When anyone sits down to their daily practice, they\u2019re not practicing meditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ok, they are. Sort of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But \u2013 the end game, as someone wise once said \u2013 isn\u2019t to get better at meditation, it\u2019s to get better at life\u2026 So when we sit, we\u2019re practicing life<\/em>, or if you like meditation in life<\/em>, not meditation for the sake of meditation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s sometimes hard to compute how this formal practice \u2013 the bit we do on the mat or chair or floor in our \u201cneatly carved out\u201d bit of the day we\u2019ve set aside for meditation \u2013 has anything to do with the rest of our lives. It seems so dissonant, somehow. Normal life = noise, dashing, planning, remembering, doing. Formal meditation = quiet, sitting, focusing, forgetting, being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happens though, over time \u2013 and as you become used to this habit of sitting you\u2019re developing \u2013 is that you\u2019ll become more attuned to noticing<\/em>, to attention. You\u2019ll start to see the detail around the edges, stop yourself halfway through a meeting or a mundane task and take a breath and feel how it comes in and goes out. When you work with us, for instance on our MBSR course<\/a>, you’ll find that we’ll sometimes look really closely at stress and will be gathering some tools \u2013 all based around mindfulness practice \u2013 to help us notice that coming, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re slowly building our attention muscle<\/strong> and as we do, the formal practice begins to spread itself slowly but surely into your daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can help this happen along the way with some subtle prompts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, and most importantly, just keep on practicing, every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, try some cues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other thing you can do is to take the raisin practice<\/a> as an idea and take part in some mindful eating<\/em> this week. How? Same as you may have done with the raisin practice<\/a> \u2013 slow down and notice. What have you cooked? What does it look like? How does the light reflect off it? What does it sound like? (maybe be a bit careful listening to your food, especially if it\u2019s hot or your family is looking at you in a strange way\u2026) \u2013 What does it really<\/em> taste like? What, in fact, is<\/em> taste?? How does it feel when you\u2019ve finished? And so on\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget to have fun with it, too. This can become over-serious and heavy \u2013 just be light, and gentle with yourself, always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little like that Persian story where Nasruddin is looking for his house key under the streetlamp and others come to help him and finally they ask him \u201cWhere did you lose it?\u201d and he answers, \u201cin my house, but it\u2019s dark in there and since it\u2019s light out here this is the best place to look.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n(from \u201cBe Here Now (Enhanced Edition)\u201d by Ram Dass)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Happy noticing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When anyone sits down to their daily practice, they\u2019re not practicing meditation. Ok, they are. Sort of. But \u2013 the end game, as someone wise once said \u2013 isn\u2019t to get better at meditation, it\u2019s to get better at life\u2026 So when we sit, we\u2019re practicing life, or if you like meditation in life, not meditation for … <\/p>\n\n
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