Zazen Notes

5A funny thing happened after I wrote my last post. I found myself observing my breath, not in terms of the movement of the diaphragm and chest, but in terms of activity around the fluid ball of the abdomen and support for the spine.

Here’s the funny part: I began to comprehend the long or short of a given movement of breath.

Comprehension ...  read more

Of late, I spend a few minutes when I first sit down doing what you suggest, letting attention go to the area of my sacrum and its movement vis-a-vis the ilia. I also rock back and forward, sideways, and observe the rotation that naturally occurs. Then I think of the basic Alexander Technique instruction, “Let my ...  read more

The neuroscientists Olaf Blanke and Christine Mohr hypothesize that the sense of self is a function of the vestibular, ocular, and proprioceptive/tactile/kinesthetic senses.

I devote a lot of my thought to reassuring myself that it’s alright to experience depth in senses other than the eyes and the mind, particularly in the proprioceptive ...  read more