How do we fully hold the present?
It's the most basic tenet behind a mindfulness meditation practice.
Hi,
My name is Lori Wald and sit back and relax because for the next 15 minutes you have nothing to do.
So when I talk about holding the present in its entirety,
In its fullness it's a matter of noticing everything.
Of noticing the paradox of the present.
We can hold more than one idea in our minds at one time.
Not everything is so simple.
There are complicated ideas that require us to appreciate facts that don't really fit together neatly in a puzzle.
When it comes to a mindfulness meditation practice,
How it helps us do that is,
I'll give you an example,
A story from my real life.
A couple of years ago I was driving to the hospital my husband was there and we were awaiting the results of a very serious test.
If the results came out a certain way,
Life as we knew it was about to end.
I've been in these situations more than one time.
They're difficult.
A whole lot easier with the mindfulness meditation practice but incredibly difficult to await these test results.
So I'm driving to the hospital and I'm in a high state of anxiety.
My stomach is in a knot.
My jaw is clenched.
I am gripping the steering wheel.
Trying to breathe.
Trying to remember that I don't know what I don't know.
Trying not to anticipate how bad things could get.
And I notice that some daffodils,
The yellow of some daffodils are starting to pop up along the road that I'm driving along.
There's a beautiful park-like meridian down the center of this street.
It's divided by this large woody kind of meridian.
I live in Cleveland,
Ohio and spring is welcome here.
So I start to notice that the daffodils are starting to pop up and the yellow really catches my eye.
And I love seeing this and I notice the delight I feel.
At the same time that I'm so anxious,
I notice that little prickle of delight.
And it's from,
Comes from practicing.
It comes from practicing sitting in stillness and noticing what I'm feeling.
So even amidst all the anxiety that I have at this moment,
I can notice that I also have a little bit of delight.
So let's practice.
Let's practice noticing the present.
Find yourself in your comfortable yet dignified position.
Sitting,
Lying down.
You can try it standing if you notice that you've been getting sleepy when you do these practices and you want to give yourself a little bit more to deal with.
Eyes open or close,
Whatever makes you feel most comfortable.
And start to notice your breath.
That breath that's always,
Always there with you.
No matter what.
That reliable breath.
And now notice where on your body you feel supported.
If you're sitting,
Notice the back of the chair.
Helping you stay upright.
Your feet on the floor.
What feels most comfortable in your body?
If you have pain in your body,
It's really easy to find that spot with your mind's eye.
But notice where you feel comfortable.
Fingers,
Legs,
Feet.
Just notice.
And as you get distracted by a thought or a feeling notice is it a thought about something you forgot to do?
Are you admonishing yourself?
Criticizing yourself?
Maybe you just have a beautiful sense of serenity and tranquility and you're trying to hang on to that for all you've got.
Just notice.
Notice your resistance.
Perhaps your level of resistance is close to zero and you're just going with this.
Maybe you're at a ten out of ten.
I can never get this right.
Just notice.
Just curious observer.
We just start again.
That is the art of meditation is noticing the distraction and then starting again.
Notice your body temperature.
Too cold,
Too warm,
Comfortable.
You can tolerate it.
A great poet,
Jack Gilbert,
Wrote in a brief for the defense,
There is laughter every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
He writes,
We must risk delight.
We embrace this present moment and notice all of it.
We notice the complications of the present.
Fill ourselves with the present moment.
We practice being in the present.
Through this practice of being in the present,
We become more mindful.
We have more mindful moments in our day.
Mindfulness is an awareness of your present experience.
As it is,
Not as you would prefer it to be.
With curiosity and compassion and courage.
Gilbert says,
We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.
Come back to your breath,
Or the sounds surrounding you,
And start again.
It's okay.
You're going to get it.
I believe in you.
We can learn to tolerate the discomfort and enjoy the delight simultaneously.
You bear witness to the If you've wandered off into a thought or a feeling,
Just gently notice your focus This takes practice and you are practicing your focus Now for the last minute,
Just stop trying I'm Lori Wald.
Thanks for meditating with me.
