Meditation as a Radical Practice
image by the author
What do you practice to see, hear, feel, think, and act clearly?
Since I am a teenager, I am practicing some sort of yoga, almost every day. The practice of meditation came later.
When I miss my daily practice, I feel it. I feel it in my body, but even more so in my everyday communication with the world and myself. When I am not based in my body, when I am not grounded in my mind, I tend to overreact, underreact, project, compare, and multitask. I overreact by screaming at my kids. I underreact when I do not pay enough attention to my dog’s education. I project my old wounds onto my loved one’s nowadays behavior. I compare myself to all my favorite activists, artists, writers, interior designers, politicians, yogis, and meditation teachers all at once. I try to juggle my big upper management job, a household, a family, my business, my mindfulness practice, an artist life, and being connected to my friends.
When I do succeed to focus on my daily meditative practice, I mostly manage to be here, to be present. I place my children’s fits in a calm manner and act accordingly and empathetically. I am present on my dog walks. Instead of me daydreaming or turning thoughts in my head, she and I can explore the world together. I can meet the love of my life at heart and eye level. No general blaming, no turning into my child-self, no projection of everything that ever happened to women on this planet onto him.
When I am well-rested and meditated, I see the abundance of my life. I see clearly my possibilities but also my responsibilities. When I succeed with my daily meditation, I manage to do one thing at a time, and only the things that are truly important. When I have a daily meditation practice, I stop shouting at myself and into the world. Instead, I turn on the ability of deep listening. I am able to hear. What is going on? Who is in which situation? What needs to be done? What can I do? What knowledge, skills, and networks, may I activate? What does the person in front of me need?
Meditation, therefore, is for me a radical practice. Without meditation I chose to take stabs in the dark, to stay in victim mode. Instead of creating I practice reaction.
With the daily practice of sense withdrawal and inflowing outflowing breath awareness (Anapanasati), on a tiny physical sensation, I practice for everyday life. It is an ongoing challenge, yet I see more meaningful connections, sustainable choices, effective comments, and fruitful actions.
What do you practice to see, hear, feel, think, and act clearly?