Most people smile and admit that though they are interested in meditation, they have never tried. Some people claim that they could never sit still for any length of time.
I take a weekly course on meditation. I have been participating since the fall and I have to say that it has become the highlight of my week. We discuss our day briefly and then we are lead through a guided meditation that is incredibly effective in relieving stress. It is a wonderful way to wind down after a hard day because it changes our focus by putting an end to the "stories" that play out in our heads, about what we should have said or done during the day. Simply breathing and getting in tune with our physical selves, puts our mind at ease.
Yesterday I was killing time waiting for my course to start, by browsing some books on meditation at Chapter's. I picked up a book by Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. I flipped through the pages and landed on a paragraph that described one of his visits to Montreal. How amazing was that? As he told the story he mentioned that he had noticed the motto printed on all of our license plates; 'je me souviens.'
He mentioned to the cab driver that this constant reminder to "remember" is the perfect way to work meditation practice into daily life. Thich Nhat Hahn suggests that every time our eyes focus on this slogan, we should remember to "breathe and smile."
The whole idea is to walk through our lives being more mindful of every step. Be grateful for everything that is going well. Many of us have very serious challenges in our lives but no matter how deep our troubles appear to be, there is always some glimmer of hope to build upon. For example, being able to breathe with ease and being able to smile. We take these things for granted.
Be grateful today.
See you soon,
Beth
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