January 6 – What’s obvious?

Dear Friends,

In the first guided meditation in the Daily Life Practice Retreat, Andrea Fella encourages the meditators to begin by cultivating a sense of ease and relaxation. Then, once one finds that place of ease, she suggests moving into a simple practice – not directing the attention to anything in particular, but sitting in the midst of our lives, knowing and being aware of what’s happening in the moment. In the meditation, she asks, “When you relax, what’s obvious?”

What’s obvious might be sounds, or body sensations, or the breath, or some state of mind.

She suggests to see what experience wants to come to you, rather than feeling like you have to go out and find something to pay attention to. I like this description of the practice.

Here is the link to the meditation:
https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/6527.html
It’s about 16 minutes long, and there is no ending bell, so you may want to set a timer so you know when to finish.

To me, this style of meditation seems similar to what is called “choiceless awareness” in MBSR. In the book A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein explain it this way:

Choiceless awareness invites you to become mindful of whatever is arising in the unfolding of each moment in the endless succession of present moments–whatever arises in the body and mind, whether sensations, sounds, or other sensory phenomenon, or mental events like thoughts and emotions. Although outwardly, you may be very still, your internal experience may be very different as you sit back and watch the ever-shifting tides of physical and mental experience.

They go on to say,

This practice is analogous to sitting by the edge of a river, just watching whatever goes downstream, and indeed, it is one of the most fluid of meditation practices as it reflects the unfolding of your direct experience, moment by moment. Sometimes there are sounds, sometimes sensations, sometimes thoughts and emotions. Just sit and witness the sea of change in your mind and body. Even if you’re experiencing storms of anxiety, pain, sadness, anger, or confusion, know that by giving them space they will gradually diminish.

It’s taken me a while to warm up to the choiceless awareness style of meditation. When I first was practicing, I felt I needed more direction and focus in my meditation, so mindfulness of breathing or body scan were easier for me to do. On the other hand, I know there were people in the MBSR course who loved choiceless awareness from the moment it was introduced.

Again, it’s a matter of experimenting and seeing what works for you. If you’re newer to meditation, or if you’re feeling particularly scattered, maybe this isn’t the one to do today. Or maybe you want to start by getting grounded in the body, and then, when you feel ready, open your awareness to whatever is most predominant in each moment.

Play with this and have fun! Let me know what you think (by email, or post a comment on the blog).

With best wishes,
Andrea