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 Keeping life fresh: informal meditations
Informal meditations ensure that you stay in touch with your senses and don’t get lost in your thoughts. You approach everything as though it were the first time because, in actual fact, it is. Many things we do in our lives become so repetitive that we don’t even notice them any more – this means we spend an awful lot of our lives in a semi-hypnotic trance, unaware of what we are doing. How often have you driven home and not known how you arrived? Totally lost in the world of our thoughts, worries, hopes, fears and plans, we completely lose touch with our senses and the reality of our lives. There is a saying in the Zen meditation tradition: “Zen mind – beginner’s mind”, which has a profound meaning. It points to the fact that nothing in life is ever an exact repetition – there is always a change, no matter how similar two events might appear. When we name something, we assume we know what it is, and that we have seen it, so we stop looking. We also assume that everything with the same name is exactly the same. But, of course, it isn’t. So being in touch with your senses requires giving up assuming; this is what is meant by having a beginner’s mind. You approach everything as though it were the first time because, in actual fact, it is. With informal meditations you can use the routines of your daily life to hold your focus on your senses, keeping your mind with what you are doing and therefore keeping yourself mentally and emotionally balanced. Staying connected Instead of pushing ahead, doggedly ploughing on, becoming busier and more frantic, you can keep your external balance by moving to your inner balance point – that point of stillness you touch each time you meditate. Then you can move back to what you need to do, having refreshed your mind and emotions. It is therefore possible to live in a happy state and keep yourself emotionally healthy no matter what you are experiencing. How to meditate informally
Here are two examples of informal meditations you can try. Light Whenever you are by the sea, notice the shimmering effect of sunlight on the water, or the stream of moonlight moving across the sea. Allow your mind to rest in the light, absorbing it. (This meditation can be done with any body of water.)
Wind and air Allow your mind to rest on the swaying of the trees or grass, and open your body to the feeling of the movement of air across your skin. It can feel as though you are being brushed with silk, and embraced by the air and space around you. After doing an informal meditation, you may notice you feel a little calmer, more content with what you are doing, more in touch with your senses and your whole body. These are signs that you have become balanced; that your mind and body are working together instead of being in conflict. Informal meditations are taught in the Lifeflow Learn to Meditate course and many more examples are available in Life in Balance. Related pages
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meditation courses
This article is an excerpt from Graham Williams’ new book Life in Balance.
