For anyone who meditates, or who has ever tried to meditate, dealing with the thoughts, emotions and sensations that arise during one's mediation practice can be a real challenge. In fact, these temporary phenomena can be such a challenge that many people abandon their attempt to meditate because of them.
Walking meditation is a practice in many contemplative traditions. The object of this practice is to use the simple act of walking as an opportunity to practice moment-to-moment awareness. Meditation is moment-to-moment awareness. Meditation is about not being distracted in the moment.
Does Anger Ever Get Away From You How often do you experience a situation where you can feel the anger arise, you know that it's coming, and yet you're not be able to do anything about it? Do you ever wish that anger didn't have such a hold on you? Would you like to be able to work with anger so that instead of leaving you feeling helpless, it helped you to work on your meditation practice instead? Great...
Have you ever tried to meditate and found that while you weren't having much success in your meditation practice, you were getting plenty of practice in failing? Great, keep on failing!
How would you like to be able to take a "meditation break" at work...while you're still working. THAT is what meditation is, it's about learning how to keep your mind in a state of comfort and ease regardless of where you are...even at work!
While most spiritual traditions have contemplative or meditative practices, you don't have to be spiritual to use meditation. All you have to be is...human!
What you may find as you begin to meditate is that many of your habits of being distracted seem to get worse. You'll sit down to begin your daily practice of 20-minutes and before you know it, you've gotten up from your cushion or couch and are writing down your shopping list. Resistance happens because we're not used to just observing our usual mind, the normal mind that delights in being distracted with thoughts and emotions.
What kind of meditator are you? Have you never meditated? Or, do you have a practice but don't get as much time doing it as you wish? Perhaps you have a very stable meditation practice, but forget to use your mind well when you're off of your meditation cushion. Regardless of what your challenges are, there's an easy solution...just go for it!
When I woke up with throbbing in my mouth, I knew that I had to visit my dentist. By the end of the day, not only had I visited my dentist, I'd had over 7 injections into my mouth and gum to take care of the pain and I'd had a root canal surgery! And, when the pain medication wore off, it was time to practice meditation.
In meditation, Even if we’ve been practicing meditation for a while, we find ourselves returning to our thoughts, emotions, ideas, and distractions.