In our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss we focused on observing our mind’s activity.  We established concentration by focusing on the breath and physical sensations.  Our walking meditation almost felt like a procession.  We synchronized our pace and felt particularly attuned to each other.

We all experienced mental “busyness.”  One student shared a familiar feeling of anticipation.  She described “always feeling poised or perched” as her life’s stance.  We explored the way this impulse “to do” drives us forward – often away from experiences, issues and people we could benefit spending more time with.

I wonder if stopping – even in anticipation – can be beneficial.  Sitting in meditation can reveal the subtle underlying conditioning that informs how we live.  If we are lucky we can use this space and time to learn from the awarenesses that arise.  Not to judge them, but rather, to help us choose how we wish to spend our lives, moment by moment.

I thought of my meditating friends upon reading this lovely poem by David Whyte.  I’m living with some of the questions he asks.  What do we do in waiting?  Do we prepare ourselves for when we are needed?  Are we ready to answer the knock at life’s door?

IT MUST BE

…It must be
we are waiting
for the perfect moment.

It must be
under all the struggle
we want to go on.

It must be,
that deep down,
we are creatures
getting ready
for when we are needed.

It must be that waiting
for the listening ear
or the appreciative word,
for the right
woman or the right man
or the right moment
just to ourselves,

we are getting ready
just to be ready

and nothing else.

Like this moment
just before the guests arrive
working
alone in the kitchen
sensing a deep
down symmetry
in every blessed thing.

The way
that everything
unbeknownst
to us
is preparing
to meet us too.

Just on the other
side of the door
someone
is about to knock
and our life
is just
about to change

and finally
after all these
years rehearsing,
behind
the curtain,

we might
just be
ready
to go on.

From ‘Waiting to Go On’: in ‘River Flow:
New and Selected Poems’
©David Whyte and Many Rivers Press

As I enter this day of activity, this precious moment, I hope I’m ready to see and hear that which calls for my attention.