How to cultivate attention and awareness through breath,
Through the moment by moment surrender of the thinking mind into the being mind.
It's often described as being in a childlike state of wonder where everything that you are noticing in your surroundings appears fresh and new.
The breath becomes a focal point for the attention to train the mind into a sense of presence,
Into a sense of perspective so that every interaction in life is not muddied by thought so that interactions with individuals are present.
They are happening as they are.
Your attention is not divided between being with a person and being in your mind with thought.
Yoga is the cessation of the working action of the mind,
Of thought,
Of racing thoughts,
Of a wandering mind.
Sitting in stillness we train our mind to focus using the breath as a tool to train the mind.
Breath isn't the meditation itself.
It is simply the tool.
It is the ruler to measure a straight line.
As you explore more and more facets of the practice,
Coming to know your own body without a wandering mind,
There is power to understanding where to send your breath in your body.
So a deep diaphragmatic breath begins in the belly,
The expansion of the belly,
The lungs upward and finally the exhalation,
The belly drawing taut to the spine.
Working with the relaxation breath of an expanding belly,
Growing a little taller through the crown of your head.
This is the posture of dignity,
The posture of presence,
Attention and awareness.
Shoulders are open allowing for more air to enter the lungs.
Jaw is soft and relaxed,
Face is soft.
There's no gripping or fretting or squeezing in the neck,
In the shoulders,
In the face.
Maybe the eyebrows,
You notice you can drop your eyebrows apart,
Not knitting them together in consternation as you sit.
So beginning this way,
Beginning this practice,
How are your thoughts today?
Where does your mind seek to wander?
Can you rein it back?
Attention wholly on your breath.
Allow your mind to visualize a scenario,
Noticing when your mind has wandered from the scenario,
Bringing yourself back to your breath.
It's common to visualize yourself succeeding in an endeavor somewhere ahead in your future.
An insight meditation into a particular interaction happening in your life.
You see yourself outside yourself engaging in this endeavor or interaction with success.
As it happens,
The practice of honing your awareness in meditation makes it more likely you will find yourself in a favorable outcome.
Having been wholly yourself,
Wholly present,
Fully there with whatever you're experiencing and leading with your heart.
What does that mean,
To lead with your heart?
Well quite literally it means allowing your chest to open,
Receiving energy,
Receiving interaction,
Not closing yourself off to your environment.
It also means feeling a situation with your heart,
Your heartfelt nature so that the power of intuition is more illuminating than the thought in your head.
Then thinking about what is the right action,
Feeling the right action is a heartfelt nature.
And there is a balance between living wholly with your intuition and allowing your mind and the faculties of right and wrong to supersede on occasion what the heart wants.
So heart to heart,
Mind to mind,
Dropping away from an overactive mind,
Yogas chitta,
Yogas chitta,
Chitta.
What is that?
The thoughts,
The thoughts you have in your head.
Thinking about this,
I think therefore I am.
What happens when you can cease the overactive mind?
Then what are you?
What are we without the thoughts?
We are pure presence,
Attention and awareness.
Feeling your breath like a weight as you drop into your strong roots,
Your posture,
Proud your shoulders,
Open and relaxed down your back.
Slight tuck to your chin,
Subtle bow.
And just allowing breath to come.
There's no struggle,
There's no strife fighting with your breath to take in what you need arrives naturally here in stillness.
