated in the is-ness of the moment,
In its wholeness.
This is where the preconditioned mind rests.
There's nothing else here.
Just this.
So,
Being with the breath and those four senses for now.
Sight,
Sound,
Smell,
Taste.
And lastly now,
Just beginning to notice the object you're holding,
Whatever it may be.
Noticing its qualities without attaching any verbal name tags to them or to the object itself.
Everything is new,
Fascinating,
And just is.
So,
We can rest for as long as we want in this space.
With sight,
Sound,
Smell,
Taste,
And touch as our companions.
And with a complete absence of mental noise.
If we want to,
We can continue to do this as we go through our lives.
Today,
Tomorrow,
Forever.
Wherever we are in the world,
And whatever we're doing,
This can be with us always.
We look to see.
We touch to feel.
We listen to hear.
We smell to recognise.
We taste to savour.
We breathe to live.
And we live to love.
Thank you.
