Pathway: Guides
Guides are a Pathway in The Map of Everyday Enlightenment which are typically articles about a particular time and place for meditative practices. Guides contain Landmarks that highlight examples of how this could work for you, as well as other explanations of how to make use of certain concepts or techniques. The Landmarks in Guides can be reviewed in the context of progress through the Realms of Everyday Enlightenment, and when used in that way, Guides become another way to decide where to go next.
Body Scanning
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| Guide: Body Scanning |
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... is about one of the most common Mindfulness practices. Body Scanning is a perfect way to Experience the Now, allowing you to quickly and easily connect to your body, and practice other meditative concepts such as Concentration and Presence.
Breathing
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| Guide: Breathing |
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... informs us about the breath which is an essential part of any meditative practice. For Everyday Enlightenment, The Breath holds a unique place because anyone can use their breath as a Mindful practice to bring attention to The Now. On the other hand, breathing exercises are typically done while in a meditative state, which is not an emphasis of Everyday Enlightenment.
Brushing Your Teeth
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| Guide: Brushing Your Teeth | |
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| Landmarks | Notice Your Wandering Mind Have Experimented with Witnessing |
... showcases one common activity we all do twice a day - brushing your teeth. As such, it is one really great activity to use as a time to work on your practice. And one other special thing about it is that it is typically done in front of a mirror, which opens up some areas to explore. As with all of the practices found in Everyday Enlightenment, you should generalize what you learn, and apply it to other types of meditative practices, and other activities you do frequently. Each of the Landmarks in this guide focus on a different Beacon or Realm, but each of them can be practiced while Brushing Your Teeth.
Doing Chores
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| Guide: Doing Chores | |
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| Landmarks | Extended Witnessing Observe Your Judgment and Non-Judgment |
... is all about the chores that need to get done every day, often throughout each day. Due to the monotonous and even distasteful nature of doing chores, applying meditative practices during those tasks has two benefits. First, many of the practices in the Lenses are very helpful in making things less unpleasant, through reframing the way we perceive and experience those moments. Second, chores themselves open up special opportunities to practice examining our thoughts and emotions under minor stress.
Eating
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| Guide: Eating | |
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| Landmarks | Observe Parts of a Whole Notice Multiple Sensations Impermanence Basic Understanding Experimenting with Cravings Observe Duality and Connectedness |
... highlights eating and drinking because they are everyday activities that provide rich opportunities for micro-meditative practice. Engaging with food and beverages mindfully allows us to explore Mindfulness and other themes such as Impermanence, cravings and even Nonduality - all of which add up to profound aspects of our relationship with the world and ourselves.
People
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| Guide: People | |
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| Landmarks | Observe Impermanent People Try Out Other-Centeredness Listen to Someone Mindfully |
... shows us that because we interact with other people regularly, it's a perfect opportunity to practice shifting our perceptions. As we shift our perception, we should notice different experiences of Self and Other.
Rooms and Boundaries
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| Guide: Rooms and Boundaries | |
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| Landmarks | Experiment with Mindfulness and Television |
... provides explanations, examples, and Landmarks about a shift in our conscious state whenever we move between rooms or look out a window. Beyond those simple examples, this Guide explores a number of similar perception shifts we can observe, especially is it relates to both Attention and Adaptation.
Sounds
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| Guide: Sounds | |
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| Landmarks | Use Sounds to be Present |
... explores different ways to use Sounds as part of your meditative practices. Typically sounds are used in Mindfulness practices as a way of bringing attention to Experience the Now. When you notice in your thoughts any illusionary "sounds" such as earworms or monologues, or any thought that feels as if it's spoken in your head, simply bring your attention to any actual sounds in the moment, and those illusionary sounds evaporate immediately. Another way sounds are used is to demonstrate Impermanence, as sounds rarely hold onto the same qualities for very long at all. So many objects we see or feel will appear quite permanent at the time but sounds typically change and dissipate continually.
Stressful Moments
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| Guide: Stressful Moments | |
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| Landmarks | Acknowledge Negative Emotions Without Judgment Learn About Non-Aversion Observe Emotions From Outside |
... is a collection of Landmarks that can relate to the Stressful Moments we experience in our daily lives, and how different meditative practices that can help us during those moments.
Television
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| Guide: Television | |
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| Landmarks | Experiment with Mindfulness and Television Try Mindfully Watching Television |
... discusses how watching television provides a very unique and instructive method for shifting your perspective around because in essence a television is another world with other people, sounds, qualities, and space.
Walking
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| Guide: Walking | |
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| Landmarks | Simple Mindfulness While Walking Perceiving Parts as a Whole Explore Presence While Walking Try Headlessness While Walking |
... suggests that Walking is kind of unique, in that it offers a variety of opportunities to exercise your awareness and perception.