Have you ever fallen over a lot when learning
something new? If so, take heart, and let me tell
you a quick story ...
Not so long ago I set off on a week's snowboarding
holiday in Andorra. (Andorra is a small country on the
border of Spain and France.)
Snowboarding was totally new to me before that trip
and I REALLY struggled at first to get the hang of it.
But by the end of the week I was LOVING every minute.
So let me share with you some of the things I learned
along the way. These insights not only apply to
meditation and mind-body practice, they also apply to
life in general.
As you can imagine ...
When you're learning something like meditation or
snowboarding, you're GOING to fall over a lot! This
is to be expected. In meditation we might equate
this to losing our meditative focus.
Maybe you realize you've been indulging in mind-
chatter for the last 10 minutes. At first you might
feel frustrated or think that you've failed.
The trick is to see the value in the PROCESS rather
than only the end result. Just as Krishnamurti said,
"Meditation is not the means to an end. It is both
the means and the end."
So after the first day snowboarding, I decided to wear
a stupid fluorescent-colored bobble-hat that said
"serious" on the front. That way, when my face hit
the snow I had NO CHOICE but to laugh! Remember to
enjoy the journey david ... even the falls!
The second lesson I learned has to do with being
flexible. I believe the old Zen saying goes something
like, "The brittle branch breaks in the wind, but the
bamboo is subtle, it bends and therefore does not break."
In snowboarding, the easiest way to descend is in a
zig-zag pattern. You balance sideways on the board,
skiing at a 45-degree angle down the mountain.
Sounds good so far, right? :)
The only problem is that sooner or later you run out
of mountain and you have to turn the board the other
way! To do this, you actually have to point the nose
of the board straight DOWN the mountain, and this means
you start picking up speed ... VERY quickly...
Eeeeek!
The first time I tried this, my idiot instructor took
me on a steep section of the slope. I went hurtling
down the mountain totally out of control! I fell over
pretty badly and when I got up I was a bit scared to
carry on, to say the least.
Later I discovered a big secret ...
To keep your balance, you have to do the very thing
that is not obvious at first. You must point the
snowboard DOWN the mountain and lean into it. It's
a counter-intuitive thing.
Of course your natural reaction is to lean the other
way onto your back foot. But Unfortunately this only
makes you go faster without turning until you
eventually fall over.
Same thing applies in meditation and mind-body
practice. You need to go WITH rather than against
the flow of life. Mind-chatter is just another part
of life so when it comes, simply welcome it.
Look at the flow of a river.
Does it get frightened or upset when it runs up against
an obstacle? Does it hesitate, resist or blame itself
when an obstacle appears in its path?
Of course not.
The water just allows itself to go where it must,
redirecting without effort or resistance. That's the
attitude we're developing in meditation.
When we run up against mind-chatter, worries or
emotion, there's no need to fight it. Instead we dive
into the feeling of it -- just like the water -- all
we need to do is allow the flow of our being to
redirect.
That's also why I'm not a big fan of "brainwave
meditation". The point of meditation is not to "get
high". The purpose of meditation is to develop a new
attitude to ANYTHING that may arise in your awareness.
When you can do that, you TRULY have happiness that
is beyond ALL conditions. That's when you become
truly happy, free and unbreakable.
That might seem difficult to achieve... but imagine
if you had just a SMALL taste of that. You would
be happier and more peaceful in EVERY area of your
life.... not just when you sit and meditate.
Your entire quality of life is raised when you
meditate the way I teach it.
Above all, when we're learning a skill, it helps to
have someone keep reminding us what we need to do step-
by-step. It's not helpful to be pushed beyond our
limits too soon. That just leaves us feeling dejected.
We want to enjoy the process and feel good taking
small steps along the way. This is something that has
to come from within, where you find your own reasons to
pick yourself up and have another go.
If you enjoyed this article and want to develop a
calm mind and work with the flow of life to manifest
what's truly important to you, here's a resource I
recommend that's helped thousands...
http://www.SecretsOfMeditation.com/secrets
Be happy,
Matt Clarkson
The Mind-Body Training Company
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