They are the moves you are always engaged in, the rhythm and melody of your dance with life. You know what they are and you don't think about them.
Hunting is an instinct. If you are here on this website, you may be hunting for information about how to improve your life. Surfing the web is enabled by computers, but the real power comes from inside us, the human instinct to figure out how the world works. Curiosity is an instinct. Exploring is an instinctive behavior.
Making a trail is instinctive – if you found your way here, and perhaps bookmark the site, that is making a trail. When you go shopping for food or clothes, you are engaged in multiple instincts: you follow a trail or series of roads you know to get to the market or mall; you gather things you need, or you browse and search for things you need; and you bring them back to your nest. Saying something is an "instinct" is just a way of saying it is natural, a natural move.
We each have our own favorite instincts, combinations of instincts, and sequences. As individuals, we have preferred styles of activities, and things we don't like so much. Raising children involves many instincts: nurturing, bonding, communicating, protecting, setting boundaries, guarding boundaries, nesting. And, of course, getting in to position to have children usually involves the mating instinct.
The process of meditating itself is very playful. Playing is an instinct; all mammals play, and in playing they rehearse actions, practice moving in a coordinated manner, and engage their talents. When we meditate, the body gets a chance to rest more deeply than sleep; resting is an instinct, and we all do a form of resting every day called sleeping. Sleeping is an instinct, and when we sleep we dream. What is a dream? While we are asleep, the brain creates, directs and acts in mental movies, which we sometimes remember when we wake up.
When we meditate, the feeling of meditation itself alternates between resting, playing, communing, dreaming, and so on. Sometimes we feel we are being fed, nourished, by the peacefulness of the meditation. Other times we feel we are being stimulated, awakened, excited by the meditation experience.
Everyday life is structured around the instincts:
Resting – sleeping and dreaming.
Feeding - yourself and your family and pets.
Grooming - bathing and getting dressed, doing your hair. Picking the nits out of your children’s fur.
Gathering - foraging by going to the store or the garden and bringing food home.
Hunting – searching for what you need in the environment, shopping for the best buys
Exploring – looking and sniffing around to discover what interests you. Going on an adventure. Expanding your horizons.
Homing – the navigational skills to find your way home when you have been out exploring.
Nesting – building a home or tending to it, decorating, cleaning. Being cozy, snuggling in bed.
Socializing – talking on the phone, getting together with friends.
Playing - having fun, doing things for sheer enjoyment.
Courting – flirting, considering possible mates.
Mating – developing a love relationship. Having sex.
Procreating – the urge to bear children.
Communicating – expressing, singing out, saying what you know.
Communing with nature.
Protecting - the self, the cubs, and the tribe.
Establishing dominance – competing in the workplace. Finding your place in the pecking order.
