Day 39: The Pause that can Change Everything, or Just some little thing

Daughter and now dead Dog. Life moves on. All loving is its own reward.


In between the thought and the action is a space where you can realize: this action could be hard, soft, fast, habitual, new, tight, soft, “right,” “wrong,” and so on.

We often lunge from one thing to the next, forgetting that pause, that place where we can go forward, can progress, but don’t have to.

Don’t have to.

This is the present of being present and unhurried at moments of transition, and a good martial artist learns to be present and awake and unhurried even in moments of “hurry.”

What does that mean?

Ponder a bit, and let it be something you experiment with today: to be unhurried, even in your hurry, and if you don’t “need” to hurry, be unhurried in you unhurry.

And this is our game today: to watch the pausing points, the points when we are tempted to lunge// rush/ fall / clunk forward into the next event and be pulled along in our lives as if we have no say.

So watch for the pausing points.

Find the pausing points, or some of them.

Pause at them in some experimental way. Sometimes a little longer than usual. Sometimes a lot longer. Sometimes actually taking a break of the walk, sit and meditate, little nap sort. Watch your fears that if you don’t keep your nose to the grindstone you won’t “get anything done.”

And if you let little breaks take over your day and it ends of true that you “don’t get anything done,” take pauses and breaks inside the diverting activity and see if they can give you a chance to divert back to your original path. So go slow, find the pausing points. Use them to open to ?????

Day Fourteen: the neck starts in the Pelvis

DAY FOURTEEN
The spine, the whole spine, and all the rest

We are humans, designed to be tall cylinders. We rise up on two legs, which as aware beings we can sense and know we are sensing. The legs hold up the pelvis which holds up the spine. We can sense that.

Now, we can, and sense the ribs held up by the spine and the shoulders held up by the ribs and the arms held by the shoulder.

Head on top.

Simple.

Elegant.

Amazing.

And now, today, we will think of our spines and our necks as the same thing. When we turn to the right, we can sense and feel that as coming from all the way down to the bottom of our spine. We can even rotate our pelvis a little to the right when we turn to the right, to get all of us in on the turn.

When we turn to the left, we can add in some ribs, some eyes, and some pelvis.


Now, get this, and try this in your chair. When you turn to the left let yourself come over to the left side of your pelvis so your right knee can come forward. Help all this along by pushing out your belly and arching your back a little.

Now, turning to the right, transfer your weight to the right side of your pelvis and move your left knee forward and push out your belly a little. Enjoy this whole body turning.


Take some time today to take time out from your official and regular routine and play around with this turning that comes from all of us. You can try it standing and lying down, too. See what it is like to be long and cylindrical with a spine in the center.

Sensing arms and legs and spine and noticing and our shape throughout the day: a fine and amazing prospect. Good.

how to get smarter

Christopher plus two angels, Bella and Mona.


How to get smarter?

Pay attention to reality.

Look at what is out there.

Get interested. No words, just perceptions.

And then start to perceive differences:
if I look from this way,
and that,
what is the difference?

If it is morning or
night,
what is the difference?

What is the difference in
me
if I am breathing in
or
breathing out?

How is the bird I am looking at
different than
that bird over there?

If I put my weight more
on
my right foot
than my left,
what could I learn about how I stand.

This easy life
is all about learning
and learning is all
about delight
delighting
in the little differences
details
joys
distinctions.

Yes.
Life is good;.