Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Sit Firmly in That World

... you know the sprout is hidden inside the seed.

We are all struggling; none of us has gone far.

Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.

The blue sky opens out farther and farther,

the daily sense of failure goes away,

the damage I have done to myself fades,

a million suns come forward with light,

when I sit firmly in that world.

Kabir, translated by Robert Bly

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Greet Yourself

The time will come
when with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott, "Love after Love"

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Stop Chasing After So Many Things

My hut lies in the middle of a dense forest;
Every year the green ivy grows longer.
No news of the affairs of men,
Only the occasional song of a woodcutter.
The sun shines and I mend my robe.
When the moon comes out, I read Buddhist poems.
I have nothing to report my friends.
If you want to find the meaning, stop chasing after so many things.

Ryokan, eighteenth century

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Kneel and Kiss the Earth

Today like every other day
We wake up empty and scared.
Don't open the door of your study
and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel
and kiss the earth.

Rumi

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Content with Yourself

Today, more words that are older than mine:

Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men

doesn't try to force issues

or defeat enemies by force of arms.

For every force there is a counterforce.

Violence, even well intentioned,

always rebounds upon oneself.

The Master does his job

and then stops.

He understands that the universe

is forever out of control

and that trying to dominate events

goes against the current of the Tao.

Because he believes in himself,

he doesn't try to convince others,

Because he is content with himself,

he doesn't need others' approval.

Because he accepts himself,

the whole world accepts him.

Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching), Fifth-century BCE, translated by Steven Mitchell

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Empty Your Boat

In honor of the World Poetry Day that I missed on March 21, here is today's daily practice.

If a man is crossing a river
And an empty boat collides with his own skiff,
Even though he be a bad-tempered man
He will not become very angry.
But if he sees a man in the boat,
He will shout at him to steer clear.
If the shout is not heard, he will shout again,
And yet again, and begin cursing.
And all because there is somebody in the boat.
Yet if the boat were empty,
He would not be shouting, and not angry.

If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you.

Chuang Tzu (third century BCE), translated by Thomas Merton

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Values

The discussion several days ago on intention covered many aspects of the values of practice. You can read or refresh your memory of that post here. But there is one thing to add. As we consider what we are cultivating as a part of our practice of yoga and meditation, we also can give some thought to what we get out of practice. At the end of your next practice session, whether that is a seated practice or a movement practice, ask yourself these questions or questions like them:

What did I learn during practice?
What questions were answered?
What was the best part and why? (Not just "I love doing warrior 2" but dig deeper. What do you love about warrior 2? "In warrior 2, I feel strong and empowered.")
Where did your body respond? Where did it tune out?
Where did you struggle?
What was easy?

In giving these kinds of thoughts to post-practice, we can begin to find the undercurrents, the themes, or our growth. These are some of the values of the practice that we might not notice without this intensive self-study.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Interoception

Today's mini-lesson is all about interoception, and it is just this article from one of my guiding teachers, Bo Forbes.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Intention

As Norm Farb explained at the recent workshop on the neuroscience of contemplative practices, the regular practice of yoga (including meditation) clears out the static, the noise, of the mind. Norm likened the practice to weeding an overgrown, untended garden plot. You go in, you pull out the weeds, and you prepare the soil for new seeds to be cultivated. With the practice, we are weeding and preparing the soil of our beings to begin to cultivate new values and intentions.

Both yoga and meditation have inherent values as outlined for thousands of years in the teachings. In yoga, we have the yamas (non-harming, non-lying, non-stealing, non-grasping, and celibacy or regulation of sexual energy so as to cause no harm) and the niyamas (self-care, contentment, rigorous practice, self-study, and dedication or devotion or surrender to the divine), and in meditation, there is the Buddha's Eightfold Path (Wholesome View, Intention, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration) and the Five Precepts (Refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, wrong speech, and intoxicants). When we practice yoga and meditation, the idea is that we pull the weeds and plant these seeds, or virtues, or intentions.

But as yoga and meditation are often taught here in the present day in the West without these ancient value-driven underpinnings, what are we planting during practice? If we do not plant things intentionally in our newly prepared soil, just about anything could be getting cultivated without our awareness. Is it the values of your teacher? Or values you were raised with as a child that may or may not be useful to you now? Do we continue to practice unhealthy habits of mind (harmful self-thought, blame, greed, hatred, delusion, etc.), unwittingly planting those things back into the waiting soil of the mind?

As part of your practice, set an intention. Let that intention infuse your efforts. If it is useful, continue to study with teachers that study and teach the philosophy of the practices as well as the practices themselves. Or do the studying for yourself. Study is a part of the practice of both meditation and yoga. But perhaps the most important thing is to continue to practice, and, each time you practice, work with an intention. What seed will you cultivate and lovingly tend in today's practice?

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Breath

Perhaps the most important thing we discussed in the workshop on the neuroscience of contemplative practice was the importance of the breath. First, before we delve in, a disclaimer: if the focusing on the breath is triggering for you in any way, practice with a different sensory anchor for your awareness. Struggling against a nervous system in fight, flight, or freeze mode is not a useful way to spend your time on the mat or cushion if you can avoid it. But, if the breath works for you, it is the best tool you have for developing embodied awareness and bringing balance to the systems of your body and your entire being. If the breath doesn't work, other sensory anchors will work, too - sounds, sensations in the body during body scans, or mantra, just to name a few.

Using a sensory anchor like the breath or sound just means that the mind is asked to attend to that channel of input for the duration of the practice. If it's the breath, you turn to the breath channel in your brain TV and do your best to pay attention. The mind will wander to a different channel, because that is it's job. And you will catch it and gently but firmly change the channel back to your sensory anchor again. I find the TV imagery useful. It's like you are watching your favorite show on your TV but your beloved young child keeps wandering in and putting the TV on Dora the Explorer instead. My brain is a lot like that. No need to get angry or feel disappointed or judgy, just change the channel again.

Over time, this practice actually rewires your brain. The pathways for interoception are strengthened and the work will get easier. The only way to do this is to practice. A little bit every day. Your brain wants to do the least amount of work, to spend the least amount of energy to do the things you ask it to do, so, after a while, it will make improvements to the connection to awareness of the breath. You'll go from a rough hiking path to a paved superhighway with dedication and practice.

This work will make the contemplative practices more comfortable over time, and you also tend to find greater ease and spaciousness off the mat/cushion as well. You will find that, in general, you are better able to focus when you would like to both in your practice and in your daily life interactions and work. You will build resilience, regulated empathy and compassion, and spaciousness, to name a just a few of the benefits.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice - Nonjudging

A friend asked me to summarize for her what I learned at the workshop on the neuroscience of the contemplative practices that I attended earlier this month. In thinking back, I feel that there were four main points, relating to:

1. Nonjudgment
2. Intention
3. Breath
4. Values

So, this week, we will take one of these a day to study as our mini-lessons for practice. If you can join me in person for practice, I will be at Bow Street Yoga in Somerville today (Monday) from noon -1 , Wednesday and Friday from 6:15 am - 7:30 am, and Thursday from noon to 1. I will have a sub covering my regular Saturday slot this week. And good news: the snow parking ban will be lifted today just in time for practice, so no excuses. We can work on releasing those shoveling muscles with a shoulder-focused practice.

And now for nonjudgment:

As we practice yoga (which includes meditation), we work to cultivate an attitude of nonjudgment. This means many things. First, when we practice, we are asked to watch the thoughts, and, when we do this, we begin to see that these thoughts are nearly constantly-running. We start to see that many of our thoughts are judgmental - not just in that they might be harshly condemning of the self ("I'm so clumsy", "why do I always say such stupid things?", "What's wrong with me?", etc.) but also that many of our thoughts presuppose outcomes to situations ("If I try this, I'm bound to fail", "I can't do plank pose; I'm too weak", "The boss is going to call me out in front of everyone at the meeting today", etc.).

In the practice, we begin to cultivate an open attitude, one of nonjudging. First, we start to see harsh internal dialogue and we begin to redirect it. I find the words of lovingkindness to be useful here. When I notice harsh internal dialogue during practice on and off the mat/cushion, I redirect the mind to phrases such as: "May I be safe and protected, may I be peaceful, may I live with kindness and with ease, may I accept myself as I am." During practice, we also notice where we think we know the answers, where we are anticipating things to unfold in a certain, predetermined way. We cultivate openness and a fresh perspective, the open-hearted nature of the young child interacting with the world for the first time. Did you catch a snowflake on your glove or sleeve this morning? They were absolutely perfect; each one an awesome call to wake up, to notice the beauty, to be alive. The children saw it. What did you see?

When we practice in this way, we make space for things to be new, to unfold in their own ways - often in unexpected and joyful ways. We relinquish some of the control that we falsely believe that we have on the outcomes of situations. We relinquish the grasping and holding onto, the clinging onto opinions and beliefs that may or may not be true, that may or may not serve us. And when we are able to cultivate openness and relinquish grasping, we find more space for a gentle sense of being which for all of us can be a lovely place to reside. We recapture the wonder of being alive, of having a body, of breathing and interacting and moving, of sensing and observing. For some of us, this nonjudging, open space that we cultivate and begin to inhabit more and more through practice is truly Divine.

Daily Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice

More from the Norm Farb neuroscience of contemplative studies training:

The Triune brain model shows that our brains are composed of three parts:

1 - The reptile brain, or the hypothalamus and thalamus - the most centrally located parts - also known as the reptile brain. We share this part of our brain with all the animals down to the reptiles. It controls homeostasis and the four F's (fighting, foraging, fleeing, and you can use your imagination on the fourth F word that this part of the brain might be in charge of)

2 - The Middle Brain, or the limbic system, aka the Mammal Brain - shared with the other mammals, generally growing up in size and complexity through the species. This part of the brain handles the visceral emotions and links the neocortex, or new brain, with the older systems below.

3 - The Neocortex, or New Brain, or primate brain - This is the cerebral cortex, and this is where most of the brain changes that we will discuss happen following engagement with the contemplative practices, specifically in the prefrontal cortex, which can be further subdivided.

The prefrontal cortex is divided into:

1. Dorsal prefrontal cortex, where direct awareness, direct noticing, and executive function lives.

2. Middle prefrontal cortex, where we ask questions like "does what I am sensing relate to me? Is this about me? How is this like me?", the self-referential part of the brain

3. Ventral prefrontal cortex, where judgements and evaluations reside: good/bad, like/don't like, pleasant/unpleasant.

Interestingly, the Buddha perhaps predicted the actions of the ventral prefrontal cortex when he taught about the vedanas, or sense tones, and how they would come up as you practice. These sense tones are immediate responses to stimuli, as you judge things to be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral (boring). Typically, things that we find pleasant, we cling or hold on to or seek out. Things that we find unpleasant are followed by aversion or avoidance, and things that are neutral or boring often send us off to find some distraction or send us towards thinking about other things that we enjoy more and find more pleasant.

As you practice today, either in your comfortable seated posture, lying down, walking, or in a restorative pose, you can play with the vedanas, and, therefore, with your ventral prefrontal cortex. Focus your awareness on the breath or on sensation in the body if breath is not a comfortable anchor for you. Whenever your mind wanders, notice what has called it away. Can you look for the sense tones around the distraction - pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral? Can you notice what visceral reaction you might have (aversion, grasping, distraction) in response?

Go to it!

Daily Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice

I had the opportunity over the weekend to work with the incredible Norm Farb of University of Toronto. He was being hosted by my equally incredible teacher Bo Forbes. We sat and listened as Norm went over his research into the ways that contemplative practices including yoga and meditation affect the structure of your brain. Over the next few days, I will summarize some of these findings to help you to understand, perhaps, some of the whys behind the practice. Why do we practice? What is causing the changes that I can feel in my body and mind as I continue to practice over time?

So, for today, let's practice just this. Block off your time, take up your posture, and pay attention, on purpose, to sensation in your body. To make it easier, if the breath is a comfortable anchor for awareness, focus on your breath. Focus on your breath with playful curiosity, and when you notice your mind has gone off topic, which it will do, gently but firmly bring it back to the breath. Continue until your time is up, whether that is a minute, or five minutes, up to an hour. Remember - it's not enough to just read about or think about the practice. The transformation only happens if you practice. Go for it!(internal sensations of the body) and proprioception (the perception of movement and spatial orientation of the body). These are sometimes called "the sense doors". This is why the instructions for meditating so frequently begin with "focus on the breath" or "notice the weight of your body resting on the floor or on the chair or on the cushion" or many other ways of getting you to tune in to sensory experience.

Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as "paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally." This is important: We have intentionality to our work (the work is on purpose), and we are nonjudgmental (curious, playful, don't assume you already know what is going on).

So, for today, let's practice just this. Block off your time, turn off your phone, take up your posture, and pay attention, on purpose, to sensation in your body. To make it easier, if the breath is a comfortable anchor for awareness, focus on your breath. Focus on your breath with playful curiosity and with intention, and when you notice your mind has gone off topic, which it will do, gently but firmly bring it back to the breath. Continue until your time is up, whether that is a minute, or five minutes, up to an hour. Remember - it's not enough to just read about or think about the practice. The transformation only happens if you practice. Go for it!

Daily Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice

We have been moving pretty fast through these mini-lessons, so, today, I suggest continuing with the metta phrases as outlined in previous days' posts or just sitting and attending to your breath with playful curiosity for whatever amount of time you have available to dedicate to practice. Pick your favorite meditation posture and just go with it. I like savasana or seated posture for meditation, and I also love to do restorative postures like legs up the wall. Over the next several days, we will go over some of what I learned at my weekend workshop on how the brain changes from the contemplative practices.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice - Lovingkindness 7 of 7

Today, we complete the full metta practice. Divide however much time you have for your practice into five equal amounts. Set a bell using a meditation timer if you have one so that you know when each of these increments has passed. Take up your meditation posture and explore your open and loving heart-mind. Then, dedicate the allotted time to each of the categories in turn:

May I be safe and protected.
May I be peaceful.
May I live with kindness and with ease.
May I accept myself as I am.

Then, when the bell rings, turn your attention in your heart and mind to the beloved and dedicate the words and feelings to that being. Then, to the neutral person for the next period. Then, to the difficult person. And, during the final amount of time, dedicate the words and sentiments to all beings.

If it is easier for you, there are many guided metta or lovingkindness practices available online. One of my favorite resources for guided meditations and talks about the dharma is Dharmaseed. The talks are offered free of charge, though you are offered the opportunity to donate money to support the teachers.

Tomorrow, we will turn our attention to another of the four heavenly abodes, but I suggest that you continue to practice lovingkindness daily, even if just at the start and end of your day. I promise that it will bring you greater peace and ease. And with each person that it affects in this way, we work to create a more peaceful and easeful world for all beings. We manifest the sentiment behind the words with our daily practice.

May you be safe and protected.
May you be peaceful.
May you live with kindness and with ease.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Lovingkindness 6 of 7

Today, conjure up a difficult person. This is sometimes called "the enemy" but it can be any difficult person. It could even be your self if you find that you are working against yourself in some way.

May [this person] be safe and protected.
May [this person] be peaceful.
May [this person] live with kindness and with ease.

You do not have to forgive the difficult person. You do not have to like or love the difficult person. You open your heart to the person and then, with as much truth as you can muster, you wish these good things for that person. And you only do it if it feels safe and you feel somewhat at ease with the task. If the person is too difficult, choose a less difficult difficult person, or go back to one of the other categories we have practiced. Over time, I have found that my heart unclenches around the difficult people, and they have less power over me. Some of my difficult people have become more like neutral people, and some of them have remained quite difficult, but my heart no longer hurts when I think about them.

From Sharon Salzberg's Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness:

"The Buddha first taught the metta meditation as an antidote to fear, as a way of surmounting terrible fear when it arises. The legend is that he sent a group of monks off to meditate in a forest that was inhabited by tree spirits. These spirits resented the presence of the monks and tried to drive them away by appearing as ghoulish visions, with awful smells and terrible shrieking noises. The tradition says that the monks became terrified and ran back to the Buddha, begging him to send them to a different forest for their practice. Instead, the Buddha replied, 'I am going to send you back to the same forest, but I will provide you with the only protection you will need.' This was the first teaching of metta meditation. The Buddha encouraged the monks not only to recite the metta phrases but to actually practice them. As these stories all seem to end so happily, so did this one - it is said that the monks went back and practiced metta, so that the tree spirits became quite moved by the beauty of the loving energy filling the forest and resolved to care for and serve the monks in all ways. The inner meaning of this story is that a mind filled with fear can still be penetrated by the quality of lovingkindness. Moreover, a mind that is saturated by lovingkindness cannot be overcome by fear; even if fear should arise, it will not overpower such a mind. When we practice metta, we open continuously to the truth of our actual experience, changing our relationship to life. Metta - the sense of love that is not bound to desire, that does not have to pretend that things are other than the way they are - overcomes the illusion of separateness, of not being part of a whole. Thereby metta overcomes all of the states that accompany this fundamental error of separateness - fear, alienation, loneliness, and despair - all of the feelings of fragmentation. In place of these, the genuine realization of connectedness brings unification, confidence, and safety."

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Lovingkindness 5 of 7

Today, the phrases are said for all beings. This is a backdoor into saying them for yourself and for a difficult person, if you find those categories to be difficult, because, needless to say, all beings does include you and that difficult person.

The phrases are your own, or these phrases again:

May all beings be safe and protected.
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings live with kindness and with ease.

As with all of the work this week, we make space for all beings in our heart-mind, and we hold all beings and the words and the sentiments the words point to in our heart-mind as we practice. We practice for five minutes or for an hour or before we get out of bed in the morning and before we fall asleep at night.

These phrases hold immense power to affect your outlook during peaceful times and during more difficult moments. You can condition yourself to say them almost instinctively when you experience suffering or whenever you witness another being experiencing suffering. The words will soften your heart, and you will find yourself moving with more peace and ease through the world. In this way, one being at a time, we are manifesting the promise of the phrases.

I use these phrases whenever I go to the cancer hospital for my checkups. I would not be able to be strong in that place without these phrases. I offer these phrases up for myself and everyone I encounter in that place whenever I find myself there. I offer the phrases whenever I am scared or alone or tired or overwhelmed. I offer the phrases whenever there is suffering.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Lovingkindness 4 of 7

Today, practice the phrases for yourself as follows:

May I be safe and protected.
May I be peaceful.
May I live with kindness and with ease.
May I accept myself as I am.

As much as is possible, hold yourself in your heart and allow yourself to feel the words and the sentiments pointed to by the words. Know that, for some of us, this category is the most difficult. Go easy with yourself.

Kristin Neff has done amazing work in the field of self-compassion. She has guided meditations and other self-compassion exercises on her website, along with a wealth of information about why these practices are useful and can lead to greater ease and health. Do yourself a favor and do the research and the practices today. And every day, if you can swing it. Even if you say the words for yourself before you fall asleep each night and before you get out of bed in the morning.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Lovingkindness 3 of 7

Today, take your practice time and dedicate it to saying the metta phrases for a neutral person. Call someone up that you do not have strong feelings for one way or the other. Maybe someone you sat next to on the bus this morning? Maybe the person at the checkout at the supermarket? Really bring this person to mind, and open your heart to them. Then begin the phrases for them as follows, or using your own words:

May [this person] be safe and protected.
May [this person] be peaceful.
May [this person] live with kindness and with ease.

The Buddha promised that the lovingkindness practice would bring with it eleven benefits:

1. You will sleep easily.
2. You will wake easily.
3. You will have pleasant dreams.
4. People will love you.
5. Devas [celestial beings] and animals will love you.
6. Devas will protect you.
7. External dangers will not harm you.
8. Your face will be radiant.
9. Your mind will be serene.
10. You will die unconfused.
11. You will be reborn in happy realms.

Not bad, right? These were taken from Sharon Salzberg's excellent book Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. I can attest that, in my experience, these practices have brought me clarity and calm in incredibly distressing circumstances, and they have manifested unconditional internal and external peace in my life. The key is to practice them with devotion during regular practice times and then whenever you can remember to do so off the mat or cushion. And to cut yourself some slack if one of the phrases or one of the categories of beings isn't working for you on any given day.

Mini-Lessons on Contemplative Practice, Lovingkindness 2/7

"Our own happiness can change history and it does." -Sharon Salzberg

Today, we practice metta. If you can guide yourself using this template, please do. Remember it is the practice that changes us, not the reading about or thinking about the practice. If you have one minute, if you have five minutes, if you have thirty minutes, please practice. If you can say these phrases before you rise out of bed each morning, it will make a difference. If you also can say them before you fall asleep at night, it will make a difference. If it is better for you or more easeful for you to be guided, there are many great guided lovingkindness meditations available online. Here is one.

Today, we practice lovingkindness for a beloved:

Set up your space. If you have a meditation spot, that is good. If you don't, make sure you clear an area of easy distractions, or things that will pull you away from the practice. Take up your comfortable meditation posture. Be comfortable but steadfast. Close the eyes if that is possible and if that is comfortable. Let yourself acknowledge that you have taken your posture for meditation. Notice your breath and the state of your body and mind in this moment. And then open your heart to one beloved, an uncomplicated one if possible. Picture the beloved in your mind and heart. This can be a friend, a parent, a teacher, a lover, a child, a pet, a tree, a rock. It should be easy to feel uncomplicated affection for this being. And it should be a particular being for this pass.

You can send unformed love and affection to this being for a bit, and then begin with the phrases, these phrases or phrases that suit you more comfortably:

May [this being] be safe and protected;
May [this being] be peaceful;
May [this being] live with kindness and with ease.

Repeat the phrases while envisioning the beloved for the time period that you have set aside.