So there you are. Sitting. "Meditating." Start with a little breath work. Sit a little longer. And what happens? Are you more or less calm? What has stopping your momentum done for you but shine a light on that which occupies you? And that which was occupying you, is now called a Distraction.
How do we deal with distraction? Radio too loud? Turn it off. House too dirty? Clean it. Offensive smell? Leave the room. But what about those distractions that are more challenging to run away from? For example, I'm on an airplane with a crying child next to me (I can't turn it off), who is throwing Cheerios in my lap (I can clean it up, but it keeps on coming), and someone farts. I'm in a plane and can't leave. All of these things distracting me from something that I perceive as "more important."
Let's go back to meditating. I'm distracted by my thoughts, my laundry list. I'm distracted by my tight shoulders, my aching hip. I'm distracted by mu judgement of myself for being distracted instead of "one-pointed." What are my options?
1) i can remain in the pain of my distraction
2) i can try to eliminate my distractions
3) i can embrace my distractions
4) anything else you can think of
"I choose to explore door number 3, Bob!" So what if, instead of trying to "fix" my distractions, I breathe into them, embrace them, even welcome them, as part of me and my experience. As part of my Wholeness. As part of The Wholeness. So I breathe in, acknowledging the distraction. I breathe out, hugging the distraction. At the very least, I'm changing my relationship to the distraction, which will change my experience of being distracted.
What if we start to welcome those pesky, squirrelly, niggley, wiggly aspects? Maybe by acknowledging them, they lighten up, or even move on? Maybe I learn something? Maybe I find a way to peacefully co-exist. Maybe nothing changes. But it will change, because we have changed how we respond, even if only for a moment. And that changes everything. Maybe enough to distract us from our distractions so we can move on and get more in the present moment.
Tomorrow - what happens if we try to eliminate the distractions...
what was I saying? oh yeah...
;)
How do we deal with distraction? Radio too loud? Turn it off. House too dirty? Clean it. Offensive smell? Leave the room. But what about those distractions that are more challenging to run away from? For example, I'm on an airplane with a crying child next to me (I can't turn it off), who is throwing Cheerios in my lap (I can clean it up, but it keeps on coming), and someone farts. I'm in a plane and can't leave. All of these things distracting me from something that I perceive as "more important."
Let's go back to meditating. I'm distracted by my thoughts, my laundry list. I'm distracted by my tight shoulders, my aching hip. I'm distracted by mu judgement of myself for being distracted instead of "one-pointed." What are my options?
1) i can remain in the pain of my distraction
2) i can try to eliminate my distractions
3) i can embrace my distractions
4) anything else you can think of
"I choose to explore door number 3, Bob!" So what if, instead of trying to "fix" my distractions, I breathe into them, embrace them, even welcome them, as part of me and my experience. As part of my Wholeness. As part of The Wholeness. So I breathe in, acknowledging the distraction. I breathe out, hugging the distraction. At the very least, I'm changing my relationship to the distraction, which will change my experience of being distracted.
What if we start to welcome those pesky, squirrelly, niggley, wiggly aspects? Maybe by acknowledging them, they lighten up, or even move on? Maybe I learn something? Maybe I find a way to peacefully co-exist. Maybe nothing changes. But it will change, because we have changed how we respond, even if only for a moment. And that changes everything. Maybe enough to distract us from our distractions so we can move on and get more in the present moment.
Tomorrow - what happens if we try to eliminate the distractions...
what was I saying? oh yeah...
;)
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