The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We explored ways of bringing our practice to our every day lives. We do this by bringing four fundamental meditation skills to what every we are doing: concentration, clarity, caring and equanimity. We drew on the work of mediation teacher and author, Jeff Warren. You can find his article, Finding the Right Practice, on his web-site along with many resources aimed to empower you to find the practice that works for you. You can also listen to a fascinating discussion, Crisis Advice from Meditation MacGyver, between Jeff and Ten Percent Happier podcast host, Dan Harris. It’s about “democratizing” meditation practice and teaching and the various activities we value in life can be done as a meditation.
We ended practice with poet Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, Invitation which you will find below.
Many of us want to keep our friend Mike in our hearts this week. Mike is living with a serious illness. Some of us plan to do Metta Meditation as we hold Mike in our hearts. You can explore Sharon Salzberg’s Guided Loving Kindness Meditation. You can also make up the phrases that resonate with your heart. Here are the ones I practiced with this week:
May you be safe,
May you be well,
May you love and be loved,
May you be free from suffering,
May you know peace.
Guided Reflection
We can practice the qualities of concentration, clarity, equanimity and caring wherever we are. When we intentionally awaken these qualities – these skills – in our every day lives they change our experience . . . They change our being. Bringing our full presence to our relationships with the intention to understand, to suspend judgment and offer caring fosters connection. Right now we can reflect on the last time we received someone’s complete attention, a time when we felt heard, we felt seen and understood. Perhaps you can recall a time when you enjoyed a mutual understanding . . . Recall who you were with . . . where you were . . . what your were doing . . . Can you remember the changes that happened in your body, your heart and your mind as the exchange unfolded? What emotions were you feeling? What did you value most in this experience?
Meditation instructor and author Jeff Warren suggests that these skills of cultivating concentration, clarity, care and equanimity are quite portable. We can bring them to different forms of practice – in sitting or walking meditation, playing music, painting and communicating. He suggests that these four skills can turn any activity into a mindfulness practice. He writes:
If a practice is important to us, if it’s deepening our engagement with the world, if it’s teaching us about who we are and helping us feel connected to others, then you can be sure at least two or three of these skills are spinning away in the background. . . . This is important: understanding the skills is central both to being our own life teacher, and to sharing practice with others.
We can reflect on our experience of concentration. Recall when you were last intently concentrated. . . . What did you choose to pay attention to? How long did you stay with it? Perhaps you were fully absorbed in a task, the sensations of breathing or some mindful movement . . . Was it a satisfying experience? How did it change the state of your being? Were you calmer, more relaxed, did your worries fade?
We can reflect on our experience of clarity. Recall when you last really noticed something in its fullness, in its detail and subtly. Perhaps you were bird watching, painting a flower, stringing words together in a poem. . . . Could you set aside that sense of already knowing? What did you see or hear for the first time? What did you learn?
We can reflect on our experience of caring. Recall the last time you felt a sense of love, a sense of respect, a sense of reverence. Recall the last time you felt these qualities really present in your life. Who or what were you relating to at the time? Were you creating something? Were you reaching out to someone? Was someone touching your heart?
Was it being in the presence of sheer beauty or human kindness? Remember how it felt to be moved in this way . . .
We can reflect on our experience of equanimity . . . the last time we simply allowed ourselves and allowed the world to be just as there are. Honest . . . open . . . Perhaps this was an experience of vulnerability. Was it possible to meet yourself, to meet your experience with curiosity not having to hold on to it or push it away? How do you experience it in relation to others? Can you meet them with curiosity?
Jeff encouraged listeners to find the practice that speaks to them at the deepest level. He suggests:
Find[ing] the practice that works for you and you’re the one that has to pace yourself . . . Your health is connected to everyone else’s health and the planet’s health. We learn from each other . . . it’s much more horizontal not vertical . . . Real empowerment [is] in the act of finding and building a practice for yourself [it] is an incredible privilege . . . this is what it is to be a human being . . .
Jeff asked his community of students to share their experiences of personal practice and he began collecting practice reports. Here is one about a film maker:
One thing I like to do when I’m shooting, I choose a frame that’s interesting. I set up the camera and I wait for something to happen, for something to enter the frame, to cross through it to bring movement as opposed to chasing after everyting that moves always being a step behind. . . . trying to catch up with the action. When I do this, it’s a practice of stillness of attentiveness . . .
Here is another report from a professional actor:
I’m an actor and currently on tour with a Broadway musical. I take in the sound of the awaiting audience, close my eyes, hand on my heart and I say: “Thank you for this opportunity to tell this story. Please let me live up to my potential and use my gifts wisely topen to receive and open to express and thank you for bringing these people here safely.” I find this practice puts me in the center, here present when I’m tired or nervous not in optimal health or frame of mind it reminds me of the possibilities within this very moment which is part of what makes doing live theater so unique and awesome . . .
When I hear these reports I recognize concentration, clarity, caring and equanimity. Different forms of meditation in action, meditation in living. Every day is a day to deepen our engagement with life. . . . Here is poet Mary Oliver’s Invitation:
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.