Taking Our Seat

The primary focus in Gestalt Awareness Practice (GAP) is HOW we are noticing rather than what we are noticing. Before we begin GAP practice, we consciously remember HOW we want to contact whatever arises. We intentionally recall and connect to what supports us in meeting whatever arises in living, whatever is arising now. What do we need to remember in order to show up in this moment, and in this life, aligned with our values?

The Witness Seat: Qualities of Awareness in GAP

• Openness - Meeting whatever arises with equanimity, a receptive quality. Nonjudgmental. Unbiased. Without preference.
  Open mind. Open Heart. Open senses.
• Interest - Openness with a sense of turning toward. Curiosity. Inquiry. “Hello.”
• Patience and Tolerance - Offering time and space to each felt sense, to each noticing, especially to those experiences that have normally been rejected, suppressed, avoided, or unrecognized. (Offer time and space, meet with breath)
• Kindness - a friendliness, a bit of warmth toward whatever arises, the kind of attention we would give to anyone we care for. And if friendliness can’t be found, then consciously laying down our weapons; calling a truce as we practice.
• Humor - a light touch, the bigger perspective. This is not humor that dismisses or mocks. This quality helps us notice with a new view. The situation may seem desperate or hopeless but maybe not as serious.
• Precision - This is why we call it work. It is the gentle, steady encouragement to stay: to stay with, to stay in presence, to stay on the path, to stay with ourselves in this moment to whatever degree we can. This is not forcing. It is a grounding and supporting through our intention and heartfelt desire to be awake, to be whole, to be real.

Connecting to Outer Resources

We are fundamentally supported by the world around us. Without air, we do not have a life for more than a few minutes. Without earth, we have no place to stand, no ground to catch us when we fall. When taking our seat, we consciously align with the support of the natural world, resources that support us now and always. We choose to notice the support of earth, the abundance of air, the grounding of gravity. We become aware of sound, light, touch, and environment through our senses and perceptions. By noticing the miracle of our own form and the ability to perceive other forms, we can meet life, connecting in this moment, and lean into what is supportive.

Remembering Inner Resources and What Has Helped Us Get Here

Accessing a feeling of open mind and open heart can be challenging depending on our state. Like most things, the more we practice, the easier it becomes. Without awareness, we tend to walk the same groove. Taking our seat offers the opportunity to start any practice by choicefully becoming more aware. Taking time to recall situations and relationships where we find it easy to feel patient, kind, open, can make those qualities more accessible now. Taking our seat prepares us to meet whatever arises from a broader, more resourced perspective.

It is important to realize that we are not alone as we face life. We have resources. We can recall anything, anyplace, and anyone, living or dead, real or imagined, actual or symbolic, that helps us turn toward life with open mind and open heart. Where else have we experienced kindness, patience, deep listening, a bigger perspective? We can remember people who have modeled or offered us these qualities. We can think of places, images, or ideas that call these feelings now. We can turn to these memories as resources and ongoing support with practice. Recalling the person or image, resting into that place or time, reminding ourselves that none of us got here alone, we prepare ourselves to face life now. We don’t generate kindness, openness, or precision all by ourselves. Challenge the illusion of aloneness and self-sufficiency, we see that there have been, and are now, sources of these qualities. We can connect with these sources. We can "sit in their laps" as we feel, face, and meet whatever we face in the moment.

We also take our seat by recognizing the forms of support that are less visible but present. Love is here, peace is here, joy is here. These are all keys on the human keyboard and we can recall them. At some time in life, we have each felt cared for, known kindness, benefited from generosity. Knowing these feeling states, even momentarily, allows us access. Taking our seat includes intentionally bringing these flavors from the past experience into this moment.

And finally, we can include the tradition of flashing bodhicitta - of opening to the timeless big picture, spaciousness, the eternal, what is beyond form. We can contemplate the origin of all this arising and let it blow our minds open. This process may be done in detail as described above or by simply remembering the option of openness and the reality of support. By taking our seat regularly and in detail, feeling present and connected becomes easier, more available, and more natural. The point is to connect on purpose, consciously, and to begin each practice aware of the larger field of presence and the inner resources that sustain us. From that state of connection, we have the possibility of meeting life and ourselves with openness of mind and heart.

How do you want to show up as you practice in this session?
As you live this day? Live this life?
Take your place in that quality of awareness.