What is Quality of Mind?

Last month we explored how our mind can either positively or negatively affect our recovery from injury and to Feel the quality of your mind. Let me articulate this a bit further and offer a fun practice to assist you in developing your awareness of the quality of your mind and how movement can bring facilitate a more restful, spacious, and calm mind. For the purpose of this article, let’s refer to ‘mind’ as your ability to think, feel, be aware of, and to perceive yourself in relation to yourself or others or your environment. Consider for yourself a moment when you were very busy with imminent deadlines and events: much to do in little time.Do you recall how your mind felt? Compare this with a period when you awoke to hear a gentle rain pattering on your window, refreshing the earth after an extended dry spell. Does your mind feel differently from the previous example? Or how about the feeling in your mind when you are awaiting results from your final exam / dissertation / professional licensure? I am guessing that there will definitely be nuances in quality of mind in each of these scenarios AND variations amongst each person’s mind. Wonderful! I often hear the admonition to develop one’s quality of mind and I understand this to be a practice(s) to assist oneself in becoming more restful, spacious, steady, and calm in one’s mind. Becoming aware of oneself internally (via interoception) and externally (exteroception) can assist in facilitating a wholesome quality of mind. Let’s explore a practice that comes from the dance community and is accessible to all persons.

10-10-10 (~30 minutes)

• Begin seated comfortably with eyes closed. Allow yourself 10 minutes to notice anything about yourself in this moment, without judgment, and without the need to track/remember everything.
• Then open your ‘inner eye’ to look more deeply inside oneself, noticing (again without judgment) anything that arises within: how your mind feels, your organs, connective tissue, breathing, pulse rhythm, twitches, and so on. Really take your time (suggest 10 minutes) with this as though you are seeing internally for the first time.
• Then notice impulses from these inner sensations that would like to express themselves in external movement. For this you will likely need to open your eyes, but allow your inner sensations to dialogue with your outer movement expressions. Inner affecting outer expression; external movement creating new inner sensations. Indulge in this very personal delicious dance for a minimum of 10 minutes.
• At the conclusion of your inner-outer dialogue dance, return to seated to notice your quality of mind.