Time spent: 1 hour, from 10:04 a.m. to 11:04 a.m. on Sunday,
January 27, 2013
This exercise was quite difficult
to complete, in the sense that it is abnormal/out of the ordinary for most
people to sit for an hour motionless—which I believe was the purpose of the
exercise: it wasn’t really to look at yourself for an hour but to remain
motionless for an hour in order to get in touch with inner reflections…to
somehow get out of your thoughts but into your mind simultaneously. I did the
exercise first thing after waking up, in a state of refreshment yet also
vulnerability, in order to start my day on an atypical note. At first I did the
usual things one does in front of the mirror: I evaluated the color of my skin
and how it changed when the halogen light bulbs continued to brighten; noticed
the sleepiness in my eyes; questioned why to me my nose appears smaller on some
days rather than others; noted how the right edge of my mouth lays higher than
the left side, and that the white of my right eye appeared brighter that the
white of my left; observed the crease
that bisects my neck and the way my hair sprouts from my hairline. After a few
minutes though I was not staring at myself exactly, but instead was staring
through myself, not really looking at anything at all but simply thinking and
being, while remaining motionless—it was like an open-eyed meditation. Again,
my yoga practices assisted me in this exercise; I found it easier to remain
motionless when I took deep inhales and exhales. Occasionally I closed my eyes
and occasionally I adjusted my positioning on the stool I was perched on. As
for my thoughts, I thought mostly about the long and short-term tasks I have at
hand…the possibility of moving from the house I live in sometime soon, the
looming pressure of putting up an exhibition in about a month’s time…etc. If I
could have done one thing differently, I would have set an alarm on my phone,
because once I had started the exercise, I really had to suppress the temptation
to check my phone to see how much time had passed—it was a practice in
resistance as well. I checked my phone when about 40 minutes had gone by, which
interrupted my concentration and motionlessness, but I still felt a sense of
accomplishment for mot checking my phone any sooner than this.
During this exercise, the song I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles became stuck in my head.
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Good morning, time to look at yourself!
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