Pause: Practice Presence
The sage Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön often reminds people that the reason we meditate is not to become good meditators—it’s to become more awake in our lives. She says, “One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are.”
Pema explains that meditation is how we train ourselves to come back to the “unadorned present moment” over and over again. “Whatever thoughts arise in your mind, you regard them with equanimity, and you learn to let them dissolve. There is no rejection of the thoughts and emotions that come up; rather, we begin to realize that thoughts and emotions are not as solid as we always take them to be.”
Guided meditations are a great way to begin a meditation practice. Today’s five-minute offering, “Inward Exploration,” uses our breath as an anchor to return to every time we notice we’ve been seduced away from the present moment by our thoughts. It’s a foundational technique that we can integrate into our lives to support our peace of mind and overall wellbeing.
Therapist and meditation teacher Katie Dutcher who created the meditation says, “Imagine a boat at anchor in the water. It drifts a little here and there, and isn’t perfectly still, but the anchor gives it a home—a place to come back to.”
Katie views this meditation as an internal weather check. She says, “It’s as if you open your front door to poke your head outside to see if it’s windy or still, hot or cold. Just like you observe the weather without attempting to change it, in this meditation we see if we can simply acknowledge what’s occurring in our mind, body, and heart without making it good or bad. Sensations, emotions, and thoughts are simply coming and going like weather in this ever-unfolding moment.”
We hope you enjoy this open-hearted inward exploration that can help cultivate more presence, acceptance, and equanimity.
