Gil Fronsdal of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) guides this anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) practice on noticing what arises in awareness without effort.
Settle in your body, put it at ease. Put your mind at ease as you exhale. Put your heart at ease.
Now, instead of focusing on breathing, take some minutes to be aware whatever you notice effortlessly. What comes into awareness without any effort on your part. It could be a sound suddenly occurs, the initial hearing is effortless just a sound.
It might be a body sensation that arises, and it’s initial arising is not your plan or intending it or making it happen. The initial experience of the body sensation arises effortlessly even though you might react to it. In and of itself is effortless, there might be thoughts, emotions.
So the exercise, is to notice what arises effortlessly. No effort on your part. The sound of the plane.
When you find yourself involved in thought, lost in thought, relax and open up. Notice what comes into awareness effortlessly. There’s always going to be something that arises effortlessly if the doors of perception is open.
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