As the meditation challenge enters its fourth week, we’re asked to consider ways we can bring the meditation practices we have learned to our daily lives.
Sharon reminds us, “we don’t meditate to get better at meditating; we meditate to get better at life.”
Our sangha’s instructor has given an analogy between going to the gym and doing a meditation practice. I might do bicep curls at the gym. By itself, a curl isn’t much, but collectively, those curls strengthen the muscles. Outside of the gym, when I’m doing everyday things, I am better able to call upon the strength I’ve gained through my workout.
Likewise, my meditation practice is working the “mindfulness muscle.” Off the meditation mat, I now find I’m more likely to take a pause before reacting, and to be more present to what’s here.
A case in point: shopping in a busy store is something that’s really stressful for me – I’m not fond of crowds. I will now do a mini mindfulness of breathing practice in the store, and I’ll root myself in the present and acknowledge my anxiety. Then I’ll shift to a metta practice. Not only do I wish myself peace, but I recognize that the people surrounding me are also suffering in their own way, and that they too want to be happy. I send wishes to them: may you be happy; may you live with ease and peace. I feel a little more connected to these people. I find I am more patient – with others and myself. I might even smile at strangers. 🙂
Or when I’m out walking with my dogs, I’ll often be more attentive to what’s around me. The stars, the trees, the sound of squeaking snow. The big, blue sky.
These little mini-practices remind me that this – the crowds, the anxiety, the trees, the sky – is temporary. Everything changes.
Sharon says: “The practice of meditation is about having an immensity of vision as vast as the sky… We might not be able to change the circumstances of our lives, but we can change our relationship to those circumstances.”
That reminds me of the poem The Journey, by David Whyte:
Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find thatfirst, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.
With warmest wishes,
Andrea G