Tracy Cochran

Try this gentle exercise:  Without adding any thoughts, gently restraining the impulse to comment or analyze or strive in any way,  allow yourself to notice “there is a body.”  Be patient and gentle with yourself.  Allow the sensation of being in a body to be whatever it is.

The Buddha instructed his followers to abide contemplating the body internally, which is what we usually do when we meditate or often when we are relaxed and walking or sitting in nature.  He also invited people to contemplate the body externally.

The Buddha instructed those who wished to meditate to “abide contemplating both internally and externally.”  What he meant by this two-way attention is much debated in scholarly circles, but it can be quite simple. We can allow ourselves to have sensation, all the while regarding ourselves as a human being moving through the world, conditioned by myriad forces and conditions,  open to and impacting the world around us.  We can bring our attention to the sensation of being in a body. AND  we  can be open to an experience of the whole of ourselves.

Moment by moment, such a practice can remind us that we belong here on earth : )