Dear You,

Thanks to those who emailed me after the Intuition/Resistance piece from last week.

Lately, I’ve taken to pointing my awareness to sensory pleasure. I’m not sure why exactly this is a big breakthrough for me. I know I’ve been “taught” about accessing the now through fully taking in through the senses.

This subtle shift occurs when we indulge the senses all that they take in, without paying attention to mind racing into the future, sorting through the past, or chasing it’s tail in circles. I must admit I love the thinking mind. I love the power of my mind to toss and turn over ideas, beliefs, plans, to solve problems and generate problems. I love the power of my thinking mind so much I give it the floor over the sensations from the senses.

But, I’m learning that this robs me. I’m devoting this April Yogidetox cycle to the senses. I’ve been fascinated lately, two year old style, with taste, texture, visuals, sound, smells. I spend a lot of time in the ocean. I’ve spent a lot of time in the water for the past few years, so this is not new. What is new is what I am seeing. I wonder where I’ve been the past few years when I’ve been  in the water.

My best guess is that I was plugged into the thinking mind more than the senses.  I’m awakening to beauty – and seeing, feeling, experiencing it wherever I am. I want to share this with you, in case, you too are spending more time in the thinking mind, than in your senses.  And if you are, chances you are a little critical, a little overwhelmed, or a little out of sorts with present moment after present moment.

I need to share with you the effect of awakening to my senses.

This April, my Yogidetox is about Awaken to your Senses. This is my theme. This is my agenda.

The side benefit (and Ayurveda is always full of side-benefits, just when you least expect them), is santosha, meaning contentment. I’m contented in a way not previously known to me. I feel like I’m gaining a wisdom beyond my years, or anyone’s years – the timeless contentment of being. The kick is that it’s coming through the embracement of the temporal, the fleeting, the ephemeral. The flight of a bird, the rush of a wave to shore, the texture of my daughter’s face.

This morning I swam to the pier and back. It takes me about 90 minutes. I feel the water. I’m in a school of minnows. Then, surrounded by bigger fish. I notice my skin receive  the temperature of the water. The taste of the salt. The intensity of the sun. I receive.

Sometimes it’s dreadfully boring to read about someone else’s experience of sensory pleasure. I know this has been the case for me, many, many a time. My mind says something like this, “Senses as a gateway for santosha. Yea, yea. I know that one already. Next.” I move on, without having letting myself access the depth of experience, opening, connectivity of another. I stay rooted in the thinking mind, rushed onto the thought, idea, realization, problem to engage.

And if that is you, I get it. And I’m kind of sorry to bore you.

It’s just for me, right now, this is big. I want to acknowledge this. I want to lead and guide from this place this April during the Yogidetox. I want to step deeper into exploring the senses and santosha, without dissing the thinking mind.

Come if you want to come. We go deeper together.

In curiosity,

Cate