Welcome to this new week. Today I want to pass along some simple thoughts on meditation. And if the word meditation seems too loaded or unapproachable, think of it simply as a time you set aside daily to observe your mind compassionately and consciously.
Dr. Joe Dispenza refers to meditation as the 'conscious cultivation of self'.
Pema Chödrön writes 'Meditation gives us the opportunity to have an open, compassionate attentiveness to whatever is going on. The meditative space is like the big sky— spacious, vast enough to accommodate anything that arises.'
So much of our lives we live out of the memorized emotions & programmed responses we've scripted into our subconscious. This ties into what I wrote to you about thoughts and beliefs last week and how, with repetition, they just seem to become our perception of who we are and what we believe.
Meditation is an invitation to become a conscious and compassionate observer of our thoughts. It is a time to remember we are NOT enslaved to our thoughts as they are. If our thoughts are not serving the best version of ourself, we can edit the thoughts we think. To do so, awareness is required and this is a powerful invitation to do just that.
Next week I'll provide more insight on where you can go with meditation once the simple act of observing your thoughts has become familiar to you. Wishing you a wonderful week ♥︎
READ
This article is an excerpt from Pema Chödrön's brilliant book on Meditation. She is a fiery and witty, Buddhist monk who sheds beautiful and approachable light on ancient concepts. Take some time this week to read some of her thoughts on why tending to our minds consciously each day can be so freeing.
1 MINUTE MINI-MEDITATION
Try this: when you notice your mind running in a direction that stirs up negative emotion in your body, instead of thinking through the problem take one minute to become aware that those are just thoughts your mind is choosing to think right now. Release ownership of those thoughts and the feelings they are creating. Just let them go. See how you feel when you take just one minute to become aware of your thoughts and entertain the idea of simply being awake to them and not having to react to them. This is compassionate consciousness in bitesize form. If it feels good, try taking 2-3 minutes the next time or even 5 minutes to start your day consciously aware.