Informal Meditation

Unless you are in a meditation retreat, most of life is not spent on a cushion meditating. If 23 hours out of the day is spent with a wandering mind and only 1 hour a day is spent in focused meditation, the mind will have trouble maintaining stillness. If life becomes a meditation however, then swift progress towards meditative stability can be experienced.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a great Buddhist master, used to say “Short time, many times, drip by drip you fill the cup”.

Taking 2-3 seconds to come into the moment,  breathing… being… tuning into the senses… this is a wonderful and complete “meditation”. The mind will wander, and then another moment of mindfulness will appear… walking… warm sun lightly caressing the face… feet touching the earth… and so on.

Eating, working, driving, playing… whatever we are doing we can use it as the object of meditation. Just like a stone thrown into deep waters our awareness can deepen throughout the day… short time, many times… drip by drip, we can fill the cup of mindfulness.

This “informal” meditation will invariably strengthen our formal “on the cushion” practice, and the formal practice will in turn remind us to carry that attentiveness into the day.

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Iron Spine provides a new way to be reminded of our universal wisdom and compassion that aligns with the purpose of yoga and meditation. Find us on instagram @ironspineco to stay in touch and learn more.