Dear friend,
My neighbour Chris has just driven past our house in his work van. The builders across the road are making sporadic whirring and scraping noises. Somewhere a vehicle bleats a warning. My stomach gurgles and murmuring voices float by the window.
In the back of it all are the wood pigeons, and closer still a ringing in my ears that sounds like the chirping of sparrows. It takes a few moments to come to my senses.
It’s a practice that pulls you out of the stream of thinking up onto the banks where you can watch the river flow.
Being a musical type, it’s often sound that catches my attention first. When listening intently I find there’s less room for the redundant inner narration to crowd in.
From listening, my attention turns to the sensations in my lungs and airways as life flows in and out. Then to the aliveness in my body, recognising myself as that aliveness. It’s quick practice.
You can do it as many times a day as you can remember to.
Making ourselves at home in the moment, aware of our physical body and of the more subtle energetic body within.
In yoga philosophy we have three bodies.
The physical body, with which we are all acquainted is seen as the outer covering for a body of light, which is in turn a covering for a finer body made of universal creative intelligence.
Becoming aware of the inner body is no small affair.
As the reality of this light body dawns on the mind, you begin to realise yourself as more than physical. Life energy and consciousness enter the picture. Another way of speaking of soul consciousness.
How incredibly simple.
Making yourself at home with the feeling of being uniquely alive, is just one of the benefits of meditative practice.
A favourite practice is to sit and drink tea, listening and watching the world outside the window. Or with eyes closed focusing my inner gaze on a point of light between the eye brows. Sitting with the tea feels more familiar.
An eastern brew.
Intimately entwined with the feeling of home.
Soul awareness and mugs of tea.
A match made in heaven.
As the world spins we can take time to return home to ourselves.
It takes a moment of remembrance.
Till tomorrow
Love
Mikey x