Zen, Zen, Zen

By Evan Sanders


I'm here to challenge you...and trust me...I never said any of this was going to be easy. So here's my challenge to you.

Take on a meditation practice. Before you go, "Oh please that's hippie nonsense" I really would like for you to hear me out.

So lend me your ears for a minute (not literally - Robin Hood Men In Tights fans know that reference).

Nothing will be "gained" from taking on a meditation practice. Absolutely nothing. In fact, instead of calling it meditation, let's just call it a sitting practice.

For 10 minutes a day sit down on the floor and focus only on your breath. That's it. Nothing guided. Nothing prompting you. Nothing to focus on except your breath and what you are doing with that breath.

Sit there. Quietly...and just...breathe.

Now here's what I'm up to.

Even though you aren't going to gain anything from meditation, you are going to get something completely different out of it entirely. You will actually experience something that many people don't get to experience at all. The "falling away" of things that are plaguing your life. All of the fear, doubt, and worry starts to drip out of you as you really take the time to slow down and focus on being in the present moment.

If thoughts and emotions come in and distract you, don't get mad at yourself, simply come back to your breath. If you get all wrapped up in something or your internal critic is going off, don't get mad or anxious, just come back to your breath.

Mediation is about learning how to come back. That's all. It's about coming back over and over and over again no matter how many times your mind gets distracted. You keep coming back to the only moment you have, the present moment.

With any practice, you are going to be in and out of it. You might miss a couple days or a couple of weeks, but always make sure to come back to it. It's important to view the practices we engage in our lives as things that "nourish" us instead of things we "have to do." There's a huge difference there.

Come back to it.




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