Shuffle your feet, lose your seat...

I’ve been moving at a dizzying pace the past 3 weeks. Our grandkids were here for a week, then a family reunion in MN (Do you like my new Paul Bunyan meditation cushion?). Over this couple of weeks, my practice sorta slipped away – sometimes in big chunks. But for the past few days I’ve been more diligent. It’s tough getting back in the non-swing of things after skipping a day here, a few days there. It’s almost like starting over, and believe me, my undisciplined attention throws a hissy-fit when I try and make it sit still. For example, here’s a sampling of the random thoughts I had to gently set aside in this morning’s practice…

• Idle hands are NOT the devil’s workshop.
• This is my breath.
• They call it practice, because if you skip a few days, you have to re-learn your chops.
• It’s better to slack off and come back, than just to slack off.
• I wonder if the climbing hydrangea can take this heat?
• Breathe.
• Wow. Twenty minutes is a loooooong time.
• Breathing lifts my pelvic floor, sacrum, ribcage, shoulders.
• I’ll use those blueberries for muffins.
• Pay attention.
• I should get that mowing done.
• I wonder where I put my PEZ dispenser collection?
• Come into this breath, let the mind expand outward.
• Sheesh…I need to get my syllabi done.
• Don’t scratch that mosquito bite.
• Stay here.
• Breathe.
• Breathe.
• Breathe. 

One thing I discovered is that it's sometimes easier for me to stay focused if my eyes are closed. Maybe that's because I'm a writer, and my writerly mind tries to turn every visual image into a poetic line or a narrative. My head is full of words. So I'm happy to be back at it, crawling my way toward a more focused, more intentional mind. 

One little step at a time...