Tonight's talk is on how being aware of our body can actually have profound psychological implications and heal actually the way we interact with other people,

the quality of our relationships.

It's a dominant theme throughout the dama. That body awareness is something that comes about before any other sustained inquiry.

It's called in early Buddhism Kaya Gata Sati,

which means literally staying mindful of the sensations of our body.

And the Buddha again and again put Cayagatasati

before any other form of awareness such as being aware of feelings,

awareness of moods, emotions, awareness of thoughts, before we go there he always placed the emphasis on

starting out with what's going on in the body.

And it's kind of interesting.

There's very few of us when faced with a real conundrum in our lives

where we're faced with a big choice or we're in a dramatic situation or we are under a lot of stress and agitation or where we feel overwhelmed very few of us believe that well I should drop everything

and check in with my body it sounds interesting and

very often it's the last thing in our culture which tends to prioritize of course

thinking planning

intellectualizing strategizing and we tend to live our lives in a disembodied way looking at cell phones, laptops, etc.

So there's this tendency to try to figure out or engage immediately with an

audio visual device when the shit hits the fan. So the Buddha in the Cayagata Safi says,

Friends, he starts out almost all of his teachings by saying,

Friends, it's wonderful how sustained awareness of the body is of profound benefit.

However, the body is presently disposed, know it, put aside memories and ideas and settle your attention

inwardly and stay fully aware of your body when it's moving, when it's looking here, there, when you're

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