When we practice awareness we're present, in the flow of energy, we feel the rising and falling fluctuations of the body-mind in the form of breath, thoughts, sensations, actions. We are also able to note the calm spaces between these fluctuations knowing that the mere act of paying attention carries us forward more fully conscious. A few weeks ago I was enjoying the open sea that stretches out as you step off Hayama beach. Flanked by protruding rocks the shallow waters offer a small haven for sail boats and beginner stand up paddle boarders, with the enticing view of Oshima Island looming in the distance for those drawn to ocean endurance challenges. As I swam through the clear water, buoyed up by the salt and spurred on by the mid-day sun I found myself slipping into a calm and easy rhythm that I never feel in the confines of a pool. The surface swell was no more than a foot high but it was enough energy to add to the experience. I became aware of the small waves lifting and pushing me, then lowering and slowing me as revolutions of crest and trough passed. With time I began to see the physical waves in the same way as body-mind sensations, equating the crests with cycles of positive experiences and the troughs as less so. But as I swam further judgements about the rising and falling waters dissolved. Neutral sea-level position became a kind of basic awareness of the flow around me, and my (inter)action through it. Notions of advantage or hindrance fell away, only movement remained, and a blissful stillness that pervaded everything. At times small sets of several waves overtook me, at other times the flat sea lulled me to the point where my mind wanted to wander off again. The trick was to keep returning attention to the present moment. Waves or not, remain fully immersed in the sea of experience, honing technique in order to feel more fully each stroke, each movement through the water, each waves push or drag, the current, the density around one. To sense also when to move with the flow and when to surrender to it. To choose to swim or to float or to even dive below. Whatever we do in the water, the more awareness we can bring the more we can let the flow teach us. *Disclaimer, Waiver, Apology, Warning: Essentially meditation cannot be spoken about, only experienced. The more one says, the crazier one can appear.
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