Breath Awareness Practice - Joyful Effort

We get to choose our states of mind. So why not choose joy, and then put diligent, joyful energy into practice? When I remember to do that, practice is more fun, plus joy follows me into the day. I wonder what would happen if we could all remember to do that, even a little bit more?

Transcript

So finding whatever stillness is available to you right now and just settling in,

Just feeling the body sitting or standing or walking or lying down.

And whatever posture you're in,

Just dropping into this present moment by feeling the body right now.

And then just beginning to notice the breath in the body,

The breath as it's flowing in and out of the body.

Or if breath is not your refuge,

Then sound as it arises and passes away.

And then just check in with yourself right now in case you have your screen off and maybe you decided that you'd catch up on emails while listening to this part of the talk.

And just ask yourself,

What would be wise right now?

What is wise effort right now?

Could I give myself just six and a half,

Six minutes more of just sitting and practicing?

That's point one,

Folks.

Or that to-do list keeps coming up,

Coming up,

Coming up,

And can I just set it down?

And can I do it with a smile,

With joy,

With just gladness and taking in the great good fortune that we have to be able to hang out together in stillness just for a few minutes?