Here are some ways I am using Natural Rest and the Living Inquiries in daily life:
Natural Rest
Brief moments of natural rest. Notice what’s here, allow.
Shift from thinking to noticing thought.
Notice it’s already allowed. (What’s here, this experience.)
Check in, notice sensations, images, words.
Living Inquiries
Ask myself “what would I have to feel now if I didn’t X?” (Do the compulsive behavior – thinking, talking, socializing, eating, reading articles online, listening to a podcast etc.) And feel that.
Notice uncomfortable sensations, feel them. Notice resistance, where I feel it, and feel it.
Notice a mental image or words, visualize them on a wall, notice the space all around. (Boundless space, between me and the image or words, all around the image or words.)
Ask simple questions about sensations, images, words. Is it X? (A threat? The actual future? The actual past?)
Ask “what does this say about me?” and find a deficient or inflated self. I can then put that word or picture on the wall, or feel the sensations, or ask simple questions about the words, images, and sensations.
Make it simple
Make it simple. So simple and comfortable that I would want to do it forever. Find a way to do it so I would want it to be a natural, easy and ongoing part of daily life.
Notice how natural it is. Natural rest is just being the presence I already am. Living Inquiries is just the looking and curiosity that’s natural to us.
Additional notes:
The images can be just as they are. They are not always clear, and that’s fine. They can be a clear picture of something fuzzy.
The words can be very simple. Often, it’s just one word. This morning, I felt sad, noticed it, noticed the word “sad”, visualized it on the wall, noticed the space all around it. I also had a picture of a former partner, visualized her on the wall, and noticed the space all around.
More recently, I had the word “unlovable” come up, and visualized that on the wall, noticing the space all around. I am also feeling the sensations connected with that word (identity), and noticing them as sensations.
………
………
………
Initial notes…..
– (a) brief periods of natural rest
– notice + allow
– check in, notice sensations, images, words
– what would I have to feel now if I didn’t do X?
– which sensation is it I least want to feel now? (of the ones here)
– while walking, driving, talking etc. – feels sensations (contraction etc.)
– (b) living inquiries
– notice an image, put on the wall, notice (boundless) space in/around
– notice words, put on the wall, notice space
– simple questions – is it X? Is it a threat?
– (c) make it simple
– very natural – natural rest is just being the presence we already are, living inquiries is just the looking and curiosity natural to us
– ongoing, part of daily life
–