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Mindfulness, Conscious Attention and the Harmonious Development of the Body · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There is a discipline that asks an individual to focus on
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  conscious attention to each thought, each emotion and each
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  movement he makes through a process called mindfulness.
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  This is intended primarily to centre the individual's mind and
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  attention and focus the person on the present moment, rather
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  than having the mind jumping in all different directions.
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  The process, however, can also be utilized proactively as part
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  of a development of physical culture, the use of conscious
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  attention to strengthen the physical being and bring its
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  activity into a harmonious and consistent movement.
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  There is in fact, a considerable discipline, including the use of
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  such techniques for helping children become conscious of and
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  develop their physical nature and indeed their entire vital
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  emotional and mental being in a positive way.
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  Dr. Becky Bailey developed a systematic methodology that she
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  teaches called the Conscious Discipline Methodology.
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  While the technique was originally developed for use in
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  the classroom, it has expanded over the last several decades
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  into a comprehensive program that supports childhood
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  education, using evidence from study in developmental
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  psychology and in brain science research.
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  It is clear from the evidence that harnessing the power of the
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  mind to consciously carry out the body's activities can lead
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  to more complete, more powerful, and more harmonious development
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  than the normal, mostly unconscious actions that
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  dominate our daily lives, the mother observes.
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  Quote, but you only have to try it, you will understand very
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  well what I mean. For instance, all the movements
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  you make when dressing, taking your bath, tidying your room, no
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  matter what, make them consciously with the will that
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  this muscle should work. That muscle should work.
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  You will see. You will obtain really amazing
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  results going up and down stairs.
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  You cannot imagine how useful that can be from the point of
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  view of physical culture, if you know how to make use of it.
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  Instead of going up because you are going up and coming down
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  because you are coming down like any ordinary man, you go up with
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  the consciousness of all the muscles which are working and of
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  making them work harmoniously. You will see.
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  Just try a little. You will see this means that you
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  can use all the movements of your life for a harmonious
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  development of your body. You bend down to pick something
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  up. You stretch up to find something
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  right at the top of a cupboard. You open a door, you close it.
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  You have to go round an obstacle.
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  There are 101 things you do constantly and which you can
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  make use of for your physical culture, and which will
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  demonstrate to you that it is the consciousness you put into
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  it which produces the effect 100 times more than just the
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  material fact of doing it. So you choose the method you
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  like best. But you can use the whole of
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  your daily life in this way, to think constantly of the harmony
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  of the body, of the beauty of the movements, of not doing
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  anything that is ungraceful and awkward.
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  You can obtain a rhythm of movement and gesture which is
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  very exceptional. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Powers within, Chapter 5,
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  Willpower, pages 52 to 53.