More Right Than Wrong – Homeostasis
Day 241
Homeostasis
Homeostasis is a self-regulating process by which biological systems maintain stability while adjusting to changing external conditions.
This concept explains how an organism can maintain more or less constant internal conditions that allow it to adapt and to survive in the face of a changing and often hostile external environment. If one does not understand this self-regulating process, then it is not possible to comprehend fully the function of the body in health and in disease. The disruption of homeostatic mechanisms is what leads to disease, and effective therapy must be directed toward re-establishing these homeostatic conditions, working with rather than against nature.
Frontiers in Physiology, 10 March 2020
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.0020
We are looking at our mammal minds and working out what it means to be in a 'maybe' space – not too up, and not too down. Especially down. The ups tend to come and go, but the downs can really stick around sometimes.
Observing our breath and bodies, as we do every day in our practice, will help us find and sustain the maybe. Breath IS maybe, through and through. Do you ever reminisce about past breaths, or look forward to future ones? Of course not. You just don't care that much (unless it's not working!). You take it for granted (with the 'nonchalance' that we talked about yesterday). In fact, by design, you take your entire body/life/being for granted. The amount of effort and 'things going right' involved in maintaining your body's life/homeostasis is far beyond my power to express!
As you practice, and see the fullness of what's going on more clearly, you'll notice that far more is going right than wrong. This insight puts you right into the maybe space.
PRACTICE
Observe your breath.
Notice that breath is neutral. Observing it will align your whole mind to neutral. This is its healthiest state. It's also the perspective required to explore more deeply into our minds.