Meditation Minder
Being asleep is a part of life. What we call meditation could be described as the process of being awake, or at least being aware of being either awake or asleep. For those of us who have practiced meditation one way or another, we all know that we drift away sometimes from our practice. Life happens and the things that happen often have a way of gravitating us away from our discipline. That’s ok. But a life unobserved, at least from time to time, is a life not fully awoken to. We need sleep and wakefulness.
So how can we enliven our discipline when faced with time-draining modernity? One simple solution I’ve come up with follows. When you happen to catch yourself not making time to open up your awareness of the things you do, order yourself a prescription, a doctor’s order as it were. Sometimes when we have an externally imposed ritual like “Take 2 pills 3 times a day with water” we tend to be more faithful about what we need to do. So order yourself a Z-pack (Zen Pack) from time to time.
When we’re finding it hard to bring forth awareness of the life around us, a little prescription can become a big deal. Sometimes we only need 5 minutes of sitting, worked in 2 or 3 times a day. Saying to yourself “I’ll enjoy a sitting meditation for 5 or 10 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and bedtime for the next 5 days” can be enough to get you back on track. You may find on day 6 that your sessions are more mindfully routine, a bit longer, a bit more focused, and you don’t feel as stressed about all the craziness in you life.
It can also be useful to mark your calendar with mindfulness reminders. Daily minders can be useful–a pop-up or email alert that interrupts you from your web surfing or work can give you the break your mind needs. Also, to break things up and keep your long-term discipline healthy, adding meditation holidays to your schedule can bring about some needed release from your slumber. Quarterly dates can be very effective. A day to more deeply reflect on things: ask yourself how’s your business going or how your perception of others could be more creative and compassionate. A day, or half of one, to re-read an old favorite or attend a community meeting on something you enjoy.
Remember: the best time to meditate is when you don’t have the time. Namaste!
