Have you ever wondered why you keep reacting to similar situations in the same unhelpful way? Or why you feel deeply offended by something when others seem unruffled (or the other way around)? The thing is that everything that ever happens in our life, leaves a residue or imprint behind. This is a deep conditioning, not just in our mind but deep in the body.
In this post I take a look at these imprints, how the practice of Welcoming helps to resolve them, and then I give you a simple series of steps to practice Welcoming.
The body/mind carries imprints of our experiences
These body imprints have been well explored in the context of trauma by authors such as Bessel van der Kolk (
The Body Keeps the Score), and Peter Levine (
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma). The imprints of trauma can be extremely debilitating because of their strength, but imprints are laid down from much more minor events of life as well.
These deep impressions may be quite hidden, and their sources forgotten. Indeed systems that teach the transmigration of the personal soul to a new body (reincarnation) believe that they can be carried from one life to the next. No matter that we may not know what they are or where they began, they influence everything we think and do. In the understanding of yoga and other Indian philosophies, they are called
samskaras, literally meaning imprint or impression.
Have you ever noticed that the same circumstance, inflicted on different people, has a different affect on each of them, each reacting in different ways. These days you often hear this discussed in terms of resilience: some people are more resilient than others. It is discussed in terms of finding ways to build resilience. However the cause is that we each have different imprints from our past which are influencing how we receive the circumstances and therefore react. And in each fresh experience and reaction we are laying down more impressions, often reinforcing the ones that are already there.
Welcoming builds resilience
Without a way to address and resolve these deep impressions, sadly we will keep on reacting based on existing imprints, and we will keep on laying down new ones. Resilience will be elusive.
The good news is that we are not condemned to repeat this as an endless cycle. Freedom begins with the mindful practice of welcoming whatever arrives. It is simple and achievable by all of us.
How it works
At any given moment various events, sensations, emotions, thoughts, are arriving and leaving. Some are comfortable, and we might be inclined to want them to stay. Some are uncomfortable and we might be inclined to push it away, to try to close it out. If an arrival or a departure is resisted, it tattoos itself on your psyche, on your heart. It sticks in your body like a burr on your sock.
The initial work of the journey to experience psychological and spiritual wholeness is to gradually unpick the
samskaras like unpicking those burrs from your socks, to invite them to fully unfold so they can at last dissolve. This is Welcoming: To invite whatever is arriving to unfold fully and dissolve away when it does, to neither resist its arrival nor its departure.
Welcoming is where you start. Learning the art of welcoming not only prevents the laying down of new
samskaras, but it allows the old to reveal themselves in whatever sensory/emotive way they turn up today. Whatever is arising, in any given moment, welcome it with no refusing, allowing whatever is here to be fully experienced. Welcome whatever comes, fully so it has its opportunity to be seen, to blossom, and to fully dissolve again.
When the socks are free of burrs, that is, when the
samskaras have been lovingly met and fully welcomed, we will awaken to who we truly are, whole and perfectly glorious.
Purifying
There are older meanings of
samskara which are about purification and purification rites. As we welcome and resolve these hitherto unresolved issues in our body/mind we are indeed purifying ourselves to be who we truly are without blemish and to know ourselves as that without barrier.
You are already perfect and whole. But as the ore clings to the gold and needs to be refined away to release the precious metal, this purification reveals yourself to yourself as you already and truly are.
Meditation is the practice ground
Learning to welcome everything is said more easily than done, especially as those old imprints themselves will be coming up reactively to keep you in old grooves. Meditation can be the practice ground where you rehearse Welcoming in the safe container of the meditation. It builds skills that then get transferred into daily life.
3 Steps to welcoming everything
So here we are. Simple steps to begin to welcome everything, to unpack the old imprints and not to create new ones.
1. Practise somatic awareness - that is attune to sensations in the body.
They are stored in the body and that is where they will first present themselves. What is arising is arising in the body. Welcoming is assisted by acute somatic awareness. Everything will present as a feeling in the body, and Welcoming is easier when you can meet whatever it is at the gate rather than when it is pounding on the door of the inner sanctum.
Develop somatic awareness by:
- Practising a mindful form of Hatha Yoga
- Learning Somatic movement practices
- Body-sensing in iRest® and Body-scanning in Mindfulness
2. Develop a regular practice of a meditation that keeps you attuned to the somatic experience.
iRest® Yoga Nidra meditation is perfect for this. In this meditation you will:
- Establish a safe haven of wellbeing that you can return to whenever you need
- Begin the practice of Welcoming by opening the senses
- Notice the subtle feelings that herald emotions and cognitions
- Notice the memories, beliefs and emotions that co-arise
- Welcome everything as it is, and inquire into its need, its message, its source
- Notice how you are aware of what is arising and how welcoming is a quality of Awareness
3. After practicing in a formal meditation practice, bring the same practice to everyday life.
See how you are able to welcome whatever is arising in the process of your daily life. You might take small mindful moments to welcome what is present, just noticing and welcoming. And then at times you will notice the practice happening at more difficult times.
