Blinking Back to the Present
Parpadear de vuelta al presente
A question about using physical sensations, such as blinking or breathing, to return from thought to present-moment awareness.
Blinking Back to the Present
A question about using physical sensations, such as blinking or breathing, to return from thought to present-moment awareness.
You sometimes refer to how it feels like we slip into thought. Upon realizing it, I blink my eyes or take a deep breath. It sounds like something I do, but I know that blinking the eyes or having a deep breath pulls me back to reality.
Yes, these are very valid practices. The breath has been a practice for millennia across many traditions and religions. In Buddhism, there are prayer beads: a necklace with beads, and the movement of one bead to the next creates a sensation. You see monks walking around doing this. It is a way to create a sensation that anchors attention in the present moment.
The only point
The only point of all of it is to see a thought as a thought. That's it. Not identifying with thought. It is that simple.
At some point you might realize you don't need to blink anymore, you don't need to focus on the breath. You already see that a thought is a thought, and there is no further need for the technique. But the blinking or the breathing is valid. It is a valid exercise, a valid practice, to make the recognition really explicit.
Yes, I know that once you see the thought as a thought, it loses its grip. But sometimes it feels like I'm not sure whether I was in the thought or not. That's my question.
That's great. That uncertainty is fine. The very noticing that you might have been in a thought is itself the recognition. That is already enough.