Practices

before you ask anything of yourself

1. Begin with the floor.

   Put your attention into the place where your feet meet the ground. Let that contact be enough for one breath.

2. Soften the signal.

   Unclench your jaw. Open your hands. Let the body know this is not an emergency.

long enough for authorship to return

1. Step out of the pattern.

   Feel the impulse to continue automatically. Let it pause long enough for authorship to return.

2. Come back before the story.

   Feel the body before you explain the body. Let sensation arrive without becoming a verdict.

you are not only inside your thoughts

1. Feel the space between.

   Choose one object in view. Feel the space between you and it without needing to think about it.

2. Widen the room.

   Let your attention include the walls, the air, and the distance around you. You are not only inside your thoughts.

gratitude that finds its own object

1. Let gratitude find its object.

   Keep the words thank you simple. When one true thing appears, hold it gently.

2. Thank the next honest action.

   Let gratitude point toward one action that would make today more true.

bring it back without scolding it

1. Check the pocket.

   Ask quietly: am I in the state I think I am in? Let the body answer before the mind explains.

2. Let the lost part be found.

   Notice the part of you that wandered. Bring it back without scolding it.

where attention goes, the self starts to move

1. Notice the pull of attention.

   Where attention goes, the self starts to move. Notice the pull before you follow it.

2. Find the warmer source.

   Look for the direction that feels rooted in care rather than fear. Let the body notice the difference.

the familiar path is also a wager

1. Notice where the chips are going.

   Your time is already being placed somewhere. See where it is going before you choose again.

2. See the quiet wager.

   The familiar path is also a bet. Let yourself see the bet without judging it.