“March….A Mindful Month”, now in Day #9, has 80 of us
meditating daily for at least 10 minutes.
Each of us finding a window of 10 minutes in our day to sit quietly and
observe our breath.
Easy……..right?
Well it should be. We
are merely sitting quietly with ourselves.
Finding just 10 minutes of the 720 that each day offers. But somehow that can turn out to be the
hardest thing in the world to do!!!
It’s actually kind of funny when you step back and think about
it. We have a hard time being alone with
ourselves. We are able to be with that
difficult boss, the overly sweet woman at the drugstore, the annoying neighbor
and the gloomy relative. But when it
comes to spending time with little old me and see what’s going on in there, I
choose going to the dentist instead. I
think perhaps the floor needs scrubbing.
Are you sure you don’t want me to
go to DMV for you? Anything not
to be alone with my thoughts.
Why is that?
Mostly it is because we are out of practice. As small children we spent hours playing
alone. Daydreaming and spending time
with our imaginary friends. Allowing
what was happening on the inside be just what is was. In touch with our inner world.
But as adults, with kids, jobs, time pressures and schedules….not
mentioning the streaming info that the tv and internet constantly pump into us,
our minds become busy. The old “Mind Full”. Jumping from thought to thought to thought
with no space in between. This is
referred to as Monkey Mind.
My morning alarm is set to WTOP. For about 2 minutes each morning I hear the “news”,
which is the only radio I hear all day.
But in those 2 minutes they probably cover 5 or 6 stories. Snippets.
High level, no depth, usually leaving me with something that I ought to
be worried about. How can I hope to have
space between my thoughts, when the world around me does not.
During the day as we move from task to task to task, using any
gap between events to check email and Facebook, the Monkey Mind is not
noticed. In fact it loves us to be
ridiculously busy. That’s where it
thrives. As soon as there is the slightest pause in our
activity, it reminds us of what to think about and do next! Like the commander in charge. And we begin to believe that is just “how we
are”.
But boy……when we choose to sit still and be quiet, Monkey
Mind is not a happy camper. It ramps up
and begins to shout commands, distracting you from the breath, and trying ever so
hard to take you off of your seat before the 10 minutes is up. And that is normal!
However, our natural state….a place of calm….is always in
there behind the curtain. Trust me on
this. Our job is just to sit and watch
the Monkey Mind, not fight it but also not throw fuel on it. No arguing with it. No debate or judgment. Watch. Watch some more. Be curious. Having the courage to see what is going on
inside so that over time the mind will begin to settle. It is a practice.
A March back toward our natural state. And it has to begin somewhere…………….
I am below looking up and watching (and giggling at the
absurdity of it J),
SARAH
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