Awareness Practice and Boredom

The following document was written after a student asked about boredom during Basic Breath Practice and Continuum of Awareness.

On the outside, one might notice the same things each time—same objects in the room, same general sounds, etc.—but on the inside, the landscape is usually shifting all the time. This practice of noticing is about contacting the flow of all awareness.

This includes all inner awareness: breathing, physical sensations, feeling states or emotional presence—and noticing the physical sensations that constitute those feelings.

It also includes all outer awareness: anything one notices at any moment in smell, taste, touch, sound, and sight – and the sixth sense of proprioception – one’s position and place in relationship to surrounding space.

This flow includes all the movements of the mind: thoughts, images, inner talking, judgments, fantasies, remembering, evaluating, planning—any kind of thoughts. Thoughts are everything that is not a direct experience of inner sensation or outer perception.

So, that’s a lot that can be noticed—but we notice them one arising at a time. The figure and the field are changing every moment. It is our attention that may become narrow or fixated.

Breath is continually changing—from in to out, from out to in. Our body is a vast field of sensation. Simply by resting our attention in different places in our body, we can explore sensations for hours. Noticing simple qualities like hot/cold, heavy/light, or moving/still can keep our awareness engaged.

In the outer realm, the room may appear the same, but what is my perception of light or shadow or color, right now? How do my eyes feel as they see this today? What are the nuances of sound today? How do I sense the support of what I’m sitting or standing on? Does it feel hard or solid or big—or something else? Watching thoughts come and go provides a great deal of variety as well.

Many people are so full of thoughts, attitudes, judgments, expectations, and self-talking that they can't notice their inner feelings or sensations. That’s when we keep returning to the breath—meeting the thoughts with the breath—so that we begin to have awareness of more than just our minds.

Also, if we expect “big” feelings, we may miss the subtle shifts. For instance, take the word "rain." There are many varieties of weather called rain. If we just notice rain and then stop paying attention—expecting something else—we’ll miss the many textures. But if we stay with noticing rain for many moments, we might begin to know rain: its sounds, its smells, its rhythms and weight. By staying with noticing we can perceive what is subtle and come to know each experience more intimately. Practicing staying with what is subtle builds our capacity to remain present even when there is a flood of feeling or sensation or strong outer stimulation.

Breath is like rain. All of it is breath but not the same. Breathing doesn’t feel the same in my chest as in my back—or in my belly, or in my throat. Each place in me experiences breathing differently, and each moment may bring a new variation. This quality of attention changes my relationship to my own existence and to the life around me.

We notice in two ways:

1. Open attention: This is a receptive practice. We don’t focus our awareness on something specific; we open our perception and allow something to arise into awareness in each moment. We meet whatever arises with a sense of curiosity and time, a hello and with breath. Then we open to the next moment—this new moment now—and receive our perception again. Now... and now... and now. Each moment is its own. In each one, we are available to whatever is—whether that’s inner, outer, or thinking. We receive and meet what arises.

2. Focused exploration: Here, we direct our attention to something and meet it on purpose. We use awareness actively rather than receptively. For example, choosing to do a body scan would be a practice of focusing awareness. Starting at the top of the head or the bottoms of the feet, we spend 5–10 minutes slowly directing attention throughout our body, one segment at a time as if we are a building with many levels: we pause at each “floor” and explore our experience. What do I notice in the scalp, the top of the skull, or the space just under the skull? Breathing, sensing, and noticing. Then we move to the next layer: What do I notice around the eyes, across the forehead, at the temples, the back of the head, or inside the skull where the brain is? Breathing and noticing sensation there. And so on, having intentionally noticed my physical experience from top to bottom. Directing attention. Noticing sensation. Feeling myself. Saying hello to what I’m sensing. Breathing.

We can also choose to visit an area of sensation we have been feeling but ignoring or avoiding. Having connected to resources and support, we can choose to turn toward and be with what has been neglected. We don’t have to change or fix. We can come and go in that contact, and we chose to meet, to feel, to keep company and grow our capacity to tolerate sensation and feeling.

This kind of focused attention can also be applied to our surroundings. Seeing with focus, we can notice purpose. Notice color - shape - shadow. Notice the space between things. Be in the seeing, as a practice. The same applies to hearing, touching, and so on.

And finally—this experience called boredom—what is it, really? Is it a sensation in the body? If so, explore it more precisely. Is it thought? Then notice the thoughts and attitudes that come with it—and how those thoughts affect how you feel in your body now.