My sincere apologies for the delay in the last two episodes. I’ve had some serious IT challenges with my website the last two weeks, and I am thrilled to be back up and running! If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter yet (merylarnett.com) I encourage you to do so! Even while my site was down I was able to email out this episode to my subscribers last week 

Inherent within our mindfulness meditation practice is an element of devotion. Not of religion, not necessarily “greater being” based, but certainly an ever-expanding sense of loving connection to the world and our place in it. As our practice opens our eyes to the beauty of everyday, messy moments, our devotion to being continually awake deepens. Join me today for a short 10-minute meditation as we remind ourselves to stay awake to the beauty of this human experience.

A student once asked the Buddha: “Are you a god?” He responded, “no.”

“Are you a regular person, then?” He responded, “no.”

“What are you?” He responded, “I am awake.”

Equanimity is a mind-state that is often defined as calmness, composure, or an evenness of temper, especially in difficult situations. Within our meditation practice, we can use the breath as one way to stay in the present moment long enough to actually see “this is what is happening now,” and  we can use the practices of both discipline and devotion to guide us in cultivating the ability to stand in the middle of it all and see with patience.

In last week’s episode we talked about the breath as a tool of both discipline and devotion within a meditation practice, and, naturally, the question arises, “why does this matter?”

Today’s mini meditation is inspired by the breath and by Rumi’s beautiful words:

“With every breath, I plant the seeds of devotion. I am a farmer of the heart.”

This class is THE class. The start of this month’s meditation series is all about the breath. Because, I know you’ve tried to meditate, and you’ve gotten all the way until the point when the teacher says, “now feel your breath”… and you think, WTH does that even mean?!

When faced with any disharmony, our tendency is to blame what is outside of ourselves, looking for any means to justify our feelings and thoughts. This mini meditation is a reminder that we are not meant to be perfect, over-achieving robots. We are messy, we are human, and we suffer because we forget this. Join me in this 10-minute meditation as we allow ourselves to live the questions rather than search for answers.