#103 Loch Kelly: Effortless Mindfulness
Loch Kelly, author and meditation teacher, discusses effortless mindfulness, a practice to transcend thoughts and emotions. He provides practical tools to access hidden awareness, debug the mind, and achieve a state of panoramic flow.
Deep Dive Analysis
14 Topic Outline
Early Experiences and Effortless Mindfulness
Exploring Mindfulness and Consciousness
Defining Consciousness and Mindful Awareness
Effortless Mindfulness and Flow States
Accessibility and Purpose of Awake Awareness
Understanding Ego and Parts-Based Systems
Addressing Anxiety and Stress Through Awareness
The Glimpsing Method for Shifting Consciousness
Practical Glimpse: Unhooking to Heart Space
Three Shifts of Identity, Knowing, and Perception
The Five Levels of Mind
Distinguishing Types of Happiness
The Nature of Love as a Foundational Dimension
Challenges in Teaching and Transferring Awareness
9 Key Concepts
Mindful Awareness
This is the ability to not look *from* thought, but to look *at* thought, realizing that one is not their thoughts but rather an awareness observing them. It challenges the assumption of 'I think, therefore I am' by showing thoughts as transient phenomena observed by a deeper awareness.
Effortless Mindfulness
This is a stage beyond traditional mindful awareness, where one looks back at what is aware, realizing there's an alert, contentless, timeless awareness (awake awareness) that is not made of thought. It's like an ocean of awareness from which experiences arise, allowing for optimal functioning without conscious effort.
Panoramic Flow State
Distinct from an absorbed flow state, this is when one's awareness is open all around, feeling embodied and connected to everything. It enables optimal functioning of complex tasks without overthinking, characterized by a sense of being in the now, selflessness, joy, and well-being.
Ego
Ego is understood as a function and a collection of managing parts of oneself, rather than a single, central entity. It typically forms around thoughts, feelings, sensations, and views, acting as an organizing principle but not needing to be the sole driver of one's being.
Glimpsing Method
This is a unique practice designed to quickly shift consciousness by unhooking awareness from identification with a thinker or worrier. It involves either dropping awareness from the head to the heart space or moving it from thinking to an open, effortless, inclusive awareness, thereby accessing a bigger field of consciousness.
Three Shifts of Consciousness
These refer to fundamental changes in how one experiences reality: a shift of identity (from a small, ego-centered self to a selfless, true nature), a shift of knowing (from thought-based to non-conceptual, awareness-based knowing), and a shift of perception (from limited attention to perceiving from a spacious, pervasive, interconnected awake consciousness).
Five Levels of Mind
This model describes a progression of mental states: 1) Everyday mind (thought-based, ego-centered), 2) Mindful witness (subtle mind, detached observation), 3) Effortless Awake Awareness (very subtle mind, contentless, timeless), 4) Unity (awake awareness arising as interconnected experience), and 5) True Nature (bodhicitta, open-hearted awareness with flourishing positive qualities).
Happiness (Capital H)
This refers to our natural condition of inherent okayness and well-being, stemming from one's essential nature, which includes a low level of bliss and friendliness. Unlike 'small h' happiness (pleasure-seeking), it is not dependent on external conditions or fleeting experiences.
Unconditional Love
Described as the foundational fabric of this deeper dimension of self, it feels like the primary dimension of being. It is not a mental state or something acquired externally, but an inherent quality of who one is, present without conditions.
7 Questions Answered
Consciousness is an alert awareness that is not made of thought but observes thought, and can exist as a pure, contentless, timeless state, like an ocean from which experiences arise.
An absorbed flow state involves one-pointed attention on an activity, causing time to disappear, while a panoramic flow state involves an open, embodied awareness connected to everything, allowing optimal functioning of complex tasks without overthinking.
Yes, this awareness-based flow is believed to be already installed and available to everyone, functioning like a background-foreground shift that can be accessed without needing extensive training or specific activities.
People primarily seek this deeper awareness to relieve suffering by accessing a greater capacity and space to be with thoughts, feelings, and sensations without identifying with them, leading to a felt sense of open mind and open heart.
Instead of trying to change anxious thoughts directly, the approach involves first calming the nervous system, then finding the part of oneself that is already not anxious, and from that spacious, awake consciousness, engaging with the anxious part with open-hearted presence.
One can utilize a 'glimpsing method' learned beforehand, which involves unhooking awareness from the fight-or-flight state and either dropping it from the head to the heart space or moving it from thinking to an open, effortless, inclusive awareness, thereby operating from a bigger field of consciousness.
The most challenging aspect is the language and conceptualization, as people tend to filter it through their existing thought-based, subject-object understanding, making it difficult to grasp the wordless, non-conceptual awareness that doesn't have a center in the head.
23 Actionable Insights
1. Shift Identity, Knowing, Perception
Consciously work to shift your identity from a small, thought-based self to a true nature operating system, your knowing from conceptual thought to non-conceptual awareness, and your perception from a detached witness to a spacious, interconnected consciousness.
2. Retrain Brain for Awake Awareness
Use short ‘glimpses’ (3 seconds to 3 minutes) to plug into awake awareness, then consistently practice and ‘retrain your brain to remain’ in this state, making it your new primary operating system despite old habits.
3. Push Beyond Stress Management
Don’t stop at basic stress management or a calmer ego; push beyond the second level of mind (mindful witness) to access the third level of awake consciousness, which offers profound freedom and love.
4. Shift to Effortless Awareness
Progress beyond basic mindfulness by shifting your attention to the awareness itself, asking ‘what’s aware?’ or ‘where is it aware from?’, to access a contentless, alert awareness.
5. Cultivate Panoramic Flow State
Practice opening peripheral awareness to achieve a 360-degree panoramic feeling and drop into an embodied flow state, which enhances capability and enjoyment.
6. Unhook from Emotional Hijacks
To interrupt emotional hijacks, identify with the ’thinker’ or ‘worrier’ part, then unhook your awareness, allowing it to drop from your head to your heart space and open up, or shift from thinking to effortless, inclusive awareness.
7. Practice Small, Frequent Glimpses
Engage in ‘glimpses’ – short, repeated practices of accessing awake consciousness – with eyes open or closed, to gradually develop and stabilize an open-hearted, responsive state of being.
8. Observe Thoughts, Not Be Them
Practice mindful awareness by observing your thoughts as they come and go, realizing that you are the awareness observing them, not the thoughts themselves, to ‘debug’ your brain.
9. Observe Emotional Parts, Not Be Them
When experiencing strong emotions like sadness or anger, recognize them as ‘parts of you’ rather than identifying as the emotion itself, then observe these parts from a larger, open-hearted awareness to create space and relieve suffering.
10. Shift Awareness to Spaciousness
When feeling stuck in mental or emotional ‘clouds,’ shift your awareness from the cloud to the surrounding ‘sky’ or space, then curiously observe from this open, spacious perspective, including the ‘cloud’ within it, to access optimal functioning.
11. Recognize Happiness as Natural
Recognize that true ‘Happiness’ (capital H) is your natural condition of okayness and well-being, stemming from your essential nature, rather than being dependent on external pleasures or conditions.
12. Embrace Unconditional Love
Understand love as the foundational, unconditional fabric of your primary dimension of self, realizing that ‘who I am is love’ and it is not dependent on external conditions or mental states.
13. Cultivate Compassionate Flow
Cultivate a ‘compassionate flow’ by recognizing your true nature, allowing positive qualities like compassionate wisdom, non-reactivity, safety, and friendliness to flourish as your new operating system, even amidst life’s triggers.
14. Reframe Ego as a Function
Recognize the ego not as your core identity or the ‘driver of the car,’ but as a functional part of your psyche, allowing it to relax and integrate into a larger, more comprehensive sense of self.
15. Calm and Shift from Anxiety
When anxious, first use basic calming practices like a three-part breath with a slower exhale to soothe the nervous system, then shift to finding the part of you that is not anxious, and from that space, address the anxious part’s concerns.
16. Dialogue with Anxious Parts
To address anxiety, locate it physically in your body, give it a felt sense and voice, then ask that anxious ‘part’ to create space, and observe it from a more spacious, awake consciousness with open-hearted presence.
17. Practice 360-Degree Awareness Glimpse
Practice a ‘glimpse’ by softening your gaze to take in a wider field of vision, receiving sight and sound without pinpointing, then allow your awareness to spontaneously open to the sides, expanding your peripheral vision and encompassing a 360-degree field.
18. Unhook to Heart Space
To unhook, intentionally drop your awareness from your head down through your jaw, throat, and upper body, settling into your heart space or ‘heart-mind,’ and perceive from this open, embodied location.
19. Respond from Embodied Awareness
After opening awareness, curiously notice if you are aware from that spacious, embodied awareness (equally inside and out), allowing you to respond with open, non-thought-based alertness rather than reacting.
20. Rest in Alert Potential
From the heart space, notice if thoughts or information arise to this space, and rest in an ‘alert potential’ that is spacious, embodied, and wide awake, feeling safe and grounded.
21. Move Beyond Detached Witness
When practicing mindfulness, avoid getting stuck in a detached ‘witness protection program’ by opening up and looking through the mindful witness to access an effortless, awake awareness that is interconnected rather than separate.
22. Embrace Interconnectedness, Unity
Shift your understanding from concepts like ’emptiness’ to ‘interconnectedness’ or ‘unity,’ recognizing that all things are interdependent and not separate, which fosters a sense of well-being and safety.
23. Find Your Glimpse Door
Experiment with different ‘glimpse doors’ or methods to find the one that best suits your learning style (kinesthetic, visual, auditory) for shifting consciousness effectively.
6 Key Quotes
Oh, I'm not my thoughts. Oh, my thoughts, even when they start with, I am thinking this thought are coming and going, and there's some awareness that's observing it.
Loch Kelly
Basically, your implicit memory is your thinking, so you know how to do whatever you're doing, and you're just operating from an awake awareness consciousness that's organizing your thought in a way that's effortlessly mindful.
Loch Kelly
What if it didn't have to do with people, places, and things, that that same sense of well-being was our central nature in this next phase of development?
Loch Kelly
It's almost seeing it in the frame of the, there's a developmental stage.
Loch Kelly
This is the upgrade. You have to go from kind of the old orientation to a little disorientation. Like, where am I? I'm not a self. There's nothing here.
Loch Kelly
The image they use in the wisdom traditions is the awake awareness is like shooting arrows through the sky.
Loch Kelly
2 Protocols
Glimpse Method: Opening Awareness Around (Visual/Auditory)
Loch Kelly- Let your eyes be soft and take in a wider view, not just pinpointing one thing, like all things on a table.
- Feel like a soft lens of a camera, receiving hearing.
- Realize that seeing is receiving light reflecting off objects and coming to your eyes; just rest and receive.
- Allow your awareness to move itself from something in front of you to the space, a little more to the sides.
- Feel your peripheral vision follow and open, even though your eyes are not physically opening wider.
- Let your awareness move itself to the side of your head in which sound is coming and going.
- Allow your awareness to open all the way around, curiously wondering and feeling that open view.
- Notice if you are aware *of* that spacious awareness, or *from* that awareness that is equally inside and out, both open-minded, open-hearted, and embodied, feeling dropped down.
- Rest without orienting to thought and without going to sleep, noticing a freeing, alert potential to know or do.
Glimpse Method: Unhooking to Heart Space (Kinesthetic)
Loch Kelly- Unhook awareness from its usual center (e.g., behind your eyes) and drop it down to feel your jaw directly from within.
- Feel your throat and neck directly from within, checking that the subject and object of awareness are in the same place.
- Notice that this 'bubble of awareness' can drop below your neck into your upper body, feeling it directly from within, allowing it to get a little bigger.
- Drop into the middle of your chest, into a 'heart space' or a safe, open space, as if going deep into the space within atoms.
- Notice a quality that feels open, as if once you go deep within, it opens to a more open mind and open heart, all around and within.
- Be aware from this heart space without orienting to thought, as if you are located here and files from your head can come down by Wi-Fi if needed.
- Notice a kind of alert potential to know or do, feeling spacious, embodied, alert, resting, and wide awake and safe.