ABILITIES · BODY

How fixed is the represented body?

Your physical body remains where it is. These experiments concern how its position and shape are experienced or imagined.

Contemporary experiments. Outcomes and improvement are not guaranteed. Skip any sense or form of imagery that is unavailable or uncomfortable.

Keep this brief, seated or lying safely. Stop at dizziness, panic, disorientation, an unsettling sense of unreality, or other concerning effects. Use the return steps. Do not push through; if effects persist or worry you, seek professional support. Unusual does not mean advanced.

Start with Self if you prefer simpler explorations of contact and attention.

Choose one experiment.

Keep it brief. Include uncertainty.

Practices

Body map

Compare felt position with visible position.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Seated, close your eyes if comfortable and estimate where hands, feet, and knees are without moving.
Compare. Open your eyes and compare. Keep the felt estimate distinct from the visible position.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

Size

Compare felt and seen dimensions.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Attend to one resting hand. Notice its apparent size and how prominent its boundaries feel.
Compare. Look at the hand. Compare the felt impression with its visible dimensions; no change in physical size is implied.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

Two bodies

Keep imagination and physical contact distinct.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Only if ordinary body awareness feels steady, imagine a second representation in the same seated position while retaining actual contact with the chair. Briefly imagine one arm in a different position.
Compare. Identify which arm position is imagined and which is physically visible. End immediately if that distinction becomes unclear.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

Represented movement

Compare different ways of imagining an action.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Keep the arm resting. Briefly picture raising it, then consider the intention to raise it and the imagined feel of movement, without performing it.
Compare. Notice whether these were distinct or unavailable. Check that the arm remained at rest; imagery is not physical movement.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

Double position

Represent an alternative while knowing the actual position.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Remain seated with physical contact clear. Imagine the same body sitting slightly differently, without changing your actual posture.
Compare. Name the actual position and the imagined alternative separately. If either becomes confusing, finish and return.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

Return

Practice ending deliberately.

Prepare. Choose a safe ordinary moment with no task demanding your attention. Decide what you expect to notice.
Experiment. Look around, name familiar objects, feel contact, and gently move hands and feet.
Compare. Can you locate your body and surroundings ordinarily again? Do not resume unusual representation exercises while unsettled.
Return. Look around and name familiar objects. Feel the chair or floor. Move your hands and feet. Stand or walk only when steady and appropriate, then resume ordinary activity.

What kind of conclusion is this?

Observation

“I distinguished three sounds.” A report of what you noticed.

Inference

“I may be getting better at separating sounds.” An interpretation that needs comparison.

Hypothesis

“Repeated practice might improve accuracy.” A question for testing.

Speculation

“Perhaps this relates to an ancient account.” An idea these exercises cannot establish.

If a result cannot be checked, describe it as your experience. Do not quietly turn it into a verified fact.

Notice what is already here.
Include a little more.
Listen for what changes.
And return when you choose.