​Control of movement

We do not control movement in the way that we think we do, by initiation. The thought of doing something, like walking somewhere, already initiates the movements which take place automatically. The automatic nature of simple movements is seen in the headless chicken running around the yard or in the spastic movement patterns of the stroke victim.

We can join in with automatic movements or not. 
This is more like the control of the downward movement of the arm than the upward movement. We allow the limb to fall with gravity, but controlling the fall so that it does not simply drop.

The breath
We find control through letting go rather than imposing control. If we join in, it is by placing a marker on the cycle. This is like wood-turning. The wood spins automatically and then we simply place the chisel in order to carve the wood. Similarly, the breath takes it’s natural cycle, and we place a limit on the excursions. In terms of the out-breath, we are not controlling the breath by suppression, but by relaxation. The long breath is joining in with this relaxation, following it. The in breath we allow to happen automatically, like the lungs ‘bouncing back open’, following this, if we wish, into a full in-breath..

I offer this for your reflection.

Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk

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