For any idea to mean something substantial for a human being, it must be rooted in a deeply and honestly felt emotional experience in the present moment. Else, the idea is only an intellectual entity that doesn’t touch anything at the core of us, even if it may provide us the gratification of exercising our cognitive functions and engaging in debates. Often, we are willing…
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The art of listening
Unlike what some may consider a quality of effective writing, the purpose of this post is not to grab your attention. Often what our attention is offered exists on a spectrum from boring to grabbing, and the more it veers to the latter, the better it is considered. This applies to the gripping film, the grabbing social media post, the ‘unputdownable’ book, and to much…
The mystery of human relationship
This article was originally posted on this blog on 25 October 2021. It was lost because of a technical error, and hence I am posting it again. Kirti is a 51-year old woman. She sits on the sofa, looking forward, towards you. She is fair, thin, with curly hair. Her eyes and face reveal a tenseness, as if they are perpetually in motion, jittery, unsettled….
Everyday life
As you begin to read this post, let us start with a small exercise. Bring your attention to the quality of light on the screen, which is generated by an electrical process. Now, bring your attention to the quality of light in the room you are in. This may also be created by electricity, or it may be light from outdoors. Notice the difference. Is…
Space
Let us undertake an inquiry into the spaces we inhabit. Take a look at the space you are sitting in. Look at the walls, if you are indoors. Look at their adamantine quality – how strong, impermeable they are. See how they enclose you from the space outside. See the light that comes in from the window, how different it is from the light that…
Presence and absence in the body
Dear reader, As you sit and read this article, let us practice a few things with our bodies. Let us not be looking, for a bit, for a meaning, or an idea, that this article will propose. Feel deeply into your body. Be aware of how your lungs fill up when they take in fresh air, and then contract when they release air. You are…
Connecting in an over-connected world
As you look at these words, you have probably scrolled down here from somewhere else, and may be on your way to scroll further ahead to another set of words. Or perhaps a click has opened up this window for you, and the mind is partly edging towards where to go next. I request you to pause for a few moments and imagine. Imagine holding…
Progress in therapy, and similar journeys
The meaning of progress Therapy is a journey of continually expanding self-awareness – in relation to one’s own psyche, and also in relation to who one is with other persons. By practising being with emotions and sensations that emerge in us in the therapy session, we nourish our capacity to stay with uncomfortable emotions and sensations generally in life, both in our solitude and in…
Images of awareness
On a walk today morning, some images offered by various psychologists, spiritual teachers and artists came to mind. Coming to awareness is like taking a walk in the forest, where two friends walk together and talk of what matters the most in their lives. The aliveness and fullness of the forest offers them a space of infinite possibility – anything new can peek out from…
The body in therapy
Hello, how do you feel today? Let us do an experiment. Take a pause. And slowly feel how it is to be in your body. Feel your chest rise up and down with your breath. Feel your abdomen. See how your consciousness pours out from your eyes to these words on the screen. How the internet makes us so excessively visual. See how your mind…