Wednesday Pause: Sitting With Impatience & Time

A meditation might seem to take forever because our minds constantly seek stimulation. It’s this constant shifting attention, always searching, never resting, that keeps us restless and reactionary. So instead of perpetually getting lost in our thoughts and needing to fix our feelings, we engage in the present moment differently. The inspiration for this practice came from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore on Time.

Transcript

Okay,

So today's session is about time and why time and it's inspired by poetry by Rabindranath Tagore.

I think the title is Time or it's part of a longer poetry.

Tagore is the first Indian Nobel Prize winner for literature.

So,

I thought this poetry is quite suitable for today.

The reason is oftentimes a feedback that people give about meditation or just a mindfulness practice is that it seems so long,

Like it just seems to go on forever and ever.

Why is it so long and sometimes maybe why is it so short?

And so,

Time seems to be that thing that we deal with in a mindfulness practice or a meditation.

And so,

The temptation happens during when that thought arises about why the time is so long.

So,

The temptation is to maybe to check the time,

To look at the clock or maybe to just switch off and just get on with the rest of our day or just stop meditating or to even just give up.

So,

The invitation here,

The encouragement here is to just sit with time and to just make time your friend.

On Wednesdays,

When we sit,

It's only about 20 to 25 minutes.

So,

It's about quite optimal.

Some people do even meditate for three hours.

Some people even go all the way to four hours too.

But we do 20 minutes only.

And the reason why we kind of extend the time to about 20 minutes so that it allows ourselves the opportunity to practice,

To really engage with the present moments.

And when we are deeply engaged with the present moment,

It allows us to really practice to stretch that mindfulness muscle,

To learn to steady the mind,

To cultivate that capacity to just deal with whatever that arises for us,

Like whether it's impatience or anger or just,

You know,

Frustration.

And the little trick to be able to sit through with time is to bring a sense of gentleness and curiosity to the practice.

And secondly,

Staying still can be quite helpful because it allows us to sustain the attention and momentum.

So,

The encouragement here is to just invite a sense of curiosity,

Gentleness,

Friendliness,

And also as best as you can,

Staying still.

But if you have to move,

Then just move very slowly and gently as part of the practice.

Okay,

So let's start.

And we usually sit for this practice.

Of course,

If midway,

If you wish to stand is also fine.

You can sit on a chair or a mat,

Sitting cross-legged or placing your feet on the floor.

And closing your eyes or leaving them open,

Just simply lowering your gaze.

And embodying a sense of dignity,

Ease,

A sense of uprightness,

But not being stiff.

This allows us to stay attentive moment by moment.

Just softening the shoulders,

Our front,

The chest area.

Observing where we've placed our hands,

Our palms.

Noticing the placement of our hands.

Sensing how automatic we tend to know where to place our arms.

Whether the palms are on the kneecaps or on the lap.

Then feeling your legs,

Where you've placed your legs,

Whether on the floor,

Feet on the floor or cross-legged.

Feeling the weights of the body on the chair or mat.

Or the weights of the body if you're standing up.

And now just noticing what's arising.

Whether it's a sound around us,

Sound in your room or coming from the outdoors.

For me,

There's a plane outside flying across.

Or maybe it's the birds chirping away.

No sound of the car driving past.

Just listening to sound by just simply listening.

And whatever thoughts that may be arising.

Thoughts about the sound or other methods.

Just simply acknowledging that and coming back to the sounds you hear around you.

Resting your awareness on sounds.

Or maybe there's no sound and that's fine.

Then just simply observing the silence.

Perhaps there's a light buzzing sound.

No sound at all.

That's also okay.

Noticing sensing sounds around you.

Noticing sensing sounds around you.

And now from sounds,

Just connecting with the breath.

Attending to the changing physical sensations of the breath inside our body.

Noticing from the points of an in-breath,

What happens to the breath in the body.

Feeling the sensations.

The movements of the chest,

The belly.

As we take an in-breath,

Pause and out-breath.

Taking your time with the breath.

Not needing to rush.

Not needing to rush,

Nor breathe in any special way.

Just breathing in our normal pace.

And if you're feeling any shortness of breath or maybe feeling a little anxious or anxious,

Just noticing what that feels like.

Bringing a sense of curiosity,

Gentleness to that feeling of shortness of breath or anxiety.

Like dipping your toe in the water,

Taking your time,

Gently observing.

Not needing to fix the breath or fix breathing.

Just being gentle with the breath.

The mind may be wondering to lunch or after lunch,

Before lunch,

What to do after this planning,

Daydreaming.

Thinking,

Ruminating.

Simply acknowledging what's going on in the mind,

What's racing across the mind or gripping your mind.

Simply acknowledging that.

And just coming back to the breath.

And if there are thoughts about time,

How long more would this take?

Oh man,

This is so long.

I don't think I can do this.

Oh,

This is a struggle.

Just acknowledging those thoughts.

We don't have to believe everything the mind tells us.

Simply just acknowledging those thoughts and just coming back to the breath.

Or maybe there are some emotions that may be arising or some stress or tension in the body.

Maybe you're feeling tempted to move,

To shift your posture.

Just observing,

Noticing what's there.

How does that feel like?

Where is it felt in the body?

And just using the breath to breathe along with that sensation or emotion.

Just following the rhythm of that sensation.

Using the breath to bring awareness.

Just being aware of the sensation.

Using the breath to bring awareness of the emotion or sensation.

Now,

If there are any thoughts about.

.

.

Should I just stop the practice now?

This is taking too long.

Just noticing those thoughts and just allowing them to arise and just exit.

Any impulses to switch off the computer or drop out of Zoom?

Just noticing the impulse.

I'm just letting it be.

Not needing to react.

Not needing to rise to the bait.

Just letting the impulse come and go.

Impulse come and go.

Reading along with it.

And if you are noticing any impulse to check the phone or to shift your posture,

Open your eyes to check the time.

Again,

Just noticing the impulse to react.

Just letting them be.

As best as you can.

Maintaining stillness.

And gentleness.

So,

Whatever thoughts or emotions or sensations that may be arising,

Just simply holding all that in awareness.

No needing to fix them or eliminate them.

We are fine as we are.

We just have to hold our inner experiences with awareness.

I'm just simply letting them come and make their own exit in their own time,

Moment by moment.

So,

Attending to the physical sensations of our breath,

Breath by breath,

Moment by moment,

Second by second.

Noticing the duration of our inhale,

The duration of the pause,

And then the exhale.

The breath is a powerful anchor because it is formless,

Like our awareness,

Formless too.

And now from the breath,

Drop in further to the body,

Down to the weights,

Feeling the weights of our body on the chair.

Feeling the support of the chair on the mat.

Giving us a sense of groundedness.

And as you keep this in awareness,

I shall read you the poem by Rabindranath Tagore on time.

The butterfly comes not months,

But moments,

And has time enough.

Time is a wealth,

Is a wealth of change,

But the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth.

So let your life lightly dance on the edges of time,

Like dew on tip of a leaf.

Now,

Expanding your awareness around the breath,

Feeling the body as a whole,

The invitation is keep your awareness wide and spacious,

Embracing what's around you in a sense of gentleness,

Curiosity.

Life may not be going smoothly,

But what we have is the present moment and it's a gift.

It's a gift to be alive.

And the last few moments as we end this practice,

Just taking a last few breaths and inhale and a deep exhale out.

Inhale and a beautiful exhale.

Opening your eyes,

Lifting your gaze when you're ready.

And that's the end of today's practice.

Thank you.