In this week we will become more aware of the closedness and tension in the body through simple recognition.

Through the breath we will allow the body to open and get in touch with sensations in depth. I open and welcome what is there.

Every time I remember, I take three breaths.

This first week we will be accompanied by the calligraphy: ‘the way out is in’, which we can occasionally remind ourselves to contemplate and observe any insights.

1 – Exercises (duration: 3.5m)

2 – Deep relaxation (duration: 20m)

3 – Introduction to the path (duration: 30m)

This week

Suggested practices

One-minute exercise
Some of the exercises suggested at the beginning of the meeting or other practices such as Yoga and Tai Chi.

The three breaths

The practice of the three breaths will accompany us for the entire path. It is very simple: every time we get out of the whirlwind of thoughts, worries, projects that accompanies us throughout the day, every time we wake up to life, we allow ourselves to take three breaths. We pause while three breaths happen. It can be helpful for us to close our eyes to move more easily from “Thinking to Feeling”.
It can be helpful to find a ‘bell of awareness’, such as the arrival of a message on a mobile phone, a siren or another sound, to remind us to take three breaths.
During the three breaths I try to return to my body and listen to my sensations. I do not judge what I feel, I just listen and recognise my inner state (tensions and blocks in the body, anxiety, agitation, frustration, anger).

Daily diary

During the day or in the evening I write a daily diary where I can note how the day went: the practice of the three breaths, what I felt, some particular moments. I can also help myself with drawings.

In-depth information

Listening to the body

by Jon Kabat-Zinn

An important aspect of our life and experience, which due to the automatism of our reactions we tend to ignore, is our relationship with our body.

Often we are barely in touch with our body, hardly aware of what it feels. As a result, we are often insensitive to the effects our environment, our actions and even our thoughts and emotions have on it.
When we ignore these interconnections, we sometimes feel that our body has unpredictable reactions and we cannot understand why.
As we will see later, physical symptoms are messages that the body sends us to let us know how it is and what its needs are. When we get used to systematically paying attention to the body and are more in touch with it, we also acquire the ability to understand what it wants to communicate to us and to respond appropriately. Learning to listen to the body is vital for our health and quality of life.
Even something as simple as relaxing can be frustratingly difficult when we are unaware of our bodies.
The stress of everyday life generates localised tensions in particular muscle groups, for example in the shoulders, jaw and forehead. To relax these tensions you must first realise they are there, you must feel them. You have to be able to switch off the ‘autopilot’ and take back control of your body and mind.
As we will see, to do this you have to focus your attention on your body, perceive the sensations coming from the various muscles and send the message to your muscles to relax the tensions. If you are aware enough, you can do this already at the moment when the tension is arising: there is no need to wait until you feel as rigid as a piece of wood. If you let tension accumulate, it becomes so habitual that you forget what it feels like when you are relaxed and it becomes much more difficult to find relaxation again.
When we suffer from physical or mental illnesses, we often expect doctors to be able to put us back on our feet. Sometimes this is possible; but, as we shall see, our active cooperation is essential in most therapies.
This is especially true for those chronic conditions for which medicine has no decisive cure. In such cases, the quality of our lives depends to a large extent on the knowledge we have of our bodies and minds, and on our ability to improve our health within the always unknown limits of what is possible.
Taking responsibility for getting to know your body better, listening carefully and cultivating your internal healing resources, is the best way to work with your doctors.
This is where meditation comes in: it gives power and substance to this commitment and catalyses the healing work.

Mindfulness

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is above all the ability to be able to recognise the presence of an object of perception without taking a position, without judging, desiring or disliking it.
For example, let us say we have a painful area of the body: with mindfulness we simply take note of that pain.
It is a very different kind of prayer to what you may be used to, but even sitting in meditation and simply being aware of that pain is praying.

Calligraphy

The Way Out is In