For me, meditation practice often feels like being responsible for a kindergarten class on a field trip to a science museum. My mind is curious, excitable, and easily distracted. And I\u2019m training to be the ever-patient, caring adult in the room, guiding my distractible thought-children back to the present moment with gentleness and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In mindfulness practice, I watch my attention dart from one exhibit to another \u2014 reliving some mortifying thing I did in the past or daydreaming about some magical adventure I want to have \u2014 and before I know it, I\u2019ve strayed far from the exhibit at hand: the present moment. Instead of scolding or shaming this curious little mind-child, I gently say \u201cthinking,\u201d which translates to, \u201cI get why that\u2019s alluring, it\u2019s just not the assignment right now. Let\u2019s go back to the breath. That\u2019s what we\u2019re exploring at this moment.\u201d And without drama or hysterics, I return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes it\u2019s not just distraction but overwhelm. A big emotion \u2014 grief, fear, shame \u2014 erupts like a full-blown meltdown in the middle of the museum. The child is overstimulated: too much noise, too many colors, too many feelings. This is where my practice is especially handy. I don\u2019t try to push it away or pretend it\u2019s not happening. I sit beside the crying child and say, \u201cI know this is too much. I know you\u2019re tired and don\u2019t want to be here anymore. I know you don\u2019t want this to be reality and just want to be home, comfortable, eating snacks. But the bus doesn\u2019t come until 2, and I can\u2019t change that. I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d I offer what comfort I can \u2014 not a fix, but a hand to hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When working with a student recently around difficult emotions arising alongside the deepening of a practice, I shared this analogy. The world is extra heavy right now, which seems to be a common experience among everyone I engage with, no matter who they are or how they are engaging with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This student and I were specifically discussing the practice of Tonglen. In Tonglen, we touch the fabric of suffering \u2014 ours, others\u2019, and\/or the collective. We don\u2019t deny it. We acknowledge it. And while we know we may not be able to fix the problem, we can \u2014 if only momentarily, symbolically \u2014 hope for whatever might ease that suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, whether Tonglen or mindfulness or metta or anything else: we can see the scattered children. Smile at their shenanigans. And gently bring them back to the exhibit in front of us: this wild experience of being alive \u2014 here, now, in this museum, in this body, in this moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For me, meditation practice often feels like being responsible for a kindergarten class on a field trip to a science museum. My mind is curious, excitable, and easily distracted. And I\u2019m training to be the ever-patient, caring adult in the room, guiding my distractible thought-children back to the present moment with gentleness and love. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theanxiousbuddhist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}