SIT #303-2026 Feb 23 – Awareness, Equanimity, Scream

Back to the grind.  Today the DC was about stretching your skills to new heights when it comes to awareness.  This practice uses breathwork as your base in awareness and then stretches out the continued awareness by counting breaths before distraction sets in.  Then doing it again but trying for longer than the last time.  This is a good skill strengthening practice for awareness and equanimity.  The DT today was all about strengthening you equanimity in particular.  It uses your awareness to see the things that cause reaction in your life right now and accepting them.  Being aware of what is here right now allows for that acceptance and gets rid of that feeling of avoidance and impacts those things typically do off the mat.  This allows us to stay right here without grinding over the past and without contemplating the future.  It keeps you right here and in the face of it all you become aware and calm in your acceptance of it all.  The DJ today was all about your primal scream.  Letting out pressure like a kettle with it’s steam.  There is a practice at the University of Columbia where daily the students open up a window and scream out allowing everyone to blow off some steam at the same time.  This practice allows you to first observe what steam you need to let off.  After you are aware of it then you are almost all there way there letting it released.  Then you accept it.  That gets you closer to letting it go.  Now you have taken those stresses to the surface and now you can deal with them here in a safe space.  This is a great practice and I almost wish there was a longer practice that dives deeper in to it.  This practice uses screaming and shaking and bouncing on or off the mat to increase clarity and exposure before dealing with the stress.  Who doesn’t like to scream it out.  This calms the nervous system and resets your cortisol.