We try to maintain order in a chaotic world, but our attempts tend to constrict and isolate. Clear the obscurations and restrictions by recognizing what is really causing stress and pressure – it’s not the external conditions but what the mind is making of them.

Coming out of restriction requires examining stuck places with awareness. Guidance is provided to explore the experience the bodily form as it happens.

Instructions for experiencing unrestricted awareness while walking: give attention to the flow of energy from firmness to openness. Notice the restrictions of visual and mental consciousness creeping in, and bring attention back to the rhythmic play of energy.

Everything that affects us comes into our bodies, so a lot of stress can accumulate. Sympathize with what the body energy requires so it can come out of its pressurized jumbled state.

Attention is generally driven by self-interest, to seek what is pleasant. The possibilities of what one receives are then restricted by the “self program”. Unrestricted means changing the baseline from that of the person to something impersonal that can yet be subjectively experienced – clarity, lovingkindness, letting go. Mindfulness of body acts as a platform for steady open awareness.

Working with feeling foggy in meditation; firmness and openness in walking meditation; relationship between emotions and bodily tension; working with doubt; releasing energy through hands, feet and head; cultivating generosity triggers constriction.

The unawakened citta always reacts and tries to interpret what’s happening. Rather than interpret experience, notice the stress building up. Hover over the difficult feeling and equanimity, compassion, goodwill gradually comes in.

The reclining posture uses the entire length of the body to establish firmness. Open the front of the body to the space around, like a blanket of goodwill covering the body.

Exploring the experience of transitioning between postures, notice the space and what arises within it. What counts is not what arises but how your awareness responds without resisting, contracting or adopting.

Embarrassing and unwanted moods and perceptions can arise and pass through space. They don’t get stuck by the reactions of the personality. We practice to sense space around the body so that we can eventually generate space around mental content.