Living Life as a Meditation practise

2022 has already been a bumpy start for me. Having been ill back to back for the first few weeks of the year, the experience has been humbling. That said, it's always a stark reminder to restart where you left off and begin again with more clarity. Our waking life is like a meditation practise. Life is messy and can be clouded with judgment, aversion, desire, lack of concentration, doubt or restlessness of the experiences we encounter. However, the practise teaches us to start over and over again with more clear seeing. If we sometimes grasp on to how the practise should be or the outcome we desire, we can name it as just that, "grasping" or "desire" and come back to our bare attention of witnessing the breath, our body and the present moment experience at hand. Applying these very same principles to obstacles in our daily lives is powerful. Sometimes you fall off centre, even out of our control. But to ruminate about something we actually have control over (our mind) is mindless, unless we create space between what is happening and applying a mental noting of our emotion, desire, restlessness or aversion toward what we are feeling. Objectifying these feelings can really help us move beyond the constant rumination of past and future. It takes practise again and again, there is no perfect way. To help illustrate, a quote that always helps me to come back to a beginner's mind: “Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.” -Shunruyu Suzuki I wish you a great start of the year which will inevitably be bumpy at times, but you can always come back and start again. Every mindbody retreat organised applies these very same principles in our practise both on and off the yoga mat. I hope to connect with you at any of these locations.

With ❤️ Mike 🧘🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️