Pausing, we can pull ourselves back from indulging in our own mind. Bringing our attention to our breath, we can create space or distance between our thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. It is in this ‘space’ where ‘breathing room’ arises and we can begin to see and listen to what’s going on inside of our own mind & body more clearly, objectively, and compassionately. With a growing sense of clarity & openness, we can ‘push back’ & ‘push down’ less, and befriend more what is arising in our own interiority.

Befriending our experiences directly and intimately allows them to open up and reveal their true nature- whether perceptually significant or insignificant- pleasurable or painful. Simply breathing & observing within ourselves, we can start to relax without attachment or aversion into a more natural state of being- calmly & quietly abiding while creating more ‘space’ around what we are experiencing or ‘awarenessing’

Curious & courageous we have come to sit with this abiding presence & embodied (sensing) awareness to know ourselves. We feel what we notice, ‘staying with it’, without indulging- ‘touching & letting go’ as they are simply ‘events’ of mind & body for us to witness- to notice, acknowledge, accept (if possible), and release.

‘Awarenessing’ in this ‘breathing space’ we sustain & strengthen our attention with a higher order energy capable of penetrating, ‘stripping down’, and transforming our activities of mind- our habits of mind. This de-conditioning & de-energizing process of our habitual thoughts, feelings, views, opinions, judgments, ideals, and beliefs is largely what we refer to as ‘taming of the mind’ in our practice. Further refining self-awareness and self-control in sitting and witnessing ourselves, we may gradually shift from servitude to liberation of mind as we continue to draw a clearer & deeper understanding of why we are the way we are.

The more we practice with patience and presence, the more refined our ‘clear seeing’- our ‘clear listening’ of our own mind’s dialogue becomes. Like scientists, we are systematically exploring & examining the subtleties that underlie our habitualness- our reactionary tendencies- and our mind’s relentless commentaries that often hold us back from engaging our ordinary human experiences more openly & fully.

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