January 2 – May the body relax

Dear Friends,

In the first recording from the retreat I’m using for inspiration this month, Jill Shepherd provides some general background that can create a useful context for the rest of our month together.

The style the approach to meditation that we’re doing here is insight meditation or vipassana.

Just as a very simple beginning definition of what insight meditation is: it’s a way of training the heart and mind, to see clearly; to develop insight.

And we practice mindfulness, as the foundation for understanding what’s happening in our hearts and our mind, so that we can begin to live in ways that bring more ease more happiness more peace and freedom.

So that was a one-second description of what’s in actual practice a whole lifetime of exploration.

And fortunately for us the path that the Buddha laid out with these teachings is a gradual one. It’s laid out in stages so that we can progress, step by step, from quite simple instructions to ones that become increasingly refined and subtle.

And that’s what we’re going to be doing over the course of this retreat – exploring some of the key techniques of insight practice so that we can begin to develop this heart of wisdom and live with more freedom.

So that’s what what we’re going to be doing over the course of this month! Developing this heart of wisdom to live with more freedom. Sign me up! 🙂

Jill mentions two qualities of mind that we can develop – on a retreat or in regular meditation. Again, basic definitions may be useful.

Mindfulness (sati)
As Jill mentions, the English word “mindfulness” doesn’t have all the nuances that are suggested by the word sati. So it’s useful to unpack it a bit.

You can read part of my exploration of the term in last year’s post. Here are some of Jill’s points:

Mindfulness is to know what we’re experiencing, as we’re experiencing it, and to know that we know. There’s an implicit attitude of non reactivity in mindfulness, at least in the initial stages, when we’re trying to be present with our experience of getting to know it – you could say befriending it without getting lost in reaction to it.

Gil Fronsdal’s definition is mindfulness is: the cultivation of clear, stable, and non-judgmental awareness.

The Pali word sati also has a connotation of remembering, in a sense of recollecting. So we can think of sati as remembering to be in the present moment, rather than the past or the future, which is where many of us spend a lot of our mental energy.

Concentration (samadhi)
Again, the translation as “concentration” connotes a different quality than what is meant by samadhi. For me, concentration is what I need when I’m working on a math problem or a tricky programming bug at work – I often notice a tension in the body, a clenched jaw, a focus, yes, but not an easeful focus. As Susie once said in a retreat, the English word has a “brittleness” about it. If the dogs bark or the phone rings when I’m concentrating – snap! – it’s gone. Instead, this samadhi quality of mind is more pliable and flexible. There’s a sense of composure.

Here are Jill’s comments:

If we think of sati in the sense of recollecting or re-collecting, you could think of us gathering our attention when it has become scattered. In that way, it connects with a second quality of mind that I want to highlight which is samadhi, which is usually translated into English as concentration.

Again, that’s not such a useful translation because in English, at least for me, as soon as I hear the word concentration I get this bit of tension in my brow, sort of a little bit of a frown. But what it’s really referring to is the mind that is unwavering, that is stable, undistracted.

So we can think of samadhi as non-distractibility – the mind becomes absorbed in whatever it’s paying attention to. There’s simply no room for anything else.

This level of absorption of samadhi is often experienced as a deep calm and stillness. It’s very refreshing for the nervous system, especially these days when so many of us are so over stimulated so much of the time. When we can touch into some degree of samadhi, it is such a relief. It can be experienced as very nourishing.

Sounds good, right? So how do we develop these qualities? Jill’s talk starts us off with mindfulness of the body. The body is tangible and “moves more slowly than the mind” – so we can start here (and return here) – using the stability of the body and breath to give the attention a place to settle. Thoughts, mental activity, emotions will pop up. When we notice that, then with a friendly smile, we invite the attention to return again to the body and breath.

In the recording, Jill leads a body scan (starts about 9:25 and goes about 17 minutes to the end of the recording), looking for places of tension and inviting the body to relax. I think it’s important to see this as an invitation as opposed to trying to force the body to relax. “Just relax, will you?” — We know how well that works! (Not!!)

When it comes to this relaxing, one phrase of intention that I love, which Emily Horn often uses, is “May the body [and mind] relax.” It’s an invitation. It doesn’t have to happen, but it sets an intention. Here’s a 30-minute Mindful of Body meditation with Emily, if you want to try something a little longer.

I hope you find some sense of nourishment and ease by taking this time to let the attention settle.

Let me know how it goes!

With easeful wishes,
Andrea