THE BODY ―It is through this fathom-long body that one reaches the end of suffering.‖ - AN 4.45 The 1st foundation of mindfulness is central to practice. In fact, mindfulness meditation is called an embodied or body-based practice. Many of us have lived our lives trapped in the selfconstructed prison of thoughts and concepts. We are shut off from awareness of our bodies. We can spend the whole day lost in thinking, unaware of mounting tension in our bodies. When we suddenly notice the mounting stress and pain it can be difficult to let it go and relax. Our culture is one that focuses on the external appearance and performance of the body while neglecting inner awareness and nurturing of the body. In many teachings the Buddha remarked that the entirety of our experience of the world is known only through the body, and specifically through what he called the 6 sense bases (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and thinking) and their corresponding 6 sense objects (sights, sounds, odors, flavors, touches, and thoughts). In meditation practice it is essential to develop mindfulness of these 6 senses (see page 62). We are cultivating the ability to be with our sensory experience without being lost in it, clinging to it, or pushing it away. There is a wholesome, healing quality to developing body awareness. By paying attention in a relaxed, non-judging way to the sensations that arise and pass away in the body, we are giving ourselves a precious gift. We can notice areas of our
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