Awakened Conscious Conversations
Healing the world one episode at a time by offering realistic solutions to the journey of life. Both self hosted ( By The Gentle Yoga Warrior) and guest episodes.
Many of our guests have overcome significant obstacles and transformed their lives.
Rich with deep talks and solo endeavours, often offering tips on living a more conscious life.
Many episodes include a bonus optional meditation!
Awakened Conscious Conversations
Gift Of The Present Moment: How A Simple Gazing Meditation Can Aid You To Living a Fulfilling Life
Imagine if savouring a simple meal could transform your day, or if mundane chores could become joyful rituals. Inspired by the timeless wisdom of The Radiant Sutras, we explore how life's challenges can be met with a cleansing sense of presence—like a gentle rain washing over us. As the holiday season approaches, let’s shift our focus from merely awaiting special moments to truly cherishing each one, making every day its own special occasion. We'll uncover strategies to engage fully in daily activities, from mindful eating to embracing the beauty of routine, all in the pursuit of living with greater awareness and joy.
Ever considered how a small object could be a gateway to profound self-awareness? Join us on a sensory journey through mindful object meditation, This practice is more than just observing. Join us and see!
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rest the gaze on something, anything, become absorbed in it, then disengage from looking and slip away from knowing that thing, slowly erase the thought and impression of it, abide in not knowing, revel in the freedomty taken from the Radiant Sutras. I was sorting through my bookshelf and I came across this book and I forgot my friend had bought it for me many years ago and I just started reading some of the sutras out of it and found it absolutely amazing. I started reading some of the sutras out of it and it lit a flame for today's class. These last few months have been a bit difficult in so many ways. There's been a lot of family stuff that's been going on and life has fluxes and turns. And fitting really, because we are right in the heart of winter and it's a cold and chilly place here. If you're listening to this and you're somewhere nice and warm, I bet you're nice and warm. Having said that, I do like the weather in this country. I love it when it rains. People think that's strange, but not that horrible rain where you feel soaked to the bone, but that refreshing rain that you can still walk out in, and there's so many different types of rains. There's like that kind of penetrating rain. That's that awful relentless rain that just shakes at your windows for days and you really don't want that, um. And then there's that kind of light rain which feels like it refreshes everything. And the refreshing part is what made me want to talk today to you about refreshing our, our lens, or our kind of as, as this the poem goes if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is infinite. And our doors of perception are so muddy. Yeah, so they are so muddy, and I thought what better thing to do than to help us cleanse our doors of perception? And, taking inspiration from this poem, I'll just say it again rest the gaze on something, anything, become absorbed in it. Then disengage from looking and slip away from knowing that thing, slowly erase the thought and impression of it, raise the thought and impression of it, abiding in not knowing, revel in the freedom of uncertainty. And this reminds me of when we do, like this, candle gazing meditation in yoga. But I thought for today, at the end of this talk, we will do a meditation where we find something to stare at and I think, like a nice house plant or a flower is a good thing to look at. If you don't have that. Maybe there's a beautiful picture like you've got, maybe on the wall, or you've got a beautiful book with a nice picture, or maybe there's something outside and you're somewhere warm enough to sit outside and stare at something and you have that kind of softness as you look at the thing.
Speaker 1:And when we do the meditation in the bits that do stay tuned, it really helps to clear out all the gunk. It has a way of kind of like really centering us in the present moment. And um, I'm just going to talk a bit more about the present moment. So if you look at kind of how advertising is done, how media is done, how we plan a whole life and many of us for when we retire, thinking that that's going to be like this golden time and not that I'm retired yet, but from what I've observed and the real gift in life is happening right this moment and it's learning to kind of find the joy in that moment, even if it's been difficult and that is not an easy task, do not get me wrong. When you're going through a hard time, that is not an easy task. However, we can ease life and make it more enjoyable by being more present. So if you're eating your dinner, fully eat your dinner. Try not to just be like watching something. I watch things sometimes I'm not going to say that I never do but In this day and age, can you maybe diary in a few meals a week with your family or even by yourself, whatever your home setup is, where you're just completely and utterly absorbed in eating that food and you're not trying to watch things or not trying to be in the moment.
Speaker 1:Tasks like a chore in the house that you really don't like doing, like I don't know, washing up or polishing or cleaning the windows Can you do that task? This is going to be a bit of a challenge, but with complete presence, where you just breathe calmly and you just know what you're doing and you're not trying to distract yourself. And can you, whilst you do that task, can you, whilst you do that task, can you find the gift in that task in the present moment? Of course, we want to plan for the future, and, and we, and, and it's a wise to do so. However, can you plan for the moment? Can you just think, right now I'm going to be completely absorbed in this task and I'm going to enjoy it. And now I'm going to enjoy what I'm doing. And as we come into the holiday season, can you enjoy, like, the special moments, instead of thinking, oh yes, I can't wait to get to Christmas day or Hanukkah or whatever holiday season you are celebrating? Instead, can you be in the moment and just enjoy the bits in between, really allowing yourself to completely absorbed in the present moment.
Speaker 1:And the tools to do that is this meditation at the end of this podcast, because it takes practice. You're not going to just sit and do this meditation. It's going to happen instantly. Oh wow, I'm in the present moment. And it's going to take practice. And sometimes it can be a bit like um, it can be a bit like elastic band being pulled back. Sometimes you feel like you've released that plastic band and you're kind of free, flowing through the moment, and then you come back and you feel like you've been pulled back a bit. So meditation isn't like the same every day, and some days it will be more easier than others and some days it will feel a bit kind of like oh, I feel like I've taken a step back.
Speaker 1:The key is to do it every day, if you can. If you can't do it every day, at least try and do it every other day, but no less than that. If you miss some, though, don't throw in the towel and think, oh, I'm not going to do anymore, just come back to it, because when we're not perfect, sometimes we have the best intentions and sometimes things don't work out. I've set my intention to have four glasses of water in the middle of the day, besides my drinks at the beginning and the end of the day, and most days I've managed to do it some. The other day, I was really busy doing admin, and I just got so absorbed in it that I forgot to drink the water. So I'm not going to throw the towel in, I'm just going to remember to drink the water today, and then some days I was traveling, so drinking large amounts of water wasn't the best option for me, so I just drank my water more at the end of the day and at the start of the day.
Speaker 1:Um, so, as I'm just using that as an example to show the humanness in all of us, so your task for today is to try and be as much in the present as you possibly can, and if your mind wanders, that's fine, but just be present. So you're just really taking the sounds, the smells, what you see, touch, feel, hear as much as you possibly can. And, like I said, it's a muscle that you're going to build up slowly, a memory muscle to be in the present moment. So, dear ones, here is the meditation that's going to help you do that. I would suggest that you try and do this at least every day, like I said, if not at least every other day.
Speaker 1:So you, before you start, you're just going to need something that you can look at. That's nice, to kind of look at, um, it could be a crystal, it could be a plant, something that you you can look at for five minutes and feel like you could look at for a period of time. If you've got flowers in the bars, that's always nice. Like I said, if you it's somewhere warm enough to be outside, then something outside. Obviously not tv, because that's like defeating the object. You want nothing electrical, you want to look at something that's a physical form in this world. Okay, top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back always nice to sit on a block or a cushion, although that's not available for you. You sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching, and if you're doing something that requires a little concentration, all you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you.
Speaker 1:If you're doing the meditation, let's begin. So, as you sit, you're going to place the object ideally, kind of like, um, an arms or two arm's distance in front of you. Obviously, if it's something that's not that close, just look at it as best you can from the distance that you're at. I am, for this instance, I am going to look at a house plant which is one arm's distance away from me, and I am going to remember to blink, and I wish you to do the same. But you're just going to take some slow, calm, deep breaths and you're just going to start to look at that thing. In my case it is the plant, and as I look at the plant, I can see, like almost a tiny thin layer around it, as I stare at it, the way the light pops from the plant. And as you look at your object maybe it's a beautiful painting, whatever it is just start to take some slow, calm, deep breaths and as you breathe, you're going to look at, allowing the breath to be calm, deep. And even so, as the mind wants to go off to this, that and the other, don't fight it, but instead steer it back to what the object you are regarding.
Speaker 1:Start to look at that object.
Speaker 1:What does its texture look like with your eyes?
Speaker 1:What are the colours of it?
Speaker 1:Does it have a smell? Does it matter? If it doesn't, what would you imagine it to taste? Don't taste it, but what would you imagine it to taste like? What is it? Is there any sound at all? Even if it's not the object, can you hear any sounds as you regard it? How does the light hit against it?
Speaker 1:And all I want you to do is just to look at the object and use the tool of your breath, so slow, calm, deep breaths as you regard this object for the next few minutes, just remembering that you can come back to looking at how you see it if the mind starts to wander. Thank you, I love you. Okay, so, as you continue to stare at this object, who is the person regarding the object? So, who is the person regarding the object? Are you regarding yourself, regarding the object? How does it feel to regard this object as you slowly start to come back into the moment, come back into the now. Just start to blink the eyes a bit more and then just take a calm, deep breath, inhale, exhale, go about your day so as much as possible. Try and practice that daily and look after yourself, and I'll see you very soon.
