Screen Inquiry - Mindful Of Technology

So find a posture that feels right for you.

And note that the posture you've just assumed is kind of like your idea of what your posture should be when doing a practice like this.

But let me just cue you into the moment right now that every moment is different and your body might be different today.

And so sense into your body if there's any micro adjustments that you might want to make,

Maybe starting with finding a stable foundation,

You know,

Adjusting your legs,

Your hips,

The lower back,

And finding a foundation that feels relaxed yet alert.

Sometimes I like to kind of lean my torso left and right and front and back and try to find the sweet spot of least effort,

The very center of gravity.

So that it feels like I can just balance my spine,

Just effortlessly balancing on my lower body.

And then maybe opening the chest a little bit,

Taking a relaxed but energetic breath.

Maybe reaching the top of the head to the sky.

I kind of think about it as like reaching my bald spot to the sky.

So it doesn't apply to everyone,

But kind of like the back of the top of your head,

Tilting your face down a little bit,

Opening the back of your neck.

And again,

Making any micro adjustments that feel natural for you.

Or even major adjustments if you feel like you need to lie down or something that's of course welcome to you.

And maybe another relaxed and energetic breath,

Not straining your breath,

But just taking a deeper energetic breath.

And on the exhale,

Releasing any unnecessary tension you might be holding around the eyes or in your jaw,

Your shoulders,

Your hips,

Settling in to this position you found.

And let's not rush in.

Let's take a moment to let this position we found soak into our awareness.

And in this moment,

See if you can find an intention for your practice today.

You might want to ask yourself,

Why am I doing this?

Why did I show up?

Or it might be bigger than that.

It might be a how question,

How is this practice going to benefit me and the people around me,

The people I care about,

And maybe the whole world if you're comfortable going that big.

Find your motivation.

There's no right answer here.

Whatever comes up is fine.

See if you can leverage that energy to recommit to doing this practice fully for the next 25 minutes or so.

To bring yourself fully to it with a sense of open curiosity and playfulness,

But also a sort of seriousness at the same time.

And when you're ready,

Stepping in gently like you're wading into a pond,

Stepping in gently into an awareness practice.

You might be aware of your breath or sounds in your environment or body sensations in general or an open presence,

Whatever feels right for you in this moment.

If you're not sure,

Just go with the breath as an easy answer.

Noticing the subtleties of this moment.

Whatever's here is okay.

Your awareness balanced on a tightrope between too much excitement and too much dullness.

Finding that sweet spot of restful,

Clear,

Present,

Loving awareness.

That's why openness and the feeling goes on and on.

When you feel the pillow next to you,

That's the height that comes as a form of clarity.

If thoughts or emotions come and whisk you away from the present moment,

See if you can reframe that.

Welcome those thoughts and emotions into the present moment.

Let them be a part of this practice.

No need to resist them.

Thoughts are not the enemy,

They are in fact human nature.

Let them come and let them go.

Whether you're working with your breathing or body sensations or sound,

Whatever your focus object,

See if you can get really curious about the details,

The subtle components that make up those sensations or sounds.

Noticing when they start,

How they fluctuate,

Where they are in space,

The layers that make up the experience,

And also when they vanish.

Release them in high definition,

High fidelity.

– What's here right now?

Is okay?

If you're finding good momentum with this awareness practice,

Keep it up.

If you're struggling,

Don't hesitate to take breaks whenever you need them.

Maybe shift your focus object.

Follow the opportunity.

And most of all,

Don't take it too seriously,

Enjoy and explore.

Find some relaxation energy directly within the practice.

Letting go of discursive thinking and conceptual framing and seeing if you can experience whatever you're experiencing in this moment in a tangible,

Direct way.

We use these words like breath or sound or traffic or bird.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Whatever word we use somehow fails to even come close to capture the richness of the actual experience that these words are referring to.

So stay with the experience and let the words just come and go.

You might like to tell us what you heard.

Okay,

Staying with this practice,

But letting go of the effort for a minute,

Taking a mental break,

Opening your awareness to whatever it wants to do without any need to control or change anything.

Feel free to make any adjustments to your posture if you wish.

And then at your own pace,

No rush whatsoever.

I encourage you to very slowly open your eyes if they were closed,

Watching the light pour in and not necessarily looking at Zoom,

But looking at the environment around you.

Again,

Letting go of any words that come up and instead gently and lovingly investigating the shape,

Color,

Texture,

Almost like this is a painting that is right in front of you when you're checking out the details.

You might find your eyes drawn to one point and just resting there and that's perfectly fine.

You might find yourself looking around or drawn to movement.

Everything is fine as long as you maintain a certain awareness of the actual sense experience of seeing in this moment.

And if the inevitable thoughts or analysis comes up,

Just letting that be where it is and trying to stay anchored in your present moment visual experience of color,

Shape,

Texture,

Movement.

And now again,

Feeling free to ignore the next instruction if you feel strong resistance.

Otherwise gently guide your gaze towards your smartphone.

Notice its shape,

Color,

Texture,

And notice if any thoughts or emotions or reactions to this comes up.

Maybe you can see the light reflecting off it in interesting ways.

Just looking at it as an inert object with beginner's mind.

Someone was transported from the past,

Had no idea what this thing was,

Just investigating it visually.

Noticing if any particular thoughts or body sensations arise in response to this experience visually.

Whenever you're ready,

If you feel so inclined,

I invite you to pick it up.

Noticing how it feels in your hand,

The texture,

The weight,

Maybe even rotating it around again inspecting it.

If the screen automatically turns on,

You can investigate that as well,

But not interacting with it yet.

Noticing all the fine details and again,

Staying a little aware of any thoughts or emotions that might come up or even impulses or habits.

Now proceeding at your own pace,

But I'd recommend a slow pace,

Activating the device and slowly navigating to whatever the main area is,

Maybe like a home screen or a launcher.

And again,

Notice what comes up for you in your experience as you simply visually investigate the colors and shapes,

Seeing if you can let go of your habitual understanding conceptually of what this is supposed to be and just looking at it as a collage of shapes and colors.

Noticing any impulses to act that might come up,

Any emotions that might come up,

Any thoughts or reflections,

Letting that all be here.

Just slowing down.

And if at any point you feel overwhelmed or you feel like the device is sweeping you away,

Feel free to close your eyes for a moment.

Take a few breaths,

Reconnect with awareness and reopen the investigation whenever you're ready.

Feel free to navigate if there are some other areas you wish to investigate,

But again,

Make it slow,

Exploring what comes up for you when you really look at this thing.

And now looking at the main area,

Again,

The home screen or the launcher,

Take a moment to ask yourself,

What does this tell you about who you are and the way that you have this experience,

The things that you've chosen to put on it or that it's chosen to put on you,

The things that you're prioritizing in this virtual environment,

Which we sometimes call a home screen.

Notice if any values or trends come clear.

Again,

Just be playful and explore if this feels awkward or different,

It's probably because it is,

But just try to keep an open mind and explore.

And again,

At any point,

If you want to put your phone down and reconnect with awareness,

You're more than welcome to.

What is this?

Can be a powerful question.

Whether thinking about the entire device or whether a specific thing that you're investigating,

You can ask yourself,

What is this?

Noticing if any particular element in the screen is drawing your attention or if there are elements of the screen that you're simply not paying attention to.

Noticing how this device is sort of choreographing your attention in some way,

Guiding you.

Feel free to stay with this for another minute if you'd like,

Whenever you're ready,

Putting the device down,

Perhaps face down.

Closing your eyes,

Reconnecting with awareness for the last few minutes here.

Noticing your posture if you need to,

Noticing the aftermath of that experience.

Noticing if your state has shifted from 10,

15 minutes ago,

Or maybe it's still the same.

Noticing if your brain has shifted from 10,

15 minutes ago to 10,

15 minutes ago.

And now dropping any effort at all.

Opening up to all experience without any kind of judgment.

Relaxing into an effortless awareness that's already here,

It's already part of your experience,

Nothing to get or attain or strive for.

And if we think of your mind in this moment as a kind of still water lake,

In the last moment of this practice,

I'm just going to drop a pebble and there's no need to actively try to answer this question,

But just notice what comes up in response to this question almost naturally.

So here's the question,

The pebble I'm dropping in your lake,

Which is,

What did you learn from this practice?

Just noticing whatever answer comes up naturally,

Trusting that.

Whenever you're ready,

Letting go of the practice,

Transitioning back to the group,

No rush whatsoever,

No stretch,

No simple water,

Whatever you need.