The art of watching without analysing, fixing, chasing and suppressing is a radical practice of presence, patience and compassion, allowing us to relate to whatever that arises, the welcomed and unwelcomed, with spaciousness and graciousness.
In mindfulness meditation, to watch is to observe with openness, care and without judgement, letting thoughts, emotions and sensations move along. We simply witness and not judge.
As we settle into stillness, anchoring ourselves to the breath or the body, we begin noticing the stream of experience flowing through our awareness—thoughts, emotions, sensations. Often subtle, sometimes stormy but we just keep sitting in awareness.
When thoughts, emotions, or sensations arise, we note: “thinking,” “feeling,” “sensation“, with the breath as the home base.
As we practice watching, over time, strong feelings lose their grip, and we learn to simply give ourselves space not to react.
Watching is not to control, to escape or to avoid. It is to truly see—and in seeing, to be.
Art of Watching, by Wendy Mitchell
Just sitting and watching in silence
Patience is all that you need
To see nature appear
To appreciate what was a tiny seed
To hear the birds singing happily
To watch them fly around
Yet when they settle near by
Joy, simply abounds
You have to be still, you have to be quiet
And wait just patiently
And then the reward will appear
And be there in front quite graciously.
So patience is a virtue
Or so they say
But for nature it’s paramount
Blink and it will have gone away….
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Shobha GS, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 