Day 18: Let Go
Take any moment of any day and pause to ask yourself: “Am I really where I say I am right now?”
Physically, we may be in the room at our meeting, with our kids in the kitchen, or standing in line at the store, wherever we are — but in our minds — we are GONE.
We’re somewhere else completely. More likely to be stuck in some story loop of regret from last week or last year or two steps ahead adding yet another item to our TO DO lists and wondering how Q4 is going to end up.
For such a simple concept like “presence,” it’s almost comical how rarely we actually are present.
Of course “what’s next?” is an essential question to ask both individually and collectively, but there’s a natural tension that arises when we’re always living in that space of potential energy and planning (or “planicking,” which is what I call planning in a state of anxiety or panic — planicking ;)).
There’s an instructive definition of Yoga — like the ancient philosophy, not so much down dog in stretchy pants — that I love to bring up when I teach on practice and presence. This comes from the Yoga Sutras, one of the canonical texts of Yoga:
“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha.”
Which translates to something like —
“Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind stuff.”
Which is exactly what the practices this week offer us.
Not a quick-and-easy “solution.” Not a complete panacea. Not a lobotomy. Not a guarantee. Certainly not a way to hold back the waves of despair of this world.
But a start. A start to accessing the stillness between the fluctuations of our mind. The stillness where presence lives. And the reminder that while we’ll never be able to stop the fluctuations completley — they will continue to come and go like waves — we can “learn to surf” with some grace.
see you right back here tomorrow,
Cath
Meditation: Keep going with “3 Simple Steps” today.
Reflection: Do a meditation mind-dump and write two lists. One might be much longer than the other. Resist the urge to judge it or solve it or accomplish it or fix it. Just get it out and down.
1. Here are the thoughts from the past that still haunt me today…
2. Here are the worries / thoughts / goals for the future that my mind is constantly mulling on right now …