It occurred to me, in the early hours of this morning, that my meditation practice had fallen by the wayside.
Meditation never came easy to me, I had to start with physical meditation - focussing exclusively on the act of walking - and work from there, but I have never attained the ability to sit still and focus on a solitary thought, without an interruption from my "monkey brain". Rather I use housekeeping for meditative purposes: ironing, washing up, dusting and vacuuming all serve me well, as they are repetitive and help me hone my focus.
Lately, I have been using tasks to think, not meditate, and I thought it might be because I feel I have somehow failed. Even as I write this, "monkey brain" is grinning at me and shaking it's head, like a chimpanzee - perhaps in victory? Is time that I accepted "monkey brain" has won, and physical meditation is all I can hope for? I wonder if I am giving up to early and should continue to strive for a more peaceful route in meditation, even if I've been attempting to do so for over 20 years?
I guess I know what I'll be thinking about when I'm scrubbing the bathroom floor tomorrow.
3 comments:
Thank you for giving me a different perspective on what meditation is. I've never really thought of meditation as being anything other than sitting in silence to think and wind up falling asleep.
May I suggest not trying to focus on one thought, but rather "watching the river"? Let the mind move, but do not grab on to any one tangent. Thoughts come, thoughts go; flowing-- not dammed.
So many varieties/methods of meditating-- best wishes!
The walking/moving meditation is good, too-- but if it's changed... he! Time to bring it back or move with it!!!
Slainte, Lady!
Thanks Cygnus, but I have tried that method, several times, along with others over the years, having attended various courses and workshops - all with little success.
I have success with what works now and I am more than aware of the methods that suit me and those that don't in most of my practices.
Thank you for the thought, though.
Slàinte.
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