Lovely to see you here hope2day11,

Let me say how much I admire that you have embarked on a beautiful and challenging journey, that of inner and outer liberation! I read your post with a lot of interest.

What caught my attention was your experience with Mindfulness meditation techniques. There are a lot of psychophysical benefits to breathing and to the tracking of our physical sensations with our focused attention (attending to form). One of them is the quieting of the mind (gathering energy) that allows deeper connection to our immediate raw experience, like connection to nature for example, which facilitates feelings of appreciation and joy to come to the surface. You talked about energy, there is scientific evidence to show that the body is fluid, ever changing energy and so is the mind. And the body scan experience is indeed an amazing vehicle to realise this!

I deliver Mindfulness courses and many people in the world share the benefits you talk about as a result of your meditation practice. However, the way that Mindfulness is widely taught and practised, although it has many benefits, it is also very very limiting. Open explains in detail a major limitation of the typical Mindfulness approach! This is also a limitation of many other approaches that I have come into contact with as a professional, including psychotherapy.

Mindfulness (pure kind open awareness), as it was originally taught and practised – and still is within some Buddhist and non-Buddhist oriented approaches – is only one limb of the full body of ways/teachings for experiencing the Truth - or what you call freedom. It does not stand alone!

Openhand brings together the full body of ways to know the Truth, ways to experience liberation. And this part of the journey starts in appreciating where you are now: “I feel trapped like I’m not living the life I’m supposed to be living” with a full acceptance and loving softness into that which is ‘stuck’ and ‘confused’. Then, more insight will unfold and new ways to feel yourself to freedom!

Much love x

Aspasia