Have you ever noticed how hard we can be on ourselves when we fall off the wagon?
Whatever that wagon happens to be.
It could be meditation or exercise or journaling.
A new morning routine trying to wake up a few minutes earlier.
We miss a few days and suddenly that gentle habit becomes just another thing to feel bad about.
And I'll be honest,
I fell off my meditation practice not too long ago.
Life got busy.
I started a new job.
There was so much to learn and by the end of the day I just told myself I was too tired.
I didn't have time.
And that little story,
I'll get back to it when things calm down.
Well,
It quietly stretched from one day to another to another.
And before I knew it,
Weeks had gone by.
The irony of course is that meditation is the very thing that helps life feel calmer.
But when we're overwhelmed,
Even something that brings peace can feel like one more thing to do on the to-do list.
And believe me,
I noticed that voice in my head saying you should know better.
That's a heavy phrase,
Isn't it?
You should know better.
As if being human wasn't part of the deal.
So friends,
If you've drifted away from your practice or from anything that once felt nourishing,
Let's set that guilt down right now.
Take a moment to take a slow breath in and exhale.
Just that.
Just being here right now.
Notice what it's like to return.
Your seat beneath you.
The rise and fall of your breath.
A quiet reminder that you are allowed to begin again.
Anytime you want.
Anytime you need.
And you might feel resistance at first.
The whisper of why did I stop or what's wrong with me.
But nothing's wrong.
This is the rhythm of being alive.
We expand,
We contract,
We show up and sometimes we drift.
And every time we come back,
We come back a little wiser.
You know,
After I settled into my first sit after that long break,
I kind of expected it to feel awkward or maybe frustrating or unfocused.
But it didn't.
It felt familiar.
It felt like walking into a room where the lights had been dimmed but not fully turned off.
My breath was still there.
My body was still breathing.
My awareness was patiently waiting for me.
And it reminded me that presence never actually leaves us.
We just forget to notice it for a while.
And that's okay.
The remembering is the meditation.
When you sit and you breathe and you focus on your breathing and then your mind is distracted.
It's off somewhere else.
And then you remember,
I need to be focusing on my breath.
That's the meditation.
You're doing it successfully.
Taking a break and coming back is the process.
Let's take another slow breath in.
Feeling the chest rise and fall.
Every inhale,
A quiet return.
Every exhale,
A soft letting go.
And if it helps,
You can place a hand over your heart.
Maybe whisper to yourself,
I'm here again.
Or this is me coming back.
And every time we notice that we've wandered.
We've already succeeded.
We've woken up.
And that moment of waking up is what this practice is all about.
So even if you've been away from whatever your routine is for a day or a week or a season.
Remember that the path is always waiting.
It doesn't judge.
It doesn't keep score.
It just greets you with open arms.
And it says,
Welcome back.
Let's get to work.
As the Buddha reminds us,
Every morning we are born again.
What we do today is what matters most.
So,
As you move through the rest of your day,
See if you can carry that truth with you.
You don't need a perfect track record.
You just need this moment.
This breath.
Home has never been lost.
It's right here.
In this breath,
In this moment.
In this gentle return.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
And may you be at peace.
Thank you so much for joining me.
