I know it looks like a stock photo. I took this one morning from the place we had the good fortune of staying at in Maine. Each day I was in awe that we were there. Not in Maine itself, but that finally we were staying on a fresh pond, where I could roll out of bed and sit with my coffee on the dock, meditate, read, talk about a whole lot of nothing with my family, and swim whenever I wanted. I didn't have to pack everyone up and get the house moving. This was my 11th summer visit to the island and, for the first time, I didn't feel the need to go on the great hikes through Acadia and see all the edges of the stunning land and sea. There are those vacations where you come back full, but exhausted and there are the ones you come back rested and nourished. This was the latter and I am grateful for everything and everyone that made it possible. If you are reading this email, you are a part of my gratitude.
Besides giving me a break, trips like this inspire me and on this trip it was literally inspiration itself that came clear. My teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, talked about coming back to the breath again, and again, and again. The phrase "I know I am breathing in; I know I am breathing out" is permanently etched in my mind. He didn't say come back to awareness, he said come back to your breath. This may sound esoteric, but on this trip, it was clear to me that though I was somewhere quiet, serene, and peaceful, and though I didn't have any significant worries or concerns weighing on me, to just sit there taking it in didn't shift my nervous system away from fight/flight/freeze toward rest and digest. To fully take in the setting and the people, it took more than being present in my mind. That was not enough. I had to be present in my body also.
I know there are different forms of meditation and different ways one can practice, but, for me, it is clear that positive inner shifts come when the awareness is both physical and mental/emotional. Just having one doesn't do it. One can effect the other, but I need both. As I sat there on the dock, delighted by where I was, at first I thought, "I don't need to meditate here; I can just enjoy it." Then I realized that without spending some time conscious of my in-breath and out-breath, watching it slow down and gradually deepen just by being aware of it, being there in that beautiful place wouldn't change how I felt overall. My nervous system wouldn't shift.
It left me inspired to share with you that if you go on vacation, or simply do something nice for yourself for an hour, to increase its benefit, be aware of your breathing. It's nothing dramatic. It's subtle, in the background. Other people can't see it or hear it, but you feel it. It's not about controlling the breath, but feeling the breath's movement as you take in whatever it is you are doing. Aware of the subtle rise and fall of my breathing, I listened to the birds, watched the fog drift across the pond, observed the gradual shift of the pond from stillness to flow and felt myself shift, too.
It's not the place, or even how present I am, but feeling myself breathe as I take it in that makes it calming, nourishing, replenishing. To be present in our breathing body is where the gift of meditation lies. The change toward inner spaciousness, acceptance, and ease, can't happen only with the awareness of our thoughts, feelings and sensations, but in the act of breathing with them. If I stop and get quiet, but am only thinking, (even if I am enjoying my thoughts), that's not meditation. If I go somewhere peaceful, spacious, or beautiful, but I am not connected to my body while in that place, it is an intellectual experience, not a felt one, like looking at a postcard of a place rather than being in the place. It can't penetrate my way of being.
Developing greater awareness of our breath throughout our daily activities is the practice and my emphasis for this week's pause. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you can practice. Just tune in. Set the intention to keep coming back to feeling the rise and fall of your inhale and exhale. Whether you are going on a vacation, working, walking the dog, meeting a friend, or taking a day at the beach, may your awareness of breathing in and breathing out slow you down and bring you into the kind of presence that changes your inner experience.
🌼
Jean
