Broadband Sensing
and an extra idea on Sounds.
The main difference between my meditation now and a year ago, is that whole body breathing is now whole body smelling. And when indoors i use the aroma oils.
BACK TO THE WIND
I don't know if it checks out in animal behaviour, but sounds and smells are carried by the wind, so when outside, it makes sense to sit or stand with your back to the wind. in front you can use your eyes.
- Then listening and smelling anew with each change of wind.
Then there's another very basic exercise which i want to add.
HUMMING
This is something else we can do on the out breath while practicing broadband scenting on the in-breath. It is a sidetrack from the central theme of the essay but the possibility comes naturally with our human body.
At birth, when the breathing starts, we start smelling and we start making noises with our mouth. Now, many animals make noises to affirm their territory, but what i am going to suggest is something which, to my knowledge, only cats make when they purr or maybe at a stretch of the imagination, maybe frogs!
Humming quietly to yourself. I am suggesting something very similar to the typical droning of Buddhist monks, but without the words. It's a form of self confirmation. I find it a particularly useful way of keeping peace with myself when everything outside is too noisy, busy and overpowering.
To conclude, if first you sense taste, from the lips and mouth down into the body; then sense the smells in and above the roof and sides of the mouth - stretching out to the ears and back of the head. Then feel how the soft palate is the centre of this area - and notice how when you start humming and it vibrates this central area, (and also the top and back of the throat). This stimulates the lower brain. It's quick and easy fun, and can harm no-one.
Sometimes you will feel the humming, vibrating in your belly. But it's easy to feel it in the soft palate and the top of the throat, and it's relaxing. You can also focus this humming and vibrating anywhere stiff in the body. Quite generally it seems healthy to allow yourself to make any sort of vocal noise you want, to vibrate and massage yourself inwardly.
Sensing Inside the Body
It seems that Buddhism refers to an internal awareness of smelling, tasting, listening and seeing, but there is probably much debate on the meanings of these passages, and i have never heard of any Buddhist practicing this.
Listen to the sounds inside your body (especially while scenting).
Listening activates the awareness in a special specific way - listening seeing and tasting all activate the awareness in special specific ways - they bring out facets of the awareness which we don't use with our brain guided awareness.
In the same way you can listen out in a specific direction, you can listen in to your body, to specific muscles and joints, they don't often make noises, but just that possibility opens up our awareness, listening out with exactly the same attitude we can listen out to the world outside
This is not a mystical way of sensing, possibly just imagination .. but these unused aspects of our imagination and awareness can be very useful.
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I don't know much about pheromones ... but pheromones are transported, (they communicate with their recipient) through the breathing, and this is an added aspect of smelling.