The Spaces in Between

When we sit, we invite ourselves to feel into everything.

Feeling into the cushion supporting the bum.
The position of legs, ankles, the angle of the feet.
Maybe feeling into a stiff body that may not be entirely comfortable or awake.
Perhaps before we can even sit, our bodies require a bit of stretching or rolling on the floor or a bit of a body scan to inquire into knees, hips, shoulders or a stiff neck.
Maybe a shawl or wrap or a cap to ward off the chill of the room feels right.

When we sit, we invite ourselves to feel into everything.

Feeling into the shoulders, arms, the palms of the hands, the fingers, the hips, the bum, the knees and ankles, the soles of the feet, the top of the head.
All the while, feeling the comfort of breath and expansion of the upper torso and diaphragm as breath happens.
Experiencing the energy of the breath ebb and flow in the body.
The rising and falling of breath, the movement of life energy coursing through the body.
Perhaps even a bit of a glow in our physicality.
Or feeling the energy emitting from the left palm or the right palm, perhaps both simultaneously.
At some point, an awareness of space may arise between one fading sensation and before the next.

We invite ourselves to feel into everything and we sit.

Inevitably, stories arise, thoughts encroach, we are reminded of something we should have done yesterday or last week, maybe even something we need to do in this moment.
When possible invite the physical sensations of breath and body to come back into the foreground and allow these arisings of thoughts and interruptions to naturally move into the background.
Overtime, and this is a long game, these transitions become more seamless and the distractions less frequent.

Ultimately, we simply invite ourselves to feel into everything and we sit.

Organically, sit by sit, we begin to find the spaces in between.
The pauses between breaths. A natural, easy pause after an inhale and before the breath turns to exhale.
A natural, easy rest after an exhale and before the diaphragm begins to pull air for your next inhale.
The impact of these pauses, these uncaused suspensions, can be profound or perhaps surprising.
Maybe in the middle of your sit, some thought arises and, simultaneously, you become aware that prior to that arising there was no conscious thought present.
Spontaneous witnessing of spaces between random thoughts and cognitive arisings gradually becomes possible.
This process cannot be forced or hurried.
Again, the impact of these pauses, these uncaused spaces, can be profound or perhaps surprising.
Remembering that nothing is wrong or broken, only that the awareness of a pause may welcome a moment or a second of spaciousness.

We invite ourselves to feel into everything and we sit…..