Buddha says “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” This is exactly what contemplative practice is, it is the guiding of your mind to the present, focusing on your body, feelings and only what is going on right now. When I am in a contemplative practice, time moves differently, I don’t realize what’s going on in the outer world. I think of it as going into my subconscious and I only focus on the important things. As I breath in and out during the practice my personal worries melt away and I find myself completely immersed in the subject. One might say that these practices aren’t actually forms of learning and they actually impair it. However, I argue that because I’m not focused on writing notes or assignments, I’m much more capable of interacting with the subject. The best example of this is the contemplative practice on hunger. In a practice that directly involves the body, contemplative practice is the best form of learning.
The overarching question I grappled with was; what are the effects of food insecurity? I feel extremely privileged that I’m just contemplating this and I haven’t had to experience it. There is a direct correlation between food insecurity and health issues. The body is much weaker and is unable to fight off infections and diseases. In fact 3.1 million children under 5 die due to poor nutrition every year. Another major issue of hunger and malnutrition is that it stunts children’s brain development and makes concentrating in school or even getting an education to be extremely hard. This is especially important to mention during a contemplative practice, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the benefits of it if I was hungry. My concentration would be wavering as my hunger overtook my conscious and subconscious thoughts. This question and subsequent feelings are what made this practice the most impactful for me.
https://www.bbfloudoun.org/news/2019/5/2/effects-of-starvation-on-adults-and-children
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190429-why-food-poverty-is-a-health-time-bomb
