Life itself as meditation
One time, probably around 2008, very early on in my own yoga journey a young Indian man who had been raised in a Yogic family and had been practicing yoga all his life came to teach at the yoga center I was teaching at. He told me, I needed to start practicing meditation with my eyes open for a while because my consciousness drifted off in faraway lands instead of being aware of the present moment. It resonated with me and it puzzled me because nobody else had ever noticed that I was hanging out with the angels in heaven while meditating and had a grand ole time but I was not really grounded within my body anymore. I took his recommendation to heart and studied practices where you keep your eyes open like the meditation on candle light. Another thing that has stuck with me was when he told me, he did not sit down to meditate anymore, his life was his meditation. I wondered about that and have found it to be quite easy to keep your eyes open when your life becomes the focus of your meditation.
My personal favorite way to start this practice is in the morning when I am half asleep preparing my tea. In the morning it takes me a while to get into my body and so I take my time to do every motion slowly and consciously and by the time I hold hot tea in my hands I am already more awake, a lot more grounded and do not necessarily need the caffeein of my tea to wake me up anymore.
So maybe you would like to try it out for yourself today and watch yourself throughout the day, notice what you are doing, notice what you are thinking, notice what you are feeling. Remain in the stance of the witness, silent and without judgement, just notice. Let your life experience be your meditation today…
Image thanks to Kira auf der Heide via unsplash.com
