02 Feb Befriending ourselves in our Meditation Practice
In yesterdays email I wrote to you about meditation being what we are focussed on in any given moment – for me I have been practicing this type of attentiveness in whatever I do (when I remember and especially when I am not caught up in any drama – hahahaha). When I swim – I swim wholeheartedly – when I realise I am zoning out into habitual thought – I wake up – over and over again. What a great practice it is. So while I write this to you, I am practicing being completely absorbed in what I am doing while remaining aware of the lovely sound of rain outside my window and the cool air touching my skin. I am also aware that while I write this some of it may resonate with you and some might not and so I am choosing consciously how I write and to whom I am writing as well as whether what I am sharing is of any help or assistance in our world. There is so much going on in ANY given moment – both inside and all around us.
As Chogyam Tungpa Rinpoche says ‘Meditation practice is regarded as a good and in fact excellent way to overcome warfare in the world: our own warfare as well as greater warfare.’ A practice of sitting to listen to our inner world can be awesome, frightening, wonderful, interesting, crazy, joyous and a whole lot of other describing words – all at the same time!
And so I love Shamatha Meditation, a way of befriending ourselves and we don’t need to sit in half lotus to ‘achieve’ this! This can be a way of being but like any new habit it needs a little discipline – a little (or a lot) coming back to – again and again. Often in a structured practice (like we did last night at Juma) we will have a focus for our attention (last night it was our breath) and each time our attention moves away from the object of our attention we very kindly bring our attention back. You have probably practiced this yourself.
What if we brought this practice into our daily life – this practice of befriending.
As Kelly McGonigal Ph.D. suggests ‘Befriending the mind is the practice of becoming aware of samskaras. By sitting still and focussing on the breath you eliminate external triggers for your mind. When the mind has nothing outside itself to grasp onto, it presses ‘play’ on automatic thoughts and entertains you with stories, memories, fantasies and worries that have nothing to do with what is actually happening in this moment.’
Have you taken time to listen your thoughts lately? I love to question mine with Byron Katie’s 4 questions but most of all I love the first one – is it true? Game changer alert! I have had many untrue thoughts in my mind in my lifetime – hahahaha – have you?
If you are interested in joining us for Meditation we have space for you in our growing Monday Mindful Meditation (MMM) group – Monday 6.30-7.15pm – you can come in person, online or have the session available as a recording for 7 days to practice at your convenience.