In this next lesson we will be using our ability to use our vision as a tool for Observation without Judgement.  When you use your vision, you want to disconnect from your sensations from hearing, taste, and feeling as much as possible. You can try using ear plugs, sitting comfortably, or wear gloves, and make sure that the room is not too hot or too cold. As you become more advanced at this, it will become less important to shut these sensations off by external means as you can shut them out for the moment with just your mind. 

Make sure that you are in a safe place. This way the Lizard Brain will not feel the need to rush in and save you.  When we are looking at things, we want to just take in information. We can look at the sky, examine the clouds, and see if it is raining or not. We want to devoid of all judgements from all our thought. We need to eliminate disdain and disgust as these are judgements. We also want to eliminate wonder and amazement as these are also judgements. As we have learned before our observation needs to be done without any judgements.  

Find a wall with a nice texture of paint. Observe the wall, cracks, dirt, and different colors on the wall. Look at how the paint blends into different sections of the wall, and just notice these things.  You can also watch the sun come up, watch the light enter the day and how it creates shadows that reflect off of water. Notice how the color of everything changes as the sun rises. 

There is many things that we can observe in using method.  

-watch animals as they move, balance and regulate their gate.

-watch animals eat, swallow, and how they appear when they finish their meals.

-observe visually your food when you are eating, look at the colors and textures.

-observe water as it comes out of a faucet, glass, or as it runs down a gutter or river.

-go out in nature and watch the trees and leaves.

-look at your loved ones and watch them move, sleep, and their bodies as their emotions change.

-observe how bodies reflect people’s emotional state.

  -twitch of finger.

  -blink of an eye.

  -perspiration of a skin.

  -part of body that they touch repeatedly.

Once you have observed these things, an hour or so later, open your journal and write down what you have observed. Write down without judgement, with as much detail as possible what you saw. About an hour later write down all of the judgements that you had about your judgements. If you were watching our loved ones, write down the emotions that they made when they felt different movements. What kinds of movements did they have when they felt insecure?

By observing the world without judgement, you will be able to expand your knowledge of the world without quick pre-judgements that mask reality. 

When Lao Tsu told his followers about meditation, he asked them to go for a walk in the woods to alleviate themselves of their current problems of life. These things normally were what kept them from being happy. By going for walks it helped his followers to slow down their Lizard Brain as it was no longer being attacked. 

What has happened throughout centuries because of The Human Condition was that people become competitive. Their teacher tells them of the wall exercise that we shared in the beginning of the lesson. One of the students says “well I was able to stare at it for a whole hour!” Then another student will announce later on “I was able to stare at it for a whole month.” And then before you know it, a monk says “I was able to stare at a rock wall for nine years.” Just like with everything else in yoga and in life, there are many paths. The point of the observation lesson is not to turn your whole life into staring into a wall. 

It is ok if you wish to do this. The point of yoga is to help you connect to your life of love, laughter, and suffering.  It is to help you balance yourself out in life. As you increase your skills of observation, you will automatically be able to observe things that are happening without prejudgement.  This will allow you to create happiness and contentment in life. The point of yoga is not to change your life, it is to connect you to your life. 

This is like when you are watching a TV station and it is not coming in clearly. Yoga is like the aluminum foil that goes over the rabbit ears to get the station to come in more clear. Yoga is like a stronger wifi router that will allow you to get to distant parts of your house. Yoga is like moving from black and white TV to virtual reality.  Yoga isn’t trying to get you to turn off your cell phone, it is trying make your experience more rich.