Ok, let's go into this new territory together.
Find your spot. The one in which your body is supported but awake.
Close your eyes. Allow the world to pass away.
Greet your mind before we proceed to anything. Not as a means or a thing, but as your fellow traveller on this voyage. Let her know what we are going to do: We are going to practice noticing and distinguishing today.
First, we start where we know. Focus on the breath, the silent up and down, the cold inhalation, the warm exhalation. Think of it as an anchor, holding you firm in the middle of the sea.
Breathe here for three minutes, letting the ripples subside and the water clear.
And now here is the slight change. Notice that you know you're breathing. That consciousness is not by chance; it is because you are putting your mind there.
You're not just breathing. You're aware that you're breathing. That is the muscle we are here to strengthen.
This is where mindfulness widens the frame. From now on, when your mind naturally loses track of the breath, do not hasten to regain it.
Instead... name what is here.
Stay with it. Attend to it as you did to your breath.
Rather than switching the channel on the spot, observe what happens:
Don't push. Don't pull. It may be good, bad or dull, but just leave it there until it passes on its own.
If you find yourself beginning to daydream, come back to the breath, and remind yourself: What is going on?
Practice this way for five minutes.
As you move along with your attention, breath to sound, thought to sensation, notice something deeper: the aspect of you that knows it all. The mute spectator of the moving scenes.
Stay with this for five more minutes.
Slowly let go of your focus on the breath. Take some deeper, slower breaths.
Thank your dear mind; the work is done.
When you're ready, open your eyes. Take a look at the world now... perhaps a little clearer, a little softer.
This practice is one of seventeen in the book.
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