I’m having a really busy week. A big event on at work and two family birthdays at the weekend mean my mind is receiving a seriously hard workout.
Our minds have various tendencies and one of them is that we are a planner or a dweller.
We either plan future actual or imaginary events, or we ruminate over things from the past. We might replay conversations or events from yesterday or many years ago.
I’m a planner. What’s your tendency?
Whichever place your mind goes, I use a handy way to bring my mind back to the present.
Martin Aylward’s 3Rs
Meditation teacher, Martin Aylward, says:
We RECOGNISE when the mind has wandered;
We RELEASE from the thoughts;
And we RETURN to the breath (and the sensations of the body)
I believe it’s useful to add the sensations of body as an extra anchor for our practice and this is equally relevant for sitting meditation and yin practice.
Our monkey minds always want to wander so it’s likely you’ll need to use the 3Rs many times during a practice.
Let me know how it goes for you! If you’d like to hear me use this in a workshop, take a look at upcoming dates.
Nice post, Clare. Recently, I’ve discovered a new and effective way of mindful living which might come across as really weird. I’ve made it a practice to be continuously aware that I’m not this body and am separate from it. I’ve ingrained that the body is only a vessel that is facilitating my existence on this planet. At the same time, I’ve also come to realise that the closest friend that I have on this planet is this body and it is my foremost responsibility to love it and take care of it as I would for my dearest one. I admit that there is also a selfish motive here – it’s the awareness that a lot of my happiness and physical comfort during my time on earth depends on how healthy and fit my body (best friend) remains.
This perspective has had profound effects on my mindfulness. For e.g., whenever I eat, I see myself feeding my best friend. Since I want my best friend to be happy and healthy, all the junk and unnecessary stuff is cut out effortlessly. Then comes the part when I go through negative emotions such as anger and fear. In live situations, I quickly realise how these are causing stress and pain to my body (best friend). As a result, they kind of disappear almost immediately.
There are many other ways in which I’ve started looking at myself and my relationship with the world. There’s so much to share but to keep it relevant, the natural human tendency to be in the company of the one you love and care about the most works really well for me. I always want to be with my best friend and take care of its needs. This automatically makes my mind to come back to ‘here and now’ where my body is. I’m also so much aware now about how this applies to every other human being. It would be such a mindful world if everyone shared this perspective.
This was long. Sorry for the blabber.