- Sit early in the morning before you begin your day. It will set your mood and tone
and can open your mind to great ideas and solutions for a situation that you are dealing with. - Find a quiet place even if the only place is the bathroom with the door locked.
- Sit in a way where you are comfortable be it in a chair, or on the floor with a cushion in half or full lotus, on a meditation bench, sitting up in bed with your pillows behind your back, outside in your garden, on the veranda, on the back porch, or in the tub in a bubble bath. Regardless of where you sit make it a priority and sit on a regular basis in the same place, if at all possible.
- Set a specific amount of time, start slow and work your up to longer and longer times. I suggest 5 minutes at first and when 5 minutes feels like it flew by like a jet airplane, move to 10 and then 20 minutes. Simply focus your attention on your breath, in and out, when your mind wanders bring it back to your in breath and out breath.
- Some days are better then others when sitting. Thus, if you have a day that you can’t seem to quiet your mind don’t get mad and put yourself down. Just know that everything takes time to learn, including meditation. Remember growing up when you tried to learn how to ride a bike, or ice skate, or roller skate, or play baseball, or dance. You did not lace up those skates and fly around the ice like an Olympic skater! You started and stopped and fell down, and got up with help, and started again. Before long you were skating with your friends with ease and grace or dancing with your favorite partner at the school dance. Such is life and sitting in meditation.
- Finally, start by setting a goal such as I will do this for one month and if nothing happens and I don’t feel any difference in my life then I will stop. But to be sure that you really did or did not feel any changes you might want to keep a little notebook by your sitting place and jot down a note after your time sitting. Write down both good and bad experiences. During the day you might even notice something that you’ll want to add to your notebook such as “I really was calm at work today as I worked on a very difficult project. In the past I would have gotten upset and angry at myself or taken my anger or frustration out on my co-workers or my family.”
- Finally, after all that I hope you’ll continue sitting and meditating and living a life of peace, love, and compassion for self and others. Try it I think you’ll like it and so will the people around you in your daily life! They will love the new you!
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Today I began to think about writing a new blog post and so I turned around and looked at the titles of the books behind me and there I saw a wonderful book by Les Kaye, Zen at Work, A Zen Teacher’s 30-Year Journey in Corporate America. The title made me think about my work and the many jobs I’ve had at so many different places and in so many different environments. I’ve worked as a corporate trainer, minister, ropes facilitator, a college professor, an administrator in a medical records department, and more. Did I discover love in any of those places? Did I feel peace and contentment as I walked through the doors or greeted my students as they wandered into the classroom or on to the adventure training course. I wonder did I exude the feelings of peace and love and if not, what was I exuding?
se they live it (page 135)!”