If you're just beginning to meditate,
It's possible that you may often notice your mind wandering,
Or you feel like it's difficult to calm the mind or the body when they are restless.
So one of the images I find useful in these situations is one of training a little puppy.
Let's say you have a young puppy at home.
Now young puppies like to run around.
It's really just part of their nature.
But we know it's also very important to begin to train them from an early age so that they can stay safe when you take them out for example,
And also so that you can build a strong,
Trusting relationship with each other.
So what happens when you first begin to train them?
You maybe try and get them to sit,
And those of us who have done it know that you fully expect to bring them back many many times.
And ideally you do this with a lot of patience because you understand that the puppy first of all has a very short attention span.
So you can't try and train it for long periods of time or expect that it will just learn from the first try.
So you do it for 10 minutes a day,
You give it a break,
You might try again later or the next day.
And you would also do it with hopefully some positive reinforcement.
A little treat,
Maybe some praise.
And there is also the need for consistency.
So daily short training sessions will work much better than trying to do a solid hour once a week.
So there are a lot of parallels between training this little puppy and how we treat ourselves and our minds when we are meditating.
So here are a few takeaways that I would offer you.
One of the things that I like to emphasize when you learn to meditate is that we are also learning to be kind.
Your mind cannot really help itself.
It's like a puppy.
And the reality is if we consider what the mind is supposed to do,
It is supposed to think and plan and worry.
And it's also because we've lived so many years in a very busy world.
So if it's been running around for so long and if it's just doing what it's supposed to do,
It's not going to know how to suddenly just sit still.
So if we can learn to look at it like we do an active little puppy and bring it back again and again and again without any blame or judgment,
There might be a chance that it will slowly settle down.
So being kind is one of the takeaways.
And then the second one is starting in small doses.
So being prepared to use frequency and consistency to build the habit.
And then last but not least,
Remembering positive reinforcement.
So we can't control the outcome or the experience we have,
But if and when you might notice just a little bit of peace,
A little bit of calm,
Even if it's just a moment or two,
It might be an opportunity to give yourself and your practice some credit,
Just like you would reward the puppy for the behavior that you're looking for.
Finding the joy and encouragement in the practice is what will keep you going.
Whereas using punishment and scolding for example,
Whether it's yourself or the puppy,
Can make it a little bit more difficult.
So this isn't meant to be a dry,
Boring or painful process.
So the point of noticing these moments of calm and peace is that we learn to reorient our attention towards those qualities.
So we begin by being kind.
We continue the practice in small doses with consistency and then we try and provide some positive reinforcement,
Some encouragement for ourselves when we notice that there is some moments of mindfulness and calm.
And then slowly these moments hopefully begin to string together into longer periods as we continue to practice.
So I hope that this has been helpful.
May we learn from these little puppies in our minds and also learn to develop that kindness and that patience to bring it back.
May we all continue to practice mindfully,
Taking care of the moments so that the moments will take care of our lives.
