Residing: February 22 - 28

This week I'm on silent retreat at Pendle Hill, a quaker retreat center. Remember me and I'll remember you.

As you recall, I'm sharing a series of reflections on how to grow a daily meditation practice. So far, we've:

1. defined a space in our home and in our inner world

2. established time to practice

3. set an intention

4. practiced by noticing the breath, thoughts, or another object, returning to the present moment again and again

5. released the practice and relaxed into being

6. journeyed from the head to the heart

7. bowed to ourselves, to others, to nature, to life

We might assume we are finished, but before we leave the practice, Devin Maroney, my Living Dharma teacher, offers a final word of instruction. Take a moment to sense the result of the practice we just experienced. Commit to carrying the centeredness, the peace, the insights, the compassion into the rest of the day. May the fruit of the practice benefit those around us. Now here's the key part: before we resume our usual activities, allow 10 to 15% of our awareness to mindfully remaining with the breath so the practice enlivens whatever we are doing the rest of the day. I call this residing.

Practice

Enter your meditation space. By now through repeated practice, your body begins to sense this daily routine. While the mind might be racing, the body is already settling into the chair. It welcomes the opportunity to relax the muscles and to rest in the breath. Like drawing a hot bath, you're already letting go even before awareness totally kicks in.

Honor yourself for taking time right now for ease and self-care. We do so many things for other people and yet it is so easy to let the promises we make to ourselves slip away. Recognize you're keeping an important appointment, this time to simply be with yourself as you would with a good friend.

What do you most need this day? Compassion? If so, commit to cultivating loving kindness over the next several minutes. Insights? If so, intentionally ignore the chatter of the mind and listen deeply to the wisdom of the body. You already know best what the heart is longing for.

Practice mindfulness. Follow the breath. Return to the homebase. Come back to yourself over and over again. Open up to life as it emerges here and now in the present moment. Each breath is an invitation to begin anew. This is the heart of the practice.

At some point, let go of the doing. The breath already knows how to breath on its own, Even if the eyes are closed, close them interiorly to the slideshow of the mind. Shift from focused concentration to natural awareness. Relax more fully into all that is here. There is nothing to fix. Simply be.

Maybe place the hand on the heart. Let each beat echo through your being. Listen even more deeply. The quieter you get, the more you can hear. Sense love flowing and surrounding you. Call to mind those who have shaped and walked with you through life. Send compassion to those you hold most dear. Abide in the heart,

Before you leave this place and resume the busyness of the day, bow to the earth for holding and sustaining you. Bow to all beings, especially those who walk the path with you. Bow to the Unknown and the Unnamed, the source of life and love. Bow to yourself for showing up.

There's one more thing before you go. Envision the time and energy you invested in today's practice as seeds to be planted throughout the rest of the day. Use the mindfulness you have developed to benefit all those who will cross your path. Whenever you breathe in the minutes and hours to come, recognize each moment as an extension of the practice.