Lesson One
This Next Breath Course
Tom Gillette
Yoga begins with deep listening.
What does that mean?
It begins with listening to the body.
What does that mean?
It begins with a calm, clear, uncluttered mind.
And you tune into the language of the body.
The body speaks in sensations.
You withdraw your attention from thinking thoughts all the time.
And relax into the ever-present billions of sensations rising and falling inside the body.
You experience sensations directly, as they are, without the medium of language and words.
What do we mean by sensations?
Well, notice the places where the body meets the floor. You’ll notice sensations of pressure, your body in contact with your chair or the floor. And then a little ways away less pressure.
You notice your clothing touching your skin. A different kind of pressure.
You’ll notice the air touching your skin. A soft kind of pressure.
You’ll notice sensations of temperature, some places of the body warm, some places cool.
What you will notice about these billions of sensations is that they are always changing.
You’ll notice tingley sensations, numb sensations, vibrating sensations, sensations that don’t have names.
The Kingdom of heaven is within, like constellations of stars, twinkling in the night’s dark sky.
These innumerable sensations rising and falling, always changing. That’s what you listen to. That’s what you get in touch with.
The very heart of the practice is moment-by-moment, listening to the language of the body.
Shift from putting your attention into your chattering thoughts and tune into the ever present rising and falling of this body of energy, and your life will be transformed. Guaranteed. Yoga is not an exercise routine, but an endless process of being in the present moment. The buzzing reality that you uncover that has always been there.
This is the beginning of the first day.
40 more days to come.
Lesson One
This Next Breath Course
Tom Gillette