Meditation

Lately there's been a little voice in my head....actually there have been a lot of little voices in my head and that is the problem.  Too many voices.  Too much noise (hard to help that with 3 children).  Too much chaos.  I'm researching a lot about health and wellness for a project I am working on (can't wait to share it with you soon) and I've realized that, well, I better practice what I preach.
One area that needs some work in my wellness plan is the ability to calm my mind and spirit.  So I set out on a quest to learn about meditation.  I read some books.  I read some articles.  I asked some people.  Turns out all meditation is is breathing.  Oh, and noticing that you are breathing.  Really?  That's it?  The great mystery of enlightenment is all about breathing.  Ok, easy enough, right? WRONG.  An article I read in the Shambhala Sun that gave meditation instruction said, "Meditation is very simple and extremely down to earth, to the extent that it's irritatingly down to earth."
So, here's how my attempt went....

I sat down on my comfy pillow and opened my hands and took a breath and....noticed the laundry all over the floor.  Well that won't do, so I got up and piled the laundry into a basket and moved it to another room.  Awwww....much better.  Sat back down, noticed the bed wasn't made well and those wrinkles (see picture above) were really distracting me, soooooo got up and made the bed.   Awww....now on to enlightenment.  Breathing.  Thinking about dinner.  NO, breathe.  Maybe a candle will help.  Lit a candle.  Breathing.  Blew out the candle (not kidding, really did that). Laughed.  Sat down and tried again.....





After a bit (felt like forever) I started to relax and just breathe.  I found it helpful to "shhhhsh" myself (in a kind way) on the out-breath .  Thoughts came, I tried to let them pass right through.  I started with 5 minutes and I hope to add more with practice.  Mingyur Rinpoche said,

 "We just need to pause to recognize what is always right in front of us.  This is the crucial point, because meditation is not about changing who we are, or becoming better people, or even about getting rid of destructive habits.  Meditation is about learning to recognize our basic goodness in the immediacy of the present moment, and then nurturing this recognition until is seeps into the very core of our being."

So, I hope you will join me in taking 5 quiet minutes a day to sit and let your goodness seep into the very core of your being because it's there, in all of us, and we need to pause once in awhile to feel it.

I also hope you come back tomorrow to meet our Friday Feature watercolor artist: Katie Bradley.  Sneak Peek HERE.