Presence, Perception and Sensations

03 Jan Presence, Perception and Sensations

In AY, awareness of sensations and equanimity in our perceptions are critical tools to understanding the non-verbal realm of our somatic experiences. How we perceive often determines what we believe and what actions we take.

Getting to know the “how” of perception is important to truly grasping deep emotional beliefs and patterns. The more we can open-up and be curious about how our perception works, the more we become present to our direct experience of our body without a filter of inner dialogue or past stories. The self-judgment begins to fade away and we are left with sensing what truly is.

There is a truth that emerges when we become present with our body, our sensate experience, and it opens us then to a wider sense of perceiving ourselves and the world around us.

To make this simple: The more we can listen to our sensations, the more our perception gets trained to see without bias. Sensations are the raw data.

We start with how we perceive with our five senses (exteroception). We become aware of how we notice the outer world around us without judgment.

What do we pay attention to? What attracts our senses and attention?

The more we become present with our senses the more it will become a natural next step to become more curious about how we perceive from the inside-out (eg. proprioception and interoception).

Working with our senses lead us towards perceiving our interior world without judgment. The more we can stay present with what is, the more the somatic landscape of our body will “speak” to us.

This can be in an actual body awareness, new sensation images, dream images, connecting meaning, having new thoughts or insights, and intuition.

It is as if we are learning a new, and at the same time, familiar language. Asking ourselves how we are and what the body is telling us takes some practice. We begin to become with how we perceive our inner and outer experience.