“Mindfulness is cultivated by assuming the stance of an
impartial witness to your own experience.”
~Jon Kabat-Zinnimpartial witness to your own experience.”
This week we ask you to cultivate your inner witness by bringing a little more precision and discrimination into your practice. Begin by imagining a blank screen and anchoring your awareness to the breath as we’ve been doing. Then, with as much vigilance as you can muster, notice whenever anything shows up on the screen that is “not‐breath.” There is no judgment here! We are simply learning to identify (perhaps even using counting as a tool) all those moments where something other than our breath has our attention.
Once you feel more confident in identifying “breath” from “not‐breath,” begin to notice the characteristics of the “not‐breath” moments. Are they images or words? Are they fleeting commentary or part of a bigger story? Are they background noise or main stage? Do they have an emotional tone? Do they interact with body sensations (thoughts giving rise to sensation, sensation giving rise to thoughts)? Note: We are not analyzing the content of the thoughts or the stories and beliefs that are underneath them. We are simply becoming more aware of the nature of our thinking. This is a tricky distinction and it is easy to get lost here. Notice what you can and come back to the breath!
We are now asking you to sit for 20 minutes a day! As well, you may choose to begin your sitting practice with a pranayama exercise to clear and focus the mind.
For those of you with an established practice, continue to reinforce your practice in some way— committing to a slightly longer meditation, strengthening your intention as you sit or filling the gaps in the regularity of your practice.
Mindfulness in Daily Life: Shadow
Becoming aware of the interplay of light and shadow is great fun! Whenever you can (whenever you remember!) notice whatever shadows are present in your immediate environment. You may discover a subtle shading of the pepper shaker on your kitchen table or a sharp display of a tree’s limbs on the pavement. This practice encourages you to SEE the spaces in between the objects of our lives. Sunny days are wonderful for this practice, but cloudy or indoor days require a keener eye. As always, notice your judgments (“wow!” or “whatever…”) and come back to simply seeing. Consciously attending to this play of light and shadow opens us up to the extraordinary nature of the ordinary. Enjoy!!
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