My Favorite Coffee Shop - Meditating Everything #1

This is the first meditation in the "Meditate Everything" Series. I recorded it in my favorite coffee shop here in my hometown of Silver City, New Mexico. I was informed of the idea of "meditating everything" from two of my spiritual teachers in my life, Paramahansa Yogananda, and Dennis Adams. I've worked at "meditating everything" ever since, even in busy places like my favorite coffee shop. I hope you'll enjoy this meditation, and I hope you can relate to this practice. I think you will.

Transcript

This is the first in the series of meditating everything.

I'm here in my favorite coffee shop in New Mexico,

The state in the deep southwest of the United States.

And I like to come to these places and practice meditating everything,

Holding myself in a place of awareness and serenity and calm and opening to the sense of connection that happens for me in these public places a lot.

I'm curious what it's like for you and maybe in the comments you could tell me.

But first for a few minutes let's enjoy the coffee shop,

My favorite coffee shop here in New Mexico.

There are people here of course,

Music in the background,

People working on their computers,

The barista who's making espresso and cappuccino,

And for me my favorite cup of chai.

It's a wonderful feeling to be part of community and it's been many months since we've been able to come out and enjoy ourselves with other people and meet and talk.

Finally things are beginning to open up again.

So this may date this meditation some,

But I think it's still relevant and will be relevant because in thinking about meditating everything,

Meditation becomes something more than just sitting and being quiet,

Something more than visualization which I love,

Something more than Zen practice which I also love.

Meditation becomes a way of being,

A way of connecting with what you consider to be your spiritual life,

Your spiritual connection.

And for me I think about that spiritual connection as my ability and our ability to connect with what physicists call the field,

The zero point field or simply the field.

And I think of the field in many ways like Yoda talks about in the Star Wars movies,

The sagas,

About the force.

And when I think of the field I think about it connecting all the molecules and electrons and protons and neutrons and the quarks and all these tiny,

Tiny particles that are moving about easily in the universe without any struggle,

Happily going about their existence.

And they make up us,

They make up this microphone and they make up my chai and we're all entangled together.

There is no disconnection.

It moves between us,

This field,

And holds us and binds us together.

You couldn't escape it if you wanted to.

And I know when I feel the richest connection with the field that part of what happens for me is that I stop worrying,

I stop fretting,

I stop feeling defensive or disconnected from my wife or my kids.

I can feel the connection in my daily life,

In my work with my clients,

In my writing,

In my meditations that I record,

In my dreaming,

And how I hold myself in the midst of all of that,

Even here in my favorite coffee shop.

There's no need for me to think about the field as a being or a supernatural entity or anything like that.

It seems so natural just to consider that the field connects us,

Flows through us,

Is part of who we are and very much a part of who we are.

That our thoughts become things in our worlds,

Our dreams become reality if we'll let them.

The stories that we tell about our lives shape and guide and structure who we are as a person.

And here in my favorite coffee shop,

Having my chai this afternoon,

I like to slow down and take a look around and listen and simply feel the buzz of all the people here,

What they're doing.

Not eavesdropping of course,

But just paying attention.

Sometimes friends come in and we talk and laugh and greet each other with love and warmth.

Sometimes the music is just right and we catch it and listen.

Sometimes people share their dreams,

Their visions for their lives and in that sharing,

We bind together again.

I can hold all of this in my heart,

In my body,

In my guts,

In my mind.

Let it flow as energy through me while I'm sitting here enjoying my chai,

Enjoying the people,

Enjoying this setting in my favorite coffee shop.

I can get calmer and calmer and experience the serenity that for so long eluded me.

But now,

After years of meditative practice,

It's easy to access that serenity.

And no matter what happens around the world,

Around our country,

Around me,

My family,

I know in my heart of hearts that I can come back to that stillness,

That serenity that I feel.

And above all else for you my friend,

That's what I wish for.

That you too can find your serenity,

Your peace of mind in all that that means to you.

Not what I would say is important but what you say is important to you for your life,

For who you are as a person.

And my wish is that you'll find your way to creating scenarios for yourself,

Practices,

Even secret practices like what I'm doing here in this coffee shop.

Nobody knows that I come in and meditate my chai latte or smile inwardly at the barista who's there every Saturday.

No one knows that I'm holding this special place in my heart,

In my connection with the field,

In the love that I have for all the people around me and for you my friend.

Next time you're in town,

I'll meet you here at my favorite coffee shop.

Reviews

I've so enjoyed drinking my morning coffee to this! As relevant today as when you recorded it. Sounds like a great café. 👌 I love having mindful coffee/tea in one of my favourite haunts here... and yes, it brings connection and peacefulness. Love it. ☺️☕ May The Force be with you, Don. 🙏 xx

Awesome insight 🎸It sounds a lot like Nelson, BC Lots of coffee shops, each with a distinct atmosphere. Love your style 💫😊

This session touched me deeply. I’m here meditating in Central London… For a moment I was seating with you in your favourite coffee shop… smell, sounds… all thank you very much ♥️

This really spoke to me. I too love to feel the common connection between us all. The combination of music, good food, a cozy atmosphere and being in community with others is good for my soul. (and yours! 😊)

This so beautifully captured my experience in my favourite café here in Ceglie Messapica. It feels like an elicit delight I get to experience, a secret inner smile. Thank you for sharing

Loved that! 💛 Really resonated with me and experiencing that sense of love, peace and joy in connection to all creation in everyday moments .
Thank you 🙏✨

Wow! That's so wonderful to hear! We're currently living in Tauranga, so if you're visiting Mount Maunganui do let me know 😊 We used to live in Wellington and I absolutely loved it there. Wishing you a fantastic holiday with your family. It's a precious time 💖 Blessings 🙏

Wonderful to listen to this morning! And +100 for the Yoda reference.

Lovely. Thankyou Don. I do this regularly at my favourite coffee shop too. I then write about my experience that day to deepen the delicious feelings I’ve experienced.
Many thanks, Aurora 🙏

This was an amazing piece of art. Loved this ! Thank you beautiful soul.

Cool concept! Was recently in Silver City for a job interview. Didn’t get the job but sure did find a beautiful hiking trail. Couldn’t find an open coffee shop. Which one is this( peace ☮️

Thank you for transporting me away to somewhere warm and inviting! This was so lovely and enchanting. I look forward to more of your meditations ❤️

Trying to access serenity! Thank you very much!

Nice little chat with you today Don (yes, I joined in, in my head!) It’s just like being there! Thank you for sharing! 😊🙏🏻

Made me feel good listening to your soothing voice.Thank you! Blessings
🙏🌻✨✨✨✨🙏

This was a great meditation and while I was meditating mi wife was brew coffee and that smell made this meditation feel like I was in that shop. Wow what a great day Thank you

That was Amazing 🙏 As a coffee lover and a fan of local cafes, I love the idea of making this a practice in my life 💜

What a wonderful idea for a meditation. I was right there with you, drinking it all in! ❤️😊

Loved this! Open eye meditation is one of my favorites! Another great meditation that you can take and make your own anytime. Thanks, Don!

This was so beautiful.. you spoke to me. Could visualise that coffee shop abuzz with laughter & lovely music & you in a corner, meditating everything. Would love to bond with you over a cuppa chai. ❤️

Wonderful meditation, this is. The background noise from a coffee shop intermingling with a narrative on mediating everything and “interbeing” is a beautiful fusion of sounds.