What would it be like to receive whatever was given and not reject, close down or desire more?

I’ve been imagining how to be more like this by imagining myself as a bowl.

Either simply by picturing myself as a bowl, or with conscious somatic prompting I find I can more easily soften – from the back of my eyes, the root of my tongue, my jaw, my belly, my lungs, and inner ears, this internal softening automatically allows me to allow much more, to receive what is being given in the moment, without habitual behavior or, the all too familiar wound up tightly associations that get in the way to noticing things as they are.

It’s spectacular how the somatic changes the mental and emotional landscape instantly.

I can actually simply experience as in experience something like never before or as if it’s never happened – which it hasn’t – or will never happen again in the same way – which is true as well. This is what mindfulness is all about and just one more way to be in the present, be immediate and not in the way of it/the present/the experience, at all.

As interestingly, being bowl like can also lead towards a natural settling of awareness in the body’s root system, the literal pelvic bowl. Being in the felt sense of the pelvic bowl area centers a softer attention that can lead to just being rather than more doing. At times this is lovely, and a relief. The relief is a dropping of the analytical mind, of the thinking mind, and moments of this type of peaceful awareness can be a relief, a pause, a long exhaling of letting go.

Awareness and focus in the pelvic bowl can also literally reacquaint us with our feet meeting the earth, a physical grounding of our being and a connection to the greater body, our earth body. This connection carries more kindness as in best cases, what we connect to we take better care of. Having a more grounded sense of being, usually leads to less reaction and more thoughtful response.

Being bowl like allows for more breath to be breathed, more space to be contained, and more softness to be embodied. When breath is full it moves the belly, ever so slightly, or with conscious light effort, a little more pronounced. When we feel breath in the pelvic bowl, a natural relaxation can occur, a settling in, and a heightened sense of inner awareness. We can relate to what we are feeling and thinking as it is happening, and have choices around how to respond to what we are noticing.

On all levels of our being – physical, emotional, mental/spiritual we can benefit greatly from softness and space which being bowl like can provide entry to. Wisdom and compassion arise from space, are nurtured and nourished from space. Creativity and ideas are cultivated by having space, so a spacious empty bowl can actually be full of wonderful ideas and ways to birth and let our generous ideas ripen into the world.