Yogi: When I go back to everyday life, I might be in the kitchen bending and lifting my arm, are they skillful objects to be aware of as compared to seeing and hearing?
Sayadaw: Whatever your mind goes to and is aware of, that’s fine. If you know that your mind is being aware of something, that’s fine; whatever it might be.
The important thing is: ‘What is the mind aware of?’
It’s really only when we’re in distress or very happy – out of our balanced state of mind – that’s when you have a more important object; that’s when we need to check if we’re aware, whether the mind is aware with the right attitude – then that becomes important. But if you’re settled, then whatever object is fine.
If we’re feeling emotional and we’re able to be aware of our emotion in a balanced way, it’s more helpful to be aware of the emotion than, say, to be aware of something else.