On the Verge. Cara Bradley

mind operates.

      • Notes to Self: Reminders, questions, and intentions to help you consistently wake up, show up, and shine.

       Verge Strategies: Living from Your Natural State

      The Verge Strategies are more than practices; they help you live in your natural state by staying awake and aware when you would otherwise be stuck in your busy mind, drained by drama, and limited by distraction. These strategies help you navigate your life and maintain balance and energy. The Verge Strategies include:

      • Be in Sync: Tuning in to your mind and body to maintain clarity and balance, and turning to silence, stillness, and rhythm to stabilize and synchronize.

      • Be Kind: Making friends with yourself by invoking kindness, tenderness, and humor in your life.

      • Let It Go, Let It Be: Letting go of your need to force, fix, or flee in order to become available to experience exactly what is happening in this moment.

      • Be Aware: Checking in with your mind to notice when you are not aware and to recognize when you are fully aware.

      Active versus Passive Attention

      As you’ll see, the practices and strategies are very helpful in getting to know your busy mind and glimpsing the space beyond it. You’re going to practice looking at your busy mind and shifting beyond it over and over. I want to tell you that you don’t need practices and strategies to directly experience your life fully. You already have direct experiences all of the time. The catch is that you’re just not aware you’re having them. To be aware of how you experience this moment, you need to actively pay attention to this moment. In order to show up and directly experience your life, it’s important to understand the difference between active attention and passive attention.

      In active attention, you’re fully right here and right now, with your complete mind and body. Active attention means you notice the dog at the side of the road poised to jump in front of your car; you walk down city streets observing the sights, smells, and sounds; you feel your senses light up with each new experience; and you are fully aware of what you’re saying and doing.

      In passive attention, you’re sort of right here, but sort of distracted or caught up in thoughts that make you feel foggy or dull. You’re distracted by the grocery list or plans for dinner, and you don’t notice the dog ready to jump. You walk the same streets thinking about this and that, oblivious to the bustle of humanity and the beauty around you.

      With active attention, you’re aware. With passive attention, you’re not aware. When you’re aware, you feel alert and engaged in precisely what’s happening; you’re actively and directly experiencing this moment. When you’re not aware, you feel kind of here, sort of present, but also sort of distracted. You may even feel dull. You may notice what’s happening around you, but you’re not that engaged or curious. Most people shift in and out of being aware, active and passive, all day long. It’s important to start noticing if you’re active or passive. Let’s experience this right now.

PRIMER PRACTICE: WAKE-UP CALL

      What does it feel like to be here now? This Primer Practice will give you an opportunity to experience the difference between being active and right here and now or passive and sort of here. You can also join me for the guided practice on the Verge Mobile App.

      1. Set your timer for two minutes and take a seat.

      2. Place your hands on your knees and pause.

      3. Don’t do anything different. Just sit still and breathe.

      4. After two or three breaths, begin to notice what is happening both inside of you and around you.

      5. Tune in to your senses. Everything counts in this practice, including noise, physical sensations, smells, the way your clothes feel on your skin, visual stimuli, and even your breath and thoughts.

      6. There’s no right or wrong. Simply remain curious about what you are experiencing.

      7. When your timer goes off, just rest for another few breaths without focusing on anything particular.

      Are you active or passive, clear or busy, aware or not aware? Continue to ask yourself this question over and over. Notice when you’re more active and aware. Notice when your attention fades and you become passive. Every moment is an invitation to wake up and feel fully alive. Every moment, seemingly big or small, is an opportunity to live on the verge.

      You know those big vivid moments, when your world instantly turns upside down, demanding your full attention, and later you seem to remember every sensation. There are pivotal moments, like when a child is born or a loved one passes away; unexpected moments, like when your basement is flooded or you slip on ice; and thrilling moments, like when you receive an unexpected raise, a marriage proposal, or a call that you won the sweepstakes. These moments grab your attention and wake you up — even if you don’t want to. But there’s more to life than big moments like these. There’s a whole game in between them that still needs to be played. It’s the moments in between that have been the focus of my teaching.

      Every day you have opportunities to be awake and actively aware. In fact, every moment is an invitation to directly experience your life fully. Living on the verge is like waking up from a long night’s sleep, over and over again, one moment after the next. You actively show up to directly experience life right now, and now, and now. Your senses light up, and you feel awake and fully alive.

CHAPTER THREE

       Being Fully Alive

      Over the years, I’ve moved thousands of people through a mix of trendy workouts and ancient practices — and each of them arrived with expectations of getting fit, losing weight, building six-pack abs, and finding peace. I’ve always sensed, however, that there’s a deeper reason for all the striving and searching than just having a great body and a stress-free life. I’ve sensed that at the root of the search is our innate desire to feel fully alive.

      We go to great lengths and great expense to feel fully alive. We’ll jump from fad to fad searching for the next best way to feel more empowered or energized. We open our hearts and wallets to what the hippest experts recommend and what the hottest celebrities are doing — all to feel fully alive. I know this because I’ve been on the same path, searching for ways to feel better, look better, and be better, when underneath all the forcing and fixing I’ve really just longed to feel more alive.

      After a few decades with no earth-shattering results, I called off the search. I let go of needing to feel any different or look any better and gave myself permission to live my life, raise my daughters, teach yoga, and enjoy my husband and friends. It was an incredible relief. My shift in perspective — from seeking to allowing, from doing to being — enabled me to experience space in my life beyond busyness and drama, a space where I experienced an incredible sense of freedom. It felt like falling back on my bed and resting my head on my pillow after a long, busy day.

      I began to pay attention to my direct experiences, and more and more I began to glimpse a more natural and authentic way of living. Shifting my perspective from searching to simply living allowed me to get crystal clear about what was necessary to fully participate in my life — and not to waste one more second doing anything less. The trees looked greener, food tasted better, I felt happier. In this space, beyond the search outside myself, I unleashed a new sense of joy that touched every area of my life. Letting go of the need to figure out my life liberated me not only to show up and experience my life, but to feel fully alive. Beyond the search, I became familiar with how to live my life in high definition and with high-voltage energy.

      Seeing Your