On Arriving Through the Body

A brief note: This conversation was shortened and very lightly edited for length and clarity.

What does “arrival” mean in the body, not as an idea?

MAIRA: Arrival, for me, is when attention comes out of the mind and into the body—when we are no longer living 90 percent of the time from the neck up. It’s the moment we begin to sense our lived experience directly: the breath, the sensations, the movement, the contact with the ground or the chair.

Often, arrival begins with something very simple. Just noticing the rise and