Anchor Your Mind With the Breath

In meditation, you are instructed to watch the breath. Put simply, this means to observe and stay with the sensations of each breath. The focus can be at the tips of the nostrils, or on the rising and falling of the belly, whichever is easiest for you to focus on. The breath becomes the anchor into the present moment; an anchor that protects you from being swept away by the fierce ocean of wandering thoughts. Normally, wandering thoughts push and pull you all over the place. For example, you remember  hurtful words someone once said to you, and immediately your lost in a storm of rage. Or you reminisce about a time when things may have been better, and you begin drowning in sadness and yearning. During meditation though, you are able to see a wandering thought and let it go, returning back to the anchor - coming back to the breath. Without the anchor you would be endlessly sailing amidst wandering thoughts of an untamed mind. The breath allows you to see the mind when it moves, giving you the freedom to follow the thought, or simply let it go and come back to watching the breath. With practice, you get to know your mind and learn which thoughts to follow and which to let go. If you can stay with the anchor all day, you will be seeing every movement of the mind clearly and can use your own discernment to act skillfully in each moment, rather than habitually. So throw your anchor overboard and practice staying with the breath, both on the cushion in meditation, and more importantly, off the cushion in daily life. Wake up and free yourself from unnecessary suffering. Stay awake!

Every Moment is a New Moment

In seated meditation, you continuously try to focus your attention on the movement of the breath. Of course, this focus is broken quite often by the onslaught of wandering thoughts your mind produces. Gently and patiently, you keep letting the thoughts go, returning to the sensations of breathing. If done correctly, you notice a thought has arisen, and you simply refocus your attention back to the breath to start fresh - a new moment to start over. Unfortunately, many people berate themselves for their inability to keep their mind still, not realizing they can just simply start over. Actually, the moment you start getting upset about your mind moving, you are moving your mind more. This is like trying to stop waves in a lake by hitting the surface of the water with a big stick. You are only creating more waves! Your mind is made to think. You will have many thoughts all the time. The point is not to stop the mind, but to learn to notice when it has taken you away from the breath, and bring it back over and over again. Every time you come back you have another chance to stay with the breath. At times, the mind may temporarily stop, while other times it may be jumping here and there non-stop. Regardless of what is happening, as soon as you notice you've lost the breath, you are able start over - no big deal.

As you continue with your meditation practice, you will find every moment is a new moment. This is great news because it means you can always start over. If every moment is a new moment, then this means every moment you are also new. This can be useful to understand, especially if you have said or done something that has hurt others or yourself (as we all do sometime or another). Rather than beating yourself up over something you have done, you can simply acknowledge what you did, forgive yourself, and start fresh. You can then commit to trying your best not to repeat the actions or words that brought about the harm. You are no longer the person who did this harmful thing. Your state of mind is different and you are new. Holding on to something you have done prevents you from living in THIS moment, and also prevents you from acting kindly and compassionately to both yourself and others. So be fresh, start over right now, whatever you have done is over with (even if it was only five minutes ago!). Commit to trying your best to bring the least amount of harm to yourself and others, and if you mess it up? Good news, you have another chance to start again. Every moment is a new moment!