Face the present moment completely, lean into it the best you can.
Give it your full attention. This is your life.
From time to time, when my body aches and the mind complains, I get discouraged. I even blame myself for not trying hard enough, or, strangely, for trying too hard. Bad monk — you should be better at this by now. But I am learning to reach deep inside and investigate the thing with kindness* and patience.
Where in the body is it located? Breathe in, breathe out. What’s its texture, temperature, density? Breathe in, breathe out. If it has a colour, what is it? Instead of thinking of the ache as something done to me, I accept it as a momentary experience. Not ‘poor me’ but ‘feel my breath.’ On a good day, the mind begins to calm. For a brief moment, there’s nothing but the flow of breath. That’s called equanimity: resting in the midst of life’s ups and downs without suffering.
The next time you find yourself distracted — on or off the meditation seat – gently and firmly shift from thinking to feeling, from worrying about it to living with it. .
May you enjoy your practice. May your practice benefit all beings.
* This is were loving-kindness practice helps (https://tricycle.org/magazine/metta-practice/).
Thank you, Peter for your thoughts and reference to the article about Metta meditations! May you benefit from Love and Logic.