No time to meditate!

Many people have the mistaken idea that meditation is something that only happens under special conditions–in silence and in a particular posture. It’s commonly believed that meditation begins when you set a timer, and if you are able to meet your time, there’s success. If something happens and you don’t, there’s failure. Meditation can even be another thing on the do list, and many people complain that they just didn’t get to it. This reinforces the view that life and practice are separate.?

Yet there are practices that are skillful means meant to be included in our lives.

Practices such as mindfulness and heartfulness can be brought into everything we do, whether or not we set a timer or take a particular posture.

When we can expand our view and include more and more of what happens in life, right now, we realize that meditation only appears to start and stop. Without our ideals about what it should be like, each moment becomes a possibility for a more present, loving, and aware life.

Of course, this is easier said than done, so it can help to remember the following.?

1. Be Willing to Change Your View

It’s not your fault that you may fall into the life and practice split. The gap can feel quite large at times. It can be obvious such as, “If only I could go on one of those meditation retreats,” and it can be as subtle as, “I have no time for practice because my kids keep me so busy.” Both of these statements split meditation and daily life into the category “it isn’t here now.”?

This leads us to think that we have to wait until the conditions in our life are more suitable for practice. How to get out of this rut?

When we are dedicated to bringing awareness to our moment-to-moment experience, what is happening in any given moment can be an opportunity to be mindful.

If the mind is busy, then we can simply note, “busy mind is like this.” If we can reframe our view to one that is inclusive of our full experience, then it frees us up to be present now. We don’t have to wait for some future moment.

2. Treat Simple Chores as Rituals

Some parts of life are just not enjoyable all the time. Maybe not a lot of the time. Yet, here we are. The laundry needs to be done, our teeth need to be brushed, and the dishes washed. The list can get long and overwhelming. These are also the things that can appear to take us away from being able to practice. But what if we treated them as rituals??

The word ritual comes from the Latin ritus, “to fit together.” These normal acts can weave us together.

I invite you to bring to mind all the human beings that you know. Now, imagine them all doing their dishes.

Simple and ordinary acts can bring us into connection and allow us to practice together. A lot of people are doing daily chores every day, and in some ways, these simple aspects of life bring us together.?

Mindfulness practice invites us to keep some of our attention in our body and yet also expand to include more and more and more of our experience. There is a possibility that, as I wash dishes, I can also be aware of the comings and goings of thoughts and feelings. Moments of sadness and joy as the water runs over my hands, as the movement of washing happens.

The cycle may begin with resistance and dread, yet there are many times when it ends with a sense of joy, relaxation, and presence. Life really is full of these opportunities to aim for being here fully with the rhythms of things.

Perhaps that is the challenge, to consider our lives with care and treat everything in it as a deliberate action.?

3. Include Your Relationships

When someone walks into a room in a bad mood, and you react, there is another option: to respond intentionally. We can break the trance, and influence the situation. Learning to foster mind states of happiness, joy, and calm can be of great benefit to your near world, and the world as a whole.

Influence may be as simple as noticing our reactivity and being willing to incline to care.

So, next time you are in a crowded room, alone in your car, washing your dishes, remember that this is it. This whole life is here to remember presence with awareness and love. That’s the practice if you’re up for it.