Every time you sit and meditate it’s a different experience. This is not a problem and doesn’t mean you aren’t growing. It just is. Each time it is a new opportunity. Be present with your experience rather than doubting yourself. Come back to your breath with compassion, forgiveness and kindness. The situation is always changing. Meditation is not cognitive. It’s happening on a different level. Tapping into the level of the heart changes the way we see things and helps us let go of clinging to an outcome.
Gaining A Tool Belt
Thanks to Mary for leading DPX last Sunday with a short talk about the importance of good breathing for overall health and a short synopsis of Dan Harris book titled 10% Happier. Mary talked about relaxing into uncertainty, through a regular meditation practice. Becoming curious about it, sitting with it and learning to respect our fear without being controlled by it. People in our group talked about how having a routine that helps with uncertainty and learning to take our habitual catastrophizing with a grain of salt. For some, Covid 19 has been a boot camp for self-help, developing routines, and gaining a tool belt of positive self-help practices. Remembering little things like separating work spaces from leisure spaces which can help. People also expressed difficulty balancing having confidence about the future Vs. expecting disappointment all the time. Acknowledging that expecting the worst can be a comforting coping mechanism, which taken to an unproductive extreme. We try to keep in mind that everything is impermanent, and everything will change as we take refuge in the moment.