Come back to the middle

I've been off my spiritual routine for a couple of weeks now and boy have I noticed. Though I haven't been back to the Buddhist center close to me, 

I was doing meditation and practices on my own at home. 

Of course that fell by the wayside as well and I wan't doing anything. At some point I began to feel that yearning to get back to meditating again. Though I was only doing it about once or twice a week for three weeks prior to stopping, I certainly noticed a difference when it was completely gone. So I got back on my cushion and started meditating again. 

One of the most important things that I've learned since totally submerging myself into Buddhist teachings is that meditation and chanting are practices. You constantly practice to become better. There is no need to come into a meditation with preconceived ideas or notions about how to do it or the best way to do. The only way you will learn how to be better at meditating is to meditate. And everyone is different, so what works for me may not necessarily work for you. That's the beauty in all of it. 

Right now mindfulness has become a very popular concept for a lot of people. You can go to any bookstore and find a ton of books on mindfulness and being more present in the moment. Mindfulness is one aspect under the big umbrella of Buddhist teachings. Mindfulness simply means being aware of the moment that you are in, whatever that is. Right now you are reading this blog, in the next moment you may get something eat, or take a bath. Doesn't matter the thing that you are doing, simply being aware of what you are doing is the key. 

You've heard me say over a hundred times that I don't run with headphones. Once I stopped listening to music I couldn't go back. I began to pay attention to my breath and how it coincided with my cadence. Awareness of breath is simply the beginning to any meditation practice. At some point you can incorporate meditation into any of your daily activities. It no longer becomes subjected to sitting on your cushion or your chair in the quiet corner of your room, now you are fully present in ever waking moment of your life. 

Please don't read this post and think that I am trying to convert you to Buddhism. There is no gain that I get from "recruiting" new members. I simply like sharing what makes me happy and brings a bit more joy into my life. You can take this information and disregard it or add it onto your faith and enhance what you already practice. There is no promotion of separation or categorizing, it's simply about loving the gifts that life has brought you and appreciating each moment.