Asking myself those questions brings it right back to my body. When I ask myself what am I experiencing physically, I pause, calm, and gain perspective.
For the last few weeks, I am trying to (remember to) focus on my physical sensation. I call it mindlessness. We all practice mindfulness and become so full of how mindful we are, yet what we need to do is practice mindlessness.
Sweeping with a dustpan and broom, yoga, mindless housecleaning – anything where you get lost in the action. Washing dishes, going for a walk, taking a bath, lazing at the beach.
I had learned the ancient way of returning to the breath but that is artificial to me. I run into the same issue when meditating. When we meditate we spend the time thinking about not thinking – trying to clear the mind, but using the mind to do so.
Why put so much effort into not-thinking, which then becomes an egoic exercise in the triumph of will (ego) over monkey mind (also ego). No wonder meditating with an empty mind is so difficult – it’s self-cannibalism. I get the same result – mindlessness, or the flow state – from folding laundry. It’s better actually because getting in the meditative state takes little to no effort when involved in mindless tasks, unlike sitting meditation which is no fun at all. For me it’s a chore, a trial. I’d much rather be moving, and so would my body.
Spiritual schools of thought which presuppose that doing things I don’t like is good for me is a little too close to those self-flagellating monks and their no pain, no spiritual gain approach to wisdom. I think god made us as physical beings and gave us pleasure as a guide. I think that when we are truly pleased – peacefully, with integrity – we are receiving guidance about who we are, what our role is here on earth, and how we can contribute and receive from the world. Michael Neill refers to it as a cosmic game of Warmer-Cooler. As we stay on our path or near it, we receive warmer and cooler clues, manifested through our bodies. Sexual pleasure is a real hot spot. People truly on their path have spontaneous orgasms.
The universe wants us to pay attention to our bodies. Returning to naming the physical sensations really and quickly grounds me. All I know is what my sense inputs are telling me. The rest is fabrication.
