This week’s reading is pages 141-146 (from ‘Using Everyday Movements to Feel Your Body’ to chapter end)
This section follows on from the body exercises that Darlene set out in this chapter, and she begins this part by saying that, despite those exercises, the most important focus is the movements we do in everyday life.
In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Sutta on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness) the Buddha similarly says:
“When walking, the monk discerns, ‘I am walking.’ When standing, he discerns, ‘I am standing.’ When sitting, he discerns, ‘I am sitting.’ When lying down, he discerns, ‘I am lying down.’ Or however his body is disposed, that is how he discerns it.”
Darlene talks about how her body felt invigorated when she brought awareness and attention to a job she had at Big Sur which required a period of cleaning cabins ready for new guests (although she also reports that a friend noted her mindfulness did slow down how effectively she performed her tasks!).
She goes on to talk about how we can use pain as a guide to working with our body, doing less of movements that hurt us, finding alternative movements that hurt less, and tending to painful areas.
Darlene also speaks of creating a wide ‘inner landscape’ in which we integrate all that we have learned about our body from being mindful, and generating a mindset in which we undertake movement in a mindful way, including how we use our breath, in order to allow movement to happen in the best way possible for our body. She views this as something to be worked on over time.
The focus of all of this is a ‘body first’ approach in which we do not push through pain but instead take it seriously and allow it to be a guide for how we use our body. Darlene notes that this needs to be done consistently in order to receive benefits but anytime we can use this kind of awareness is a good thing.
For this section I would like you to pick one everyday task, such as cleaning or washing the dishes, and bring awareness to how you do it. How does it change the way you use your body and how you feel during the task and afterwards? Does it change how quickly you do things and, if so, does this matter?
Wishing you all a healthful week.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
This section follows on from the body exercises that Darlene set out in this chapter, and she begins this part by saying that, despite those exercises, the most important focus is the movements we do in everyday life.
In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Sutta on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness) the Buddha similarly says:
“When walking, the monk discerns, ‘I am walking.’ When standing, he discerns, ‘I am standing.’ When sitting, he discerns, ‘I am sitting.’ When lying down, he discerns, ‘I am lying down.’ Or however his body is disposed, that is how he discerns it.”
Darlene talks about how her body felt invigorated when she brought awareness and attention to a job she had at Big Sur which required a period of cleaning cabins ready for new guests (although she also reports that a friend noted her mindfulness did slow down how effectively she performed her tasks!).
She goes on to talk about how we can use pain as a guide to working with our body, doing less of movements that hurt us, finding alternative movements that hurt less, and tending to painful areas.
Darlene also speaks of creating a wide ‘inner landscape’ in which we integrate all that we have learned about our body from being mindful, and generating a mindset in which we undertake movement in a mindful way, including how we use our breath, in order to allow movement to happen in the best way possible for our body. She views this as something to be worked on over time.
The focus of all of this is a ‘body first’ approach in which we do not push through pain but instead take it seriously and allow it to be a guide for how we use our body. Darlene notes that this needs to be done consistently in order to receive benefits but anytime we can use this kind of awareness is a good thing.
For this section I would like you to pick one everyday task, such as cleaning or washing the dishes, and bring awareness to how you do it. How does it change the way you use your body and how you feel during the task and afterwards? Does it change how quickly you do things and, if so, does this matter?
Wishing you all a healthful week.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
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