Body-Sweeping, Mindfulness of Breathing, and Non-Grasping

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MINDFULNESS IN PRACTICE

Body-Sweeping, Mindfulness of Breathing, and Non-Grasping Ajahn Amaro 1 Published online: 12 August 2020 # Amaravati Publications 2020

The beginning of a new day, the feeling of the early morning. Emerging from the darkness and solitude of sleep, gathering our energies to unify our intention, we recite verses of respect, reverence, and gratitude, to recollect the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha—the qualities of wisdom, truth, reality, and the quality of virtue. As you begin the period of meditation, make a conscious note, pay attention to how you feel. What is your mood right now? Do you feel sleepy? Alert? Interested? Sad? What mood is here with you? How does the body feel? Cool? Warm? Heavy? Light? Comfortable? Uncomfortable? Somewhere in the middle? You might think, “I wish I was different” or that the conditions for meditation are wrong. But there is no right or wrong starting place—how could there be? How could we not start from where we are? You never have a wrong mind or a wrong body. The right starting place is to work with what you have got, what is actually here. So warmly welcome the material that you are working with—this body, this mind, at this time, this day. Take this moment to collect your attention—not jumping into the meditation practice or trying to steer the mind in some particular way before you have checked where you are starting from; similarly, not going along with the habit of drifting right away into the world of your thoughts.

Body-Sweeping Instead, develop the habit of bringing attention to the posture. What is your physical attitude? To discern this, take time to Excerpted from The Breakthrough by Ajahn Amaro, Amaravati Publications, 2016 * Ajahn Amaro [email protected] 1

Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP1 3BZ, UK

bring attention to the body. How is it being held? How is the posture? Bring attention to the spine. Let the body stretch up. Invite the spine to lengthen, to grow to its full natural comfortable limit, so that the body is not tense, rigid, or tight. Simply invite the spine to stretch and grow, to support the quality of alertness. As the body stretches, it is more upright. Notice how that changes the quality of consciousness and alertness. Notice the difference it makes by even some small degree. With the spine as the solid, firm axis of your world and physical being, the head balanced neatly on top, consciously allow the rest of the body to relax, to lose its tension. Bring awareness to the muscles in your face, around your mouth and eyes. If you notice any tension or tightness, let it soften and dissolve. Notice the difference that makes. Next, notice the residual habitual tension elsewhere in the body and how it feels. Then relax, let the muscles soften and notice what a difference that makes. Just by loosening the muscles, softening the tension in the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders, the world suddenly seems lighter, more spacious, easier, less burdensome. Let this wave of relaxation