Week 22 Day 2

Week 22 Day 2

Medi object choiceless

Intention to remain alert and receptive. To note environmental aspects and physical sensations.

Morning all! Today 50 mins, 5 mins metta and 45 mins noting.

Today I am sitting in my safe place in the quiet. I have not switched the telly on yet. I believe that this forms some kind of interference in my practice so will keep it off for practice from now on.

Before practice I poured drain cleaner down my blocked sink and wrote a mega lost of things to do. Don't always have the luxury of clearing the deck before practice but possibly this may help the focus during practice. Despite this some planning thoughts came into my head which I tried to push aside during metta.

After metta as I started noting I sneezed three times. I also heard the whirring again and had to check out which contraption it was, but couldn't be sure from my seated position. Settling back into practice I cycled through the sensations - the breath, hearing, taste, seeing, smelling and feeling. After one or two cycles I began choiceless awareness. The whirring of the machine caught my attention first, but there was no regularity to the sounds. In fact they are no longer there as I type.... Then the ringing in my ears which oscillates as there is a collection of sounds within the ringing. On seeing  I saw a few green spirals and watched them twist and turn. My hands on my knees had become an immovable solid of warmth. In the periphery I could hear my neighbours conversing. After the first bell I noted that I felt that my hands were no longer on my knees but were holding something.  This was a peculiar sensation as my mind knew they were on my knees but my sensate self thought differently. This continued for around 15 mins not always in the fore front. I did note the start of drifts but moved away from them. No significant thoughts except for my wondering about each sensation and constantly checking whether I was alert.  As the 2nd bell went after a few minutes I noticed a drift. I had come out of the effortless time and moved into a different more usual state where I had roaming thoughts and some itches. However there was an underlying sense of calmness with hulk hands and tuneful ear ringing.

I also noted a few times that I was tilting my head backwards so I noted the intention to correct this posture and then straightened my neck. Each time I did this my alertness would move to the front.

As the final bell went I stayed sitting for another 5 minutes. In this quietude it definitely takes a few moments to return to day to day life. I continued and the hands to knees sensation returned and I opened my eyes. The calm sensation remains until even now as I finish this report. In the past I abhorred 'silence' but now it is a pleasurable necessity. Not that I don't like to get jiggy to "Fester Skank" by Lethal Bizzie  but there's a time and a place for that....

Have a great day and practice! 🐽 💜 🐽