There is a place from which you notice the world. A place from which you know where you are. Somewhere back behind your eyes,\ and between your ears. An attentional pivot. A place from which you orient. [Part One — Seat and Support] Begin with the chair beneath you. Notice where the seat meets your body. The places of contact. The places carrying your weight. Your back meets the chair. Your feet meet the floor. The surface beneath you. A structure supporting your weight. Notice its firmness. The simple presence of support. Feel the space between your body and the chair. [Part Two — Earth and Gravity] Beneath the chair is the floor. Beneath the floor is the Earth. Gravity gives direction to this moment. Notice the weight of your head and the support beneath that weight. A vertical relationship, present here, where you are. The Earth has a center. Gravity draws everything toward it. You are here, resting upon its surface. [Part Three — Sounds and Direction] Now, register a sound within the room, or somewhere beyond it. Notice where the sound comes from. It may be near. It may be far away. Your attention can register its direction while your head remains comfortably positioned. The sound has a location. And you have a location\ from which you hear it. [Part Four — Distance and Space] Notice the space around you. A wall. A door. A window. A ceiling. Something close. Something farther away. Notice the distance between you and something in front of you. And the space continuing behind you. The room has width. The room has depth. The room has height. You occupy a place within it. And the room continues around you. There is space between objects. There is space between you and the world around you. [Part Five — Cardinal Directions] There are directions beyond this room. North. South. East. West. You may know where one of them lies. You may make a simple guess. The sun rises toward the east and sets toward the west. Follow the sun arc above your head from East to West. Your attention can travel toward a direction while your head stays comfortably balanced. Pivot your attention 90 degrees to the south. & Follow South to North. You remain here, at the meeting of these directions. [Part Six — Air and Temperature] Sense the temperature of the air against your face. Across your hands. Along your forearms. Some places may feel cooler. Others warmer. The air may be moving. The air may be still. Notice its qualities as they are in this moment. The air occupies space. Your body occupies space. And you are here, within the same room. [Part Seven — Texture and Clothing] Feel the fabric touching your skin. At your shoulders. Across your back. Around your legs or feet. A texture. A temperature. A point of contact. Fabric resting against your body. Notice where clothing meets skin. Notice the qualities of the surfaces surrounding you. Your clothing has texture. The chair has texture. The floor has a surface. Each contact offers information about where your body is resting. [Part Eight — The Body Map] Notice where your shoulders are. Where your elbows are. Where your hands are. Your hips. Your knees. Your feet. Notice the weight of your head, and the width of your ribcage. Your arms have positions in relation to your trunk. Your legs have positions beneath your pelvis. Your shoulders and hips mark places where your limbs join your body. Notice the arrangement of your arms and legs. The position of your head. The relationship between your head and your spine. A living arrangement of relationships. A body with height, width, and depth. Present in a particular place. [Part Nine — The Axes and Where-Self] Now consider three directions through your body. From head toward feet. From front toward back. From side to side. Three axes of location. Above. Below. Forward. Behind. Left. Right. Gravity continues downward. The world continues around you. And somewhere within this arrangement, there is the place from which you are orienting. The attentional pivot. Back behind your eyes. Between your ears. The place from which you register direction, distance, and position. Your Where-Self. You can notice the direction of your attention. And the place from which your attention is moving. A point of reference within a world of relationships. There is a chair beneath you. An Earth beneath the chair. Air around you. Sounds arriving from directions. Walls defining space. And a body occupying its own location. You can notice the room. You can notice the support beneath you. You can notice the direction of your attention. And you can notice the place from which you are noticing. Here is the room. Here is your body. Here is the present. And here is the place from which you know where you are. Your Where-Self.
