Week 26 - Halfway Review

HALFWAY REVIEW

If you have been following the suggestions week by week,

you will now have reached a point where it is worth

reflecting on your experience—without judging it, but

simply to gather information to guide you.

You may feel that you have not been as diligent as you intended at the start, but how often do things go exactly to plan? However your practice has been, there is benefit to be gained from taking stock of what you have noticed.

TRY THIS 
Take some time to settle into Watching the Breath (see page 26). When you feel ready, silently ask, "What am I learning?" Let the phrase go without any expectation of receiving something particular back. Repeat it every so often, tuning into your experience and noticing any resonance—there may be nothing or you may notice fragments of images or felt sensations. Just be open to whatever might arise. You can choose alternative phrases if you like, such as "What am I noticing?" or anything else that feels appropriate.

Continue for at least 10 minutes and conclude your practice by coming back to the breath for a moment or two.

When you have finished, use these pages to reflect on what came up for you. Perhaps begin by writing the phrase you used, for example—"What am I learning? I am learning ..."—and then see what comes up. Write without editing or worrying about spelling or grammar; simply explore what came up for you.

Finally, write a sentence about how you would like to approach the next period of practice, is there anything you would like to do differently?