I keep forgetting...
I keep making this more complicated than it is. I keep thinking meditation or moments of enlightenment must be sophisticated or elaborate, some mystical secret or code that needs to be cracked.
Sometimes (not every time, but sometimes) I find myself straining when I’m meditating. Straining, looking for it. I get done meditating and my face is pinched from the effort of meditation…the strain of seeking.
And in those sessions, because I am so caught up in the chase ⏤ in the
hunt
⏤ I forget all about staying present. I forget about watching the breath, or noticing that my mind has been hijacked. I’m so busy looking for it that I forget that what I’m seeking is right here.
It’s right here in me.
It’s right there in you.
Already.
You don’t have to find it.
You just have to be still.
I just have to be still.
It’s not complicated. Don’t make it complicated. You don’t have to strain for presence or peace or wisdom. The formula for meditation practice is simple: focus on the breath, notice if your mind drifts, guide it back to the breath. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Every beautiful day of your life.
Through this simple and repetitive process you will improve your awareness.You will build your skill to notice. To be awake and stay awake. Trust in the practice. You will be tempted to say to yourself, “but there has to be something more to it ⏤ it has to be harder or weirder or vaguer than that…”
Nope. I can say that with conviction.
But sometimes I forget. Which is the very human part of this journey.
Big love,
Join
Kathleen for Guided Meditation Saturday mornings at 7:45. The Studio offers some form of Meditation seven days per week.
