Time: 7:38am
What: 20 minutes asana / 20 minutes seated practice
Focus: First Foundation / Exercise 7 - 8 (Sati-)
First day of a new routine. Aim is to begin each day with both asana and seated practice before heading off to new job.
Focus set out in exercises 7 and 8 of the Satipatthana Sutta is an awareness of the parts of the body (even the "unappealing" parts), as well as awareness of the elements which make up the body. Found that alignment brings attention to the various parts of the body. Began asana practice with alternate nostril breathing. Aware of the right and left sides of the body, nostrils, movement of breath. Finished with a body scan in savasana. Afterthought: could focus on the... uncommon parts of the body (excrement, phlegm, saliva, etc).
Seated practice. Began with breath awareness. Aware of the inhalation as the inhalation. Aware of the exhalation as the exhalation. Inhale/exhale - aware of the toes. Inhale/exhale - aware of the ankles. Inhale/exhale - aware of the shin bones. Body scan toes to head, including skin, scalp, tongue, heart, diaphragm, lungs. Aware of the parts of the body naturally progressed into general awareness of body made up of elements. Water = blood, saliva, urine, lymphatic fluid.
Earth = density of body, bone and muscle. Air = feeling of breath moving through the body, nostrils, lungs, ribcage expanding, movement at belly. Fire = digestive fire in the abdomen, heat in the body, activity in the beating of the heart, moving of blood through the body, movement of the chest/lungs/belly with breath. Note to self: take longer at the beginning of practice to settle into the feeling of breath. Can spend more time discerning the parts of the body. Noticed less busyness in mind when the mind has a "project".
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